General Motors is facing challenges in electric vehicle production. The company has a very ambitious electric vehicle plan backed by its Ultium architecture, but most vehicles are not yet in production. Most of those who go into production have difficulty in reaching the desired production capacity.
GM's chief financial officer, Paul Jacobson, said at the JP Morgan investor conference on Aug. 9 that electric vehicle production from Cadillac Lyriq to the Brightdrop Zevo 600 model has been impacted by an issue with mounting battery modules.
This issue was first mentioned by CEO Mary Barra in its second-quarter earnings release last week. GM actually had to shut its CAMI Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, for two weeks in July due to a reported battery shortage.
Jacobson said they produced more than 1,000 Lyriq SUVs in July, but that's still well below the automaker's initial expectations. The company had a production target of 25,000 units for the Lyriq last year, but its Spring Hill facilities, Tennessee, failed to meet this target and only 8,195 units were produced.
GM is working to overcome these challenges in electric vehicle production. The company is investing to increase the production capacity of the facilities producing battery modules and zamcontinues to develop new electric vehicle models.
However, it is not yet clear whether GM will overcome these challenges. The company wants to become a major player in the electric vehicle market, but to achieve this it will need to significantly increase its production capacity.