How GM Is Going All In On Electrification | CNBC Marathon

CNBC Marathon revisits General Motors' shift into the electric vehicle market.

GM is one of the largest automakers in the world with a range of models falling under its four brands, Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. The automaker made its name selling gas burning cars but in January 2021, it made a stunning announcement. The company said it “aspires to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035.” This means that GM intends to stop selling gas-burning cars. General Motors says it wants to lead electric vehicle sales in North America by 2025, and vows that its new Ultium battery platform will drive that dominance.

Not only are cars going electric but so are boats. General Motors recently invested $150 million in one start-up, Pure Watercraft, to build an electric pontoon boat. And several others are working to bring their own battery-powered offerings to market.

CNBC Marathon brings together the best of CNBC on YouTube.

Chapters:
00:00 Why GM’s all-electric future is a big gamble (Published September 2021)
15:17 The rise of electric boats (Published April 2022)
27:13 Why GM says its Ultium platform will drive EV dominance (Published May 2022)

About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.

Connect with CNBC News Online

#cnbc

How GM Is Going All In On Electrification | CNBC Marathon

[dagarnertn]

Imagine where we would be if GM had made such a commitment to EVs 20 years ago instead of killing the EV1!

[justsomeguy]

I worked for GM in Product Planning for 8 years...believe me GM does not and has never had any interest in building EVs. They are only doing it now because of regulation and competition. Executives always used to tell me people don't want EVs, Tesla just loses money, we don't see the demand. I just gave up in the end and bought Tesla stock and went back to my meaningless spreadsheets. I worked with lots of nice people at the operational level but I had no faith in the leadership. Arrogant, poorly informed and willfully ignorant

[altriish]

I'm fine with GM going out of business. Wouldn't miss them

[bencrilly]

I was thinking that tesla was about 5 years ahead of GM but after watching this I’m thinking 10 years is more realistic

[JDMHaze]

they tried in the 90s with the EV1, Have they continued making that car and stayed on that path they would be the Tesla of today

[steverobbins]

They're not "betting" on EVs, they're being forced by consumer demand to switch to EVs. And 2035 is way too late. GM may not survive.

[petterbirgersson]

14:39 - Had GM invested more into the EV1 project in the early 2000s and not discontinued it, it would have been hugely successful. The demand was already there by then.

[AaronVanNoy]

I’m thankful for everyone calling out the misinformation in the comments section! Kodak invented the digital camera but tanked it because it would cannibalize their film business. GM tanked the EV1 and the same fate of GM as Kodak!

[transcrobesproject]

Why is it that on the one hand we hear "people don't want EVs" and on the other "many models have multi-year waiting lists"? Maybe CNBC needs to get their story straight?

[gregspecht]

Literally every projection I've ever seen in the past 5 years have grossly underestimated the number of EV sales. I remember 5 years ago predicting 1 million electric vehicles sold by 2030. In the next 3-5 years electric vehicles will be price competitive or cheaper at time of purchase. By 2035 nearly all vehicles sold will be EV. GM will be behind the curve not in front.

[stevengose]

It is amazing how far off these predictions and research numbers were in 2021, when these two GM articles were published.

[lkendrix]

GM has to fix it’s self before they can succeed. GM has an unwritten reputation (word of mouth, the best form for advertising) of having to need at least 2 to 5 years to work the “bugs” out or in this case the electronic gremlins! All cars gas or electric has them. Who wants to buy a new GM vehicle knowing that for the first 2 years you’re gonna have problems? Secondly, having the correct diagnosis of the problem? Last and not least having a knowledgeable professional technicians to fix the problem quickly and correctly! This has not been one of GM’s note worthy accomplishments! Therefore I will not buy a GM EV for the first 2 to 5 years or more?! I’ve been disappointed too many times by GM. That’s why I drive Lexus hybrid. I’m driving my second Lexus hybrid now. No problems! No “bugs”! No electronics “gremlins”! My first Lexus had a problem with the brakes. They quickly diagnosed the problem and fixed it immediately! Never again had any problems with it! After 4 years I traded it in and bought another Lexus. After 8 years, still no problems! That’s the reputation that GM has in short supply! Product reliability! And service after the sale!

[jorgerobles]

This video looks like been recorded 4-5 years ago. The demand of EVC is skyrocketing in China, the Largest EV Market in the world, that some Chinese carmakers are no longer making ICE cars, while some ICE car makers are experiencing a deep plunge of their sales in China. European countries are giving lots of incentives to EV car makers, and that has been so successful that the UK stop giving them because the EV demand was far greater than ICE demand. And Norway, where EV sales were about 80% of total in 2021 may be banning all ICE sales by 2025. So how come this video says that the EV demand is risky for GM? The problem with GM is not lack of demand but that it is producing first order crap. While Tesla is increasing the prices for all their models and the demand for their cars is high and they earn about 10k for each car sold, GM is discounting the Chevy Bolt prices so they can sell their inferior product that is in low demand, and Ford says they are losing money for each For Mach-E they sell. Making a prototype is easy, but putting that prototype into production is not, and that is what GM, Ford, CNBC, Bloomberg, Toyota, BMW, Audi, and other do not understand. Their thinking is based in profits for the next 2-3 months, not for the development 3-4 years ahead in the future. Tesla and the EV makers are thinking ahead of time and had procured long term suppliers of raw material, something that legacy carmakers have not. GM and Mary Barra are only words and vaporware, and the same is for Ford, BMW, Toyota, Honda and the rest. This video lacks a lot of research and obviously, real world analysis. I will watch better and more concise info elsewhere, is not worth

[Richard-cqkv]

A more accurate headline would be, why hasn't GM gone all in on EV's.

[mbitetto]

Now all they have to do is rid the world of "stealerships" (aka. price gougers) and sell directly to the public. Otherwise, they stand to lose out on sales.

[MrSwj]

Ironically GM was the leader in the 1990s with the cutting edge EV1sport coupe. So far ahead of its time, but they destroyed it.

[Venom-rcfk]

GM is killing it. Projecting 36 EVs in Q4 this year.

[jonasmelander]

America is so far behind in the transition to EV's. If you had the gas prices we have in Europe you would understand why it's happening so fast over here. Almost everyone who's looking to buy or lease a new car buys electric.

[richardlocke]

The S-curve, the new car market will be 100% EV way faster then CNBC thinks - Already 52% of people would consider an EV.

[mrcet]

7:22 — The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 take about 20 minutes to add around 200 miles (with a sufficiently powerful charger, which do exist today and are becoming more plentiful every day).

Most importantly though, if you have access to chargers at home or at work (all you need is an ordinary power outlet!), DC-fast-charging speed doesn’t matter, except for road-tripping 2-4 times a year for most people. Once you factor out road trips (not charged at home), most Americans only drive about 20-25 miles per day. No problem recharging that overnight from just an ordinary 110V outlet.