The AP Interview: GM’s Barra stands by ambitious EV pledge

NEW YORK — The economy is a bit wobbly, but General Motors CEO Mary Barra isn’t backing off of an audacious prediction: By the middle of this decade, her company will sell more electric vehicles in the U.S. than Tesla, the global sales leader.

To fulfill that pledge in as little as 2 1/2 years, she faces some long odds against immense economic forces that are working against auto sales. Inflation has spiked, interest rates are rising, material costs have soared and a global shortage of computer chips is still braking assembly lines at GM and other companies.

But in an interview with The Associated Press, Barra said she’s confident GM can unseat Tesla with higher-priced specialty vehicles, and it will beat Elon Musk to high-range EVs at prices that people can afford.

Last year GM sold just 25,000 electric vehicles in the U.S., less than one-tenth of the estimated 352,000 sold by Tesla. Although EV sales are rising dramatically, they’re still only about 5% of the U.S. new vehicle market, with many Americans still reluctant to change.

“To really get to 30, 40, 50% EVs being sold, you have to appeal to people that are in that $30,000 to $35,000 price range,” Barra said.

Already the company has pledged to cut the starting price of the Chevrolet Bolt small SUV to around $26,000 later this year. GM is planning to roll out a Chevy Equinox small SUV with 300 miles of range for around $30,000 in fall 2023. And on Monday night in California, it will unveil a larger (and more expensive) Chevy Blazer SUV that goes on sale next summer.

They’ll join a couple of gargantuan Hummer EVs, an upcoming electric Silverado pickup and a Cadillac luxury SUV in taking on Tesla. And Barra said there’s more to come on the way to offering 30 battery-powered vehicles globally by 2025. “What we have coming, it’s in the heart of the market,” she said, without giving details.

The mainstream vehicle is something Tesla has yet to master. The Model 3 sedan, its lowest-priced vehicle, starts at close to $60,000.

Barra is hoping to keep prices relatively low, banking on chemistry breakthroughs to cut battery costs, offsetting huge price increases for Lithium and other key elements that make batteries work.

Part of the strategy is convincing buyers that an electric vehicle can meet all their transportation needs. Many EV owners, she said, also have a gas-powered auto for longer trips.

That’s why the company announced a partnership to place 2,000 charging stations at up to 500 Pilot…