General Motors, America’s largest automaker, is all set to join the cohort of producing electric cars just like Tesla (TSLA), Ford (F) and Rivian and plans to add an all-electric pickup to its portfolio.
GM’s clientele has mostly been comprised of SUV buyers. Electric cars in general have been slow to catch up with American car buyers, even though electric hybrid models jumped from 195,226 in 2017 to 360,353 last year, but that is still less than 2% of the overall new vehicle market.
One of the other dominating automakers, Ford, has been planning to launch its own electric cars for some time now and has invested $500 million in Rivian to ramp up its production. It has confirmed that it is working up what is expected to be an all-electric version of its best-selling F-150.
It is not yet clear what GM exactly has in store, but it seems likely that a battery-based version of the big Chevrolet Silverado is underway. While everyone is focussing on full sixed trucks, this mid-size model could give the company an edge.
Echoing the lead of Rivian, Ford, GM and Tesla, these automakers would need to keep in mind another factor: range and charging. For example, drivers miles away from El Paso and even further from San Antonio, there would be a few public chargers, especially the high-speed ones he’d need access to when hauling goods to market.
For city dwellers, the issue could be access to a mechanic, especially in remote areas.
Notwithstanding these issues, U.S automakers are diversifying their portfolio by including electric vehicle line up. For example, Amazon has also teamed up with Rivian and is speculated to launch a fleet of battery-powered delivery trucks.