General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Thursday the Cadillac Lyriq EV would arrive nine months sooner than the company originally planned. In remarks at the Barclays Global Automotive Conference, she noted GM would increase its investment in electric platforms, vehicles and autonomous technology to $27 billion through 2025. One beneficiary of that investment will be the Lyriq, which is now slated to launch in early 2022, rather than 2023.
“We are transitioning to an all-electric portfolio from a position of strength and we’re focused on growth,” she said. “We can accelerate our EV plans because we are rapidly building a competitive advantage in batteries, software, vehicle integration, manufacturing and customer experience.” In total, GM plans to launch 30 new EV models in the next five years. Two-thirds of those models will go on sale in North America, stretching across all GM brands at several different price points. The company also announced a 3,000-strong hiring wave of electrical and software engineers to develop vehicles built around its upcoming “Ultium” platform.
GM’s accelerates EV plans across brands
Naturally, General Motors’ Thursday announcement doesn’t strictly focus on the Lyriq. What’s noteworthy with that car, in particular, is the accelerated time schedule. To that end, the automaker said it would move up its development and production schedule for a dozen upcoming vehicles. That includes the much-hyped GMC Hummer EV. Three other Ultium-based GMC variants will emerge, including another EV pickup. With the Hummer’s imminent arrival, it’s unclear whether that means a Sierra-based EV. They could launch a smaller Canyon-sized variant, or something completely new.
Cadillac will launch four EVs on an accelerated schedule (including the Lyriq). GM mentioned four Chevrolets on the list, including a pickup (again, possibly an electric Silverado) and a compact crossover. At this point, we know two of those EVs could likely be the Bolt hatchback and Bolt EUV. Buick will also join the others with two Ultium-based EVs. GM doesn’t specify what type of vehicles these are. Buick’s vehicles will most likely be crossovers, since that’s what the Buick brand as a whole comprises now.
Thanks to the Hummer EV’s lightning-fast 26-month development cycle, General Motors says it has a new benchmark for future vehicles.
