GM made headlines this week when CEO
Mary Barra presented
the company’s electrification and automation plans at the Barclays Global Automotive Conference in New York. “We are committed to a future electric vehicle portfolio that will be profitable,” Barra said, which could be taken as a jab at Tesla. In the presentation (
PDF here), though, we see a new vehicle in a slide titled “Leveraging existing BEV platform to expand in near term.” The vehicle, seen above, accompanied the captions “New CUV entries” and “two entries by 2020.” Is this a sneak preview of an upcoming electric crossover from GM?
The image seems too realistic and intentional to be a random placeholder. If this is, indeed, an upcoming battery-electric CUV based on the Bolt, the question remains: Will it be a Chevy or a Buick? It has no visible badging, but it shares DNA from both brands. As
Inside EVs points out, though, it does bear a resemblance to the
Chevrolet FNR-X concept unveiled in Shanghai earlier this year. With two CUVs on the way, it’s not unthinkable that there could be a version for each brand.
In addition to this slide, the presentation includes plans for an “All new multi-brand, multi-segment platform” launching in 2021. The all-new modular battery system will cost less than $100 per kWh, providing higher energy density and faster charging. The platform will host at least nine different vehicles, including a compact crossover, seven-seat luxury SUV and a large commercial van.
GM has said it will launch 20 new EVs by 2023, and that it targets 1 million EV sales per year by 2026. Many of those sales will be in China.
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