Cadillac May Lead the Way for Electric Vehicles for GM

Although we haven’t seen a large number of electric vehicles offered from the GM brands, the ones that we have seen have been extremely successful. The Chevrolet Volt and Bolt have both carried the hybrid and electric platforms for the GM family but the Cadillac name might be where we see the EV market grow for this family of brands. If Cadillac is tapped to be the electric vehicle brand that we see carrying the name in the future, we will likely see models that are meant to compete against Tesla for dominance in this segment of the industry.

The BEV3 Platform for Cadillac

The newest platform from GM to build electric vehicles on is the BEV3 platform which will be the one that will be used by Cadillac for the models that we will see in the future. Using this platform, we should see future electric vehicles offered in the US and in China, where GM has recently opened a battery plant and has begun a partnership with SAIC Motor Corporation. The expected number of models that will wear GM brands and offer electric powertrains is at least twenty, and several will likely be offered in the luxury Cadillac brand.

The Chinese Success of Cadillac

We’ve known for several years that the Buick brand was popular in China, but over the past couple of years, Cadillac has grown in popularity as well. In this market, GM saw the sales of Cadillac models rise by 17.2 percent in 2018 to surpass 200,000 models for the first time. This success, coupled with the movement toward EV models in China, has made it possible for GM to be confident they can sell one million EV models a year by 2026 to meet or exceed the strict production quotas on these types of vehicles.

When Should We See New Models

The goal for GM is to offer us these new models, including the Cadillac luxury EV offerings, by the model year of 2021. Ten of the models are expected to make their way to China while the other ten will be offered for driving in the US. Because of this continued development of electric models, GM is urging the current presidential administration to support a nationwide program to boost the sales of zero-emissions vehicles, which has been part of what California has done for the past several years.

Growth Where it Matters

On the heels of announcements by GM that sedan production of many models will end in 2019, it seems there is a light that could be used to continue to offer a strong production base with the new lineup of EV models. Two Ohio senators have already requested that GM commit to building all future EV models for the US market in the country, and with several plants that will have the capacity, this seems to be a possible step forward. Hopefully, we will see a new Cadillac EV model soon and it will be one that’s built within the country.