In October 2017, GM announced that it would release 20 new EVs by 2023 – just over five years from then, and just over one year from now. How’s that going?

If GM’s booth at the LA Auto Show is any indication (and it is): Not very well.

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So surely, GM, who are “all in on electrification,” who “aspire” to be all-electric by 2035 (which is the least they could do), who have been praised for electrifying the auto industry, would bring something, right?

Well, apparently not. In a quick walk through their ghost town of a booth, we saw nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing with a plug. Most automakers have some sort of vestigial wall charger display standing vaguely near a PHEV compliance car (with ~5kWh of battery in it, coincidentally the minimum amount for carpool and rebate access), but GM didn’t even have that.

This complete lack of anything electric is made worse by the fact that GM promised it wouldn’t be this way. In October 2017, GM said they would have “at least 20 new all-electric vehicles that will launch by 2023.” GM president Mark Reuss added that “these aren’t just words in a war of press releases.” And one year ago, they upped that ante to 30 new EVs by 2025.

At the time, GM was producing exactly one EV, the Chevy Bolt, and one PHEV, the Chevy Volt. Now, it is currently producing exactly zero EVs, since the Volt is out of production and Chevy Bolt EV lines are currently halted.

One might respond, “That’s not fair, that’s just a temporary pause of the Bolt and it’s all LG’s fault,” but that excuse highlights the point that those are the only models GM currently has.

Even if we count the EUV as a separate model and we go backward or forward in time a few weeks, there has been no growth in GM’s EV line since that promise was made.

GM has had four years out of the five they gave themselves, and they haven’t made any progress whatsoever on their promise. They’ve launched one EV (Bolt EUV) and stopped three production lines (Volt, and temporarily the Bolt and EUV). If they had delivered on even 20% of their promise in the four years since they made it, they’d still at least have more EVs now than they did then. But they didn’t, and they have nothing.

Another excuse could be the global pandemic, but GM had three years of roughly no action prior to the start of the pandemic, and the pandemic has only underlined how bad burning gas is for air quality and how EVs are the way to go, and EV sales have rocketed up despite the whole industry being down. Instead, GM spent most of that time lobbying and suing to stop EVs… and only stopped right after President Joe Biden’s election.

To be fair, GM brands GMC and Cadillac are not at the show. Both of these brands have a pretty exciting new EV coming up – GMC with the Hummer EV and Cadillac with the Lyriq – and we’re sure either would be front and center at their respective hypothetical booths. Cadillac has committed to being all electric going forward, so that’s a good start.

But again, those are still only two new cars GM-wide, bringing the tally to 3/20 if you count the EUV. And those two only count if you interpret “launch” to mean “reveal,” as neither car is yet on the road (though both sold out immediately when reservations were opened).

So there really is no excuse for this sad showing, and no charitable angle from which to look at it. GM is failing miserably at delivering the promises they’ve made.

But hey, at least they’ve still got a year to go. It sure will be exciting to see the 20 EVs they’ll be debuting in the next year, and they’re going to need a lot of floorspace at the 2022 LA Auto Show, the last one before their 20-EV deadline, to showcase all of them. We’re looking forward to it, GM. You promised.

Tesla's Autopilot software head leaves the company six months after joining from Apple

Jun 20, 2017

Chris Lattner, a longtime Apple software guru, has left his post running software for Tesla’s Autopilot division after just six months. Lattner announced his departure in a tweet late Tuesday. Earlier in the evening, Tesla announced that it had hired leading AI expert Andrej Karpathy as the company’s new director of AI and Autopilot. Karpathy had previously been a researcher at OpenAI, a nonprofit effort to advance artificial intelligence started by Musk and other Silicon Valley veterans.

Tesla's Autopilot Chief Has Left the Company

May 1, 2018

Jim Keller, who had been in charge of Tesla's Autopilot hardware program since 2016, is leaving the company for Intel. The resignation is a major loss for the automaker and was first reported by Electrek.

Tesla’s head of Autopilot software leaves in restructuring

Aug. 21st 2019

Tesla’s head of Autopilot software, Stuart Bowers, has left the automaker to work for the venture capital firm Greylock after a restructuring of the Autopilot team.

Former Saturn president and marketing boss Don Hudler has passed away at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife, Dannielle Colliver Hudler, a former General Motors advertising executive.Per a report from Automotive News, Don Hudler’s career at General Motors spanned some 42 years before he retired to become one of the nation’s top Saturn dealers.

Hudler’s career with General Motors began in 1956, when he became one of the youngest advertising managers in the company’s history. In 1980, General Motors repositioned Hudler in Madrid, where he served in regional marketing. After his stint abroad, Hudler was brought back to the U.S., where he served GM as the director of marketing policy and dealer relations.

Hudler’s involvement with the Saturn brand began with its launch in 1990 and continued through its dissolution in 2010 following GM’s bankruptcy. Hudler helped to promote Saturn as “a different kind of car company” and created Saturn’s product distribution system, which divided the U.S. into specific territories that were covered by retailers with salaried salespeople and the promise of no-haggle pricing.

During his time at Saturn, Hudler served as the GM division’s first vice president of sales, service, and marketing. Hudler would eventually go on to succeed Skip LeFauve as the brand president in 1995, and would later become chairman in 1997.

Hudler is also credited with establishing Saturn as an industry leader in customer service and brand loyalty. Part of this was with the creation of “homecoming” events wherein Saturn vehicle owners were invited to the GM factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, where tens of thousands of customers would converge for concerts, fireworks, and a tour of the factory.

Hudler retired in 1999 to become chairman of Saturn Retail Enterprises, selling his GM stock in order appease Texas regulators and buy six stores around Houston and Dallas.

We continue our coverage of so-called zombie cars with Chevrolet and two of its long-defunct models that were quite popular considering that production ended back in 2020. Without further ado, the Impala still somehow managed to generate 750 sales last year, albeit demand saw a steep decline in Q4 when only nine were sold.

Nevertheless, 750 is a surprisingly high number when you take into consideration the fullsize sedan left the assembly line nearly two years ago. Indeed, General Motors produced the final Impala precisely on February 27, 2020, after 10 generations and a lifespan of over 60 years.

The big family saloon was built at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck, now redubbed Factory Zero to exclusively make EVs. The GMC Hummer EV pickup is now in production, with the SUV equivalent due early next year. Also coming in 2023 from the same factory will be the Chevy Silverado EV unveiled yesterday in Las Vegas during CES.

As for the other dead-but-alive model sold by Chevy last year, it's the Sonic hatchback and sedan duo. The subcompact model found no fewer than 1,581 new homes in 2021, but as was the case with the Impala, sales dramatically dropped in Q4. Just 18 of them were picked up in the year that just passed. Curious to know when GM built the last Sonic? The Lake Orion plant in Michigan concluded production of the vehicle on October 19, 2020.

Ok, the Sonic is less of a zombie car than the older Impala, but we're still somewhat surprised Chevy had so many of them lying around. 2021 was far from being a normal year in the automotive industry as the microchip shortage wreaked havoc on new car sales. Not only that, demand for used vehicles rose, prompting sellers to jack up the asking prices to make a tidy profit. It's unclear whether either of these two cars was sold at MSRP or at a premium. Perhaps some customers were lucky enough to even get a discount?

Even though crossovers are all the rage these days in the United States where regular cars are mostly dead, there are still quite a few people not willing to hop on the SUV bandwagon. Buying a final model year is seen as a smart move by budget-conscious folks since the automaker usually works out all the kinks towards the end of the product's life cycle.

As a final note, GM's 2021 sales chart shows a single GMC Hummer EV pickup truck was delivered last year.

General Motors' BrightDrop start-up, which was the first to use the Ultium platform in production models, has revealed that Walmart has signed an agreement to reserve 5000 of its last-mile electric delivery vans.

The retail giant plans to use the EV600, which entered production in the closing months of 2021, and the smaller EV410 vans for its InHome delivery service, which it plans to expand to some 30 million households by the end of 2022. The service, which was launched just a couple of years ago, delivers groceries and everyday items directly to customers' refrigerators in their homes, either in the kitchen or the garage. The first BrightDrop vans are expected to join Walmart's InHome fleet in 2023.

BrightDrop has also revealed that FedEx, which had already started taking delivery of its first BrightDrop vans in December of last year, has also reserved priority production for 2000 delivery vans, adding to an initial reservation of 500 vans. Overall, the logistics giant is said to be working on a plan to add as many as 20,000 more BrightDrop vans to its fleet in the coming years, but the first 500 will be delivered this year.

"As important as it is that we save our customers time and money through convenient delivery options, it's just as important that we focus on creating a more sustainable last mile delivery fleet that avoids emissions," said Tom Ward, senior vice president of last mile, Walmart U.S. "BrightDrop's proven ability to bring a sustainable electric van to market makes them a great partner to support our growing InHome delivery service, and we look forward to continue driving our goal of operating a 100 percent zero-emissions logistics fleet by 2040."

The EV600—which is currently being produced by a manufacturing partner ahead of the start of full-volume production later this year at GM's CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Canada—offers 600 cubic feet of cargo space and a range of up to 250 miles. The smaller EV410 offer just over 400 cubic feet of space, and was revealed in the second half of 2021 as a shorter-wheelbase model, but with the same maximum range option.

Taken together, news at CES of two EV van reservation plans from the two companies should give a significant boost to BrightDrop's profile, especially given the first deliveries to FedEx just weeks ago, ahead of the holiday travel season. BrightDrop has also opened it first dealership in California late last month, as part of an existing GM dealership group in the Los Angeles area.
BrightDrop's appearance at CES is in many ways its first major auto show debut since small-volume production began in 2021, giving the tech world its first look at electric vans from a GM-backed start-up that are already on the road, something very few other automakers can say at the moment.

"BrightDrop's mission is to decarbonize the world's deliveries. We leverage the best of two worlds—the innovation, agility, and focus of a technology startup with the engineering and manufacturing might of General Motors," said BrightDrop President and CEO Travis Katz . "This combination, coupled with BrightDrop's holistic solution set, gives us powerful advantages that uniquely position us to support the world's largest delivery companies, like Walmart and FedEx, with their robust sustainability goals. Today's commitments showcase our ability to power the electrification journey of some of the world's biggest companies."

General Motors wants to follow Tesla and get billions in revenue from various subscription services over the next three years. But they started by phasing out their most popular services, sold using the Marketplace in-vehicle app, one millions of owners used.
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Having a modern vehicle with lots of connectivity options is ultimately what every car owner wants. But all the features packed into the dashboard come with strings attached, and most of the time the vehicle’s owner has to cede control to the car’s manufacturer. It’s great when the service is useful and everything works, but it can be inconvenient at best when the carmakers decide to shut down the service. The vehicle then gets instantly dumber, and the owner’s experience gets downgraded to junk.

That’s exactly what will happen to millions of American vehicles after General Motors pulls the plug on the Marketplace in-vehicle app next month. The service began rolling out in 2017 and was used by some five million vehicle owners, according to the latest GM data. It is now in use on most 2017-2022 model year GM vehicles.

Marketplace allowed buying goods and services or make restaurant and hotel reservations via the car’s touchscreen. Ten vendors adhered to the service offered as part of the “Connected Access” plan: Shell, ExxonMobil, Dunkin’ Donuts, Domino’s Pizza, Applebee’s, IHOP, Office Depot, Yelp, Priceline.com, and Delivery.com. Most of them paid to be part of Marketplace, so this was a free service for GM vehicle owners.

"We routinely evaluate our services to ensure they provide the best experience for our members. In this spirit, we have decided to discontinue our Marketplace services,” said GM in an email sent to its customers and revealed by Detroit Free Press. “After March 2022, all accounts with Marketplace vendors will automatically be de-linked and proper cybersecurity measures will be followed to remove and delete all personal information.”

After the Marketplace app phasing out, the only subscription service available for GM’s customers will be OnStar, with four plans to choose from. The base plan, at $24,99, offers connected vehicle services, including streaming apps and vehicle diagnostics. It goes all the way app to $49,99 for the Premium connectivity package that includes everything GM has to offer when it comes to connectivity and safety-related services.

At GM’s latest earnings call, CEO Mary Barra expressed hopes to make revenues of $20 to $25 billion a year from subscription services. These include Map Plus, OnStar, and Super Cruise. GM is not the only big company tapping into subscription services. Stellantis recently announced a $33 billion investment plan to develop the next-generation tech platforms.

SHANGHAI — General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai has maintained production amid the city's lockdown by asking workers to sleep on factory floors and getting passes for trucks to continue deliveries, two people familiar with the matter said.

Such measures equate to a "closed-loop" management process, which China's financial hub has asked companies to adopt to stay open during a two-stage lockdown to battle its COVID outbreak.

In the bubble-like arrangement, which workers sleep, live and work in isolation from the rest of the world to prevent virus transmission. A similar system was used at the Winter Olympics in Beijing to seal event personnel off from the public.

The facilities, which GM runs as part of a joint venture with Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor Corp that produces Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles, are in areas east of Shanghai's Huangpu river that have been locked down from Monday to Friday.

GM, which said on Monday that its Shanghai JV was producing normally, declined to comment on the arrangements at its factory. A spokesperson said the company and its joint ventures had developed and were executing contingency plans with their suppliers to mitigate uncertainty related to COVID-19.

GM's ability to keep its Shanghai production lines running contrasts with that of Tesla, which Reuters reported has suspended production for the four-day period. It was unable to secure sufficient provisions for its workers to achieve closed-loop management, one source said.

Apple supplier Foxconn, TCL Corp, and Apple supplier Shenzhen Deren Electronic Co Ltd managed to keep production going in southern China this month with closed-loop management after manufacturing hubs such as Shenzhen and Dongguan were hit by similar lockdown measures.

General Motors revealed this week it has reached a multi-year deal with mining giant Glencore that will supply the automaker with cobalt from Australia. Crucial to the production of EV batteries, the cobalt will be mined at Glencore's Murrin Murrin site in the northeastern part of the Goldfields region in Western Australia, and used in battery cathodes of GM's Ultium lineup, which includes the Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Hummer EV, and the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado EV.

The multi-year sourcing agreement is the latest in a string of long-term deals between automakers and mining companies for raw materials, including lithium, that are key to uninterrupted battery production, even as automakers race to develop solid-state batteries that do not rely on the same mix of metals as current lithium-ion compositions.

"GM and our suppliers are building an EV ecosystem that is focused on sourcing critical raw materials in a secure sustainable manner," said Jeff Morrison, GM vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. "Importantly, given the critical role of EVs in reducing the carbon footprint of the transportation sector, this agreement is aligned with our approach to responsible sourcing and supply-chain management."

GM’s deal with Glencore comes just as production of Ultium-based models is set to take off. GMGlencore and GM are both members of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), with the Murrin Murrin site conforming with the OECD-aligned Responsible Minerals Assurance Process, which sets out due diligence guidance for sourcing minerals from high-risk areas.

The two companies have not disclosed the terms of the agreement, including the annual volume of cobalt the Murrin Murrin site will provide. But given the expected sharp increase in production of Ultium-platform vehicles, with the Cadillac Lyriq launching now, the agreement is expected to be long term.

"Future-facing commodities like cobalt play a pivotal role in decarbonizing energy consumption and the electric-vehicle revolution," said Ash Lazenby, Glencore U.S. Cobalt marketer and trader. "Glencore is already a leading producer, recycler, and supplier of these commodities, which underpin our own ambition of achieving net zero total emissions by 2050."

GM's agreement with Glencore comes just a few months after the automaker reached a deal with POSCO Chemical to open a new plant for processing Cathode Active Material (CAM), also intended for Ultium battery cells. The POSCO site in Canada, slated to launch in 2024, will supply GM facilities in Lordstown, Ohio, and in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

General Motors said it earned $2.9 billion in the first quarter, compared with analysts' estimates of $2.45 billion, and expects full-year net income of $9.6 billion to $11.2 billion.

GM reaffirmed its full-year outlook for adjusted EBIT of $13.0 billion to $15.0 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra, in a letter to shareholders, said: "Our confidence is strong as we accelerate our transformation, even in the face of a challenging macro environment."

GM said its first-quarter results were driven by "improved production and robust customer demand in North America."

The automaker said on Feb. 1 it could improve wholesale deliveries by 25% to 30% this year, and predicted commodity and logistics costs would rise by $2.5 billion.

First-quarter revenue of $36 billion was up 11% from $32.5 billion a year ago. Diluted earnings per share were $1.35, compared with $2.03 a year earlier, while EPS-diluted-adjusted was $2.09 compared with $2.25 a year ago.

GM said it expects full-year EPS-diluted of $5.76 to $6.76, and EPS-diluted-adjusted of $6.50 to $7.50.

GM shares were down 0.1% in after-hours trade at $38.

California’s first commercial robotaxi is approved for the streets of San Francisco

JUNE 2, 2022 5:23 PM PT

Robotaxis are now a real thing in California.

On Thursday, state officials green-flagged the launch of a fare-based ride-hailing business featuring cars with no human driver at the wheel.

Robot-operated Chevy Bolt EVs will be rolled out over the next few weeks by autonomous vehicle maker Cruise. The San Francisco company, owned by General Motors, wouldn’t say how many.

With a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission, Cruise becomes the first commercial robotaxi business in the state and the second in the U.S. The first was launched in 2020 by Alphabet-owned Waymo in Chandler, Ariz.

Although driverless cars have been prowling San Francisco streets for years, to date they’ve either been staffed with human safety drivers or, if fully driverless, occupied by company employees.

Potential customers of the new service can download an app for the service, the company said, but may not be approved for a while until the number of Cruise robotaxis deployed in San Francisco increases. Fares will be similar to what ride-hailing companies charge, the company said.

Argo, a robotaxi service largely owned by Ford, announced in May it is carting employees around sections of Miami and Austin, Texas, in completely driverless cars, in anticipation of a commercial service at a date the company has yet to reveal. Las Vegas is rife with experimental robotaxis from several companies, though most still include a human safety driver behind the wheel.

Baidu and Pony.ai have launched completely driverless commercial robotaxi services in China.

Dozens of companies continue to experiment with driverless cars on public streets in California, with testing permits granted by the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has since 2016 been promising Tesla robotaxis will be available within a year or two. The company has been experimenting with robotaxi technology on public roads using its customers as test drivers. The DMV, which has held other companies to a different standard, says it is revisiting its stance on the matter.

GM continues its hunt for unauthorized dealers and resellers that do not adhere to the automaker's standards. In a letter obtained by Autoblog, GM North America President Steve Carlisle has presented a reminder to its dealers about their contractual requirements and GM's policies on selling new vehicles for resale.

The letter serves as a follow-up to a previous one sent in January, warning dealers about high markups and deposits ahead of launches. And while that previous letter covers vehicles like the Corvette Z06, Cadillac Lyriq, and Silverado EV, this new warning pertains to resellers of high-demand and limited production GM products, namely the Hummer EV SUV, Cadillac Escalade-V, and again, the Chevy Corvette Z06.

Not all resellers are affected, though. According to the letter, those who will sell the aforementioned vehicles 12 months after taking delivery are to be sanctioned by the new penalties.

The penalties include "limiting the transferability of certain warranties barring the seller from placing future sold orders or reservations."

Of note, the specific warranties affected were not disclosed as of this writing. The letter states that dealers will be contacted in the coming days for the full details and "the customer acknowledgment requirements to implement this new process."

GM highlighted that these changes will not impact product recalls.

While this move can help discourage resellers from taking advantage of the ongoing demand-supply situation, as well as abusing their privilege to work directly with a dealer to secure a slot or allocation, there is a danger that a customer could end up owning a vehicle without certain warranties.GM said that the changes are being enforced "to ensure an exemplary customer experience, to ensure our brands remain strong, and to help prioritize ownership by brand enthusiasts and loyal customers."

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Energy Department said on Monday it had finalized a $2.5 billion low-cost loan to a joint venture of General Motors Co and LG Energy Solution to help pay for three new lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facilities.

Reuters first reported in July the planned loan to Ultium Cells LLC from the government's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program.

The loan will help finance construction of new lithium-ion manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan, supporting 6,000 construction jobs and 5,100 operations jobs at the three plants.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm plans to tout the closing of the Ultium loan on a visit to Michigan on Monday with Labor Department Deputy Secretary Julie Su, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, United Auto Workers (UAW) President Ray Curry and other officials, automakers and EV battery companies. They will discuss strategies to recruit and retain a diverse and skilled battery workforce, and the Biden administration's Battery Workforce Initiative.

Last week, workers at the $2.3 billion Ultium plant in Ohio voted to join the UAW, a win for the union, which is seeking to organize the growing EV supply chain.

GM and LG Energy are considering an Indiana site for a fourth U.S. battery plant. They are building a $2.6 billion plant in Michigan, set to open in 2024. This month, Ultium said it would boost its investment in a $2.3 billion Tennessee plant by another $275 million.

President Joe Biden has set a goal for 50% of U.S. auto production by 2030 to be electric or plug-in electric hybrid vehicles. GM plans to build 1 million EVs in North America by 2025 and to stop selling gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.

The $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) approved in August included another $3 billion for ATVM loan costs and expanded uses to larger vehicles, maritime vessels, aviation, and other transportation modes.

The Energy Department said the $3 billion would provide an estimated $40 billion in additional loan authority for a total estimated available authority under ATVM of about $55.1 billion before the Ultium loan.

The ATVM loan program in July closed on a $102.1 million loan to Syrah Technologies LLC for expansion of a facility producing a key component for batteries. It was the first new loan finalized from the ATVM program since 2011.

The program previously supported Ford Motor, Tesla and Nissan Motor projects. GM applied for ATVM loans totaling $14.4 billion in 2009 but withdrew the application in 2011.

To much anyone's surprise, GM CEO Mary Barra revealed in an on-stage interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival that GM customers would not be paying more than Tesla owners to charge at Supercharger stations. This rules out the extra profits Tesla would gain from ceding access to its Supercharger network. So far, it's as if more Tesla owners would charge at its stations, a move that is likely to annoy real Tesla owners. Unless Tesla significantly expands its Supercharger network, this should lead to more waiting time at the most in-demand stations.

Even better, Tesla would provide the necessary API so GM owners could see charging details in their mobile apps. Although important, this information deepens the mystery of what's Tesla gaining from the deal. This looks like a turn-key solution for rival carmakers to help them accelerate their EV programs. According to Mary Barra, the deal saved GM $400 million. Although this is GM's side of the story, I am confident the other carmakers joining the NACS crowd got similar arrangements, so it will soon be open season for Supercharging.