This comes as good news for the car manufacturer as it aims to exclusively make EVs in the future. The title for second-largest EV maker was once Ford's. Despite that, Tesla is still far ahead as the top EV manufacturer.
GM Takes Second Place
GM surpassed Ford by selling almost 21,000 EVs in the first quarter of 2023, as opposed to Ford, who has only sold more than half of that at 11,000 units. Ford's low sales have put the company as the fifth-largest EV manufacturer in the US.
Tesla stays on top with General Motors in second and Hyundai and Volkswagen are now the third and fourth place, respectively. Tesla continues to dominate the market with an estimated 161,630 EVs sold in 2023's Q1, as mentioned in Engadget.
GM's goal is to build 50,000 EVs by mid-2023, and 100,000 before the year ends. Ford could've possibly held its place if it wasn't for the series of unfortunate events that the company has experienced in the past few months.
For one, reports say that Ford had some significant production issues with two North American plants, which is why they had to use the existing plant in Mexico. It has also gone through a recall due to its Ford F-150 Lighting electric pickup batteries catching fire.
This sets the company back five weeks in production. This could also affect the car company's plans with its lithium iron phosphate battery packs, which are part of its plans to produce 600,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2023.
Tesla has a far more ambitious goal. It plans to create 20 million EVs every year by 2030. Then again, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has the tendency to exaggerate some estimations. Experts think that it's likely lower than the mentioned number.
General Motor's All-Electric Vision
GM is among the many companies that are slowly transitioning toward becoming an all-electric car manufacturer, along with that is the goal to put everyone in an electric vehicle to help reduce carbon emissions brought by fuel-powered cars.
Mary Barra, the Chair and CEO of General Motors expressed that climate change is real and that they want to be part of the solution by putting everyone in an EV. This vision will be made possible by GM's Ultium batteries.
The company sees the battery pack as a milestone achievement for electrification, which costs 40% lower than the ones found in Chevrolet Bolt EVs. The second generation is expected to cost 60% less than the batteries that are standard today.
The versatility provides many uses for the battery such as building blocks for the mass market to high-performance vehicles, as mentioned on the company's website. While the company has a long way to go, they are very well on the way to it.
The Ultium battery cells will be manufactured in Lordstown, Ohio, which is a part of General Motors' partnership with LG Energy Solution, and a step toward the company's vision of a greener future.
