GM looks to Norway as EV exemplar

February 12, 2021February 15, 2021 Stephen Corby 1098 Views Advertisement, cars, GM, Superbowl, Superbowl ad, Will Ferrell

The hilarious Super Bowl advertisement made to promote GM’s plans to introduce 30 new EVs by 2025 – No Way, Norway, starring Will Ferrell – was no joke for the company’s CEO, Mary Barra, who genuinely admires Norway’s success with electric-vehicle adoption.

GM is planing to spend a whopping US$27 billion on electric and autonomous technologies (self-driving cars featured in another prominent Super Bowl ad for the company featuring Edward Scissorhands) between 2020 and 2025.

In a recent investor call, Barra made it clear how seriously she is taking the EV future, that she wants her company to be number one in electric vehicle sales, which means crushing Tesla and staying ahead of Ford (which is also tipping in US$29 billion to EVs).

And she has big numbers in mind, with a goal of selling more than a million electric vehicles a year by 2025 across the US and China alone.

While the No Way, Norway ad features Ferrell hating on Norway for kicking America’s butt when it comes to EVs, Barra laughed when asked about the commercial Barra laughed and explained that, far from hating Norway, she admires the way the country has managed to reach the point where more than half of all new cars sold there are electrified.

As a numbers person, Barra is obviously determined that GM’s battery-powered cars will be just as profitable as petrol-powered ones, and possibly more.

GM chairman and CEO Mary Barra presenting the company's electric future. GM plans to eliminate CO2 tailpipe emissions across its light vehicle fleet by 2035, suggesting it will stop selling diesel and petrol cars by then — GM chairman and CEO Mary Barra presenting the company’s electric future. GM plans to eliminate CO2 tailpipe emissions across its light vehicle fleet by 2035, suggesting it will stop selling diesel and petrol cars by then

The company’s Ultium battery system – name checked by Ferrell in the ad – is focused on cutting costs while increasing range and Barra said work was already under way on the next generation of Ultium, which will cut costs even further.

“To meet these commitments, we will offer EVs across all our brands and span the global EV market from the low-cost Wuling Hong Guang Mini to the hand-crafted Cadillac Celestiq,” she said.

Stephen Corby

Stephen is a former editor of both Wheels and Top Gear Australia magazines and has been writing about cars since Henry Ford was a boy. Initially an EV sceptic, he has performed a 180-degree handbrake turn and is now a keen advocate for electrification and may even buy a Porsche Taycan one day, if he wins the lottery. Twice.