Why GM Is Slamming the Brakes on EV Ambitions

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Journal — "Why GM Is Slamming the Brakes on EV Ambitions"

Date: October 29, 2025
Hosts: Ryan Knudsen, Jessica Mendoza
Guest/Expert: Sharon Turlop (WSJ auto industry reporter)
Main Theme:
The episode explores General Motors’ dramatic shift from championing an all-electric vehicle (EV) future to aggressively pulling back and lobbying against EV policies, especially following political and market changes in the U.S.

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Overview

This episode unpacks GM's reversal on electric vehicle ambitions. Once hailed as a leader in electrification, GM is now slowing its EV rollout, lobbying against emissions regulations, and scaling back plans—sparking backlash from politicians and environmentalists. Host Ryan Knudsen and reporter Sharon Turlop delve into the timeline, drivers, and implications of GM’s pivot.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

GM's Big EV Bet (2021–2023)

• GM’s Electrification Ambitions:

  • CEO Mary Barra set a bold vision: “A world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. The key to unlock that vision is electrification.” [03:06]
  • Massive investments: “We're spending more than $27 billion on our electric.” — Mary Barra [03:18]

• Wall Street’s Initial Approval:

  • GM stock surged by 50% at the time; seen as a credible challenger to Tesla. [04:32]

• Not Just Talk—Big Moves in Manufacturing:

  • Conversion of legacy factories (e.g., “Factory Zero” in Detroit-Hamtramck) to produce new electric trucks and SUVs like the Cadillac Escalade, Hummer EVs, Silverado EV. [05:31–06:19]

• Political Spotlight:

  • President Biden praised GM’s leadership: “You electrified the entire automobile industry. I'm serious. You led and it matters.” [00:24]

Market and Political Headwinds

• Consumer Reluctance:

  • Cars weren’t selling as hoped: “You started to see signs of electric vehicles piling up on dealer lots. More and more deals to move the vehicles.” — Sharon Turlop [07:23]

• Infrastructure & Range Anxiety:

  • Slow, uneven build-out of charging stations hindered customer adoption. [07:31]

• Polarization of EV Policy:

  • EVs became closely linked to Democratic politics, a “political football” [07:48], especially as new federal rules pushed for stricter emissions.

• Major Political Shift:

  • Donald Trump’s re-election brought direct pushback: “We will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American auto.” — Donald Trump [08:37]

GM’s Slowdown and Policy Reversal

• Eroding Commitment:

  • GM’s language softened: “It started with little things like language ... you weren’t getting really a specific answer.” — Sharon Turlop [10:01]
  • By 2025, the company had stopped defending its 2035 all-EV goal.

• Active Lobbying Against Regulations:

  • GM led efforts in Congress to strip California of its power to set stricter emissions, reversing their previous position. [12:03]
  • “GM, they were aggressive in their lobbying … used really strong language about how these regulations would be devastating to General Motors.” — Sharon Turlop [12:25]

• Larger Industry Context:

  • Companies like Ford and Rivian are also facing slowdowns, layoffs, and retreats from earlier aggressive EV goals. [14:45]

Motivations and Impact

• Pragmatism or Betrayal?:

  • Governor Gavin Newsom: “GM sold us out. Mary Barra sold us out.” [00:50]
  • Sharon Turlop on Mary Barra’s rationale: “She said, we're focused on our customer. We thought, you know, the customer wasn't ready for what we were trying to do. And so we're making what our customers want.” [13:34]

• Investor Approval:

  • GM’s stock jumped 15% after downsizing EV plans and laying off thousands of workers at EV plants. [13:50]

• Broader Consequences:

  • Sharon Turlop: “GM is the biggest traditional player. ... If GM succeeds at something, the industry has to respond. So where GM goes from here very much matters.” [15:06]
  • “It's going to be slow. It's going to be incremental. It's not going to be this dramatic change.” — Sharon Turlop [15:28]

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• President Biden (to Mary Barra):
  “You electrified the entire automobile industry. I'm serious. You led and it matters.” [00:24]

• Governor Gavin Newsom:
  “GM sold us out. Mary Barra sold us out.” [00:50]

• Mary Barra (2021 vision):
  “Our vision for the future is a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. The key to unlock that vision is electrification.” [03:06]

• Sharon Turlop (on consumer interest):
  “You started to see signs of electric vehicles piling up on dealer lots. More and more deals to move the vehicles.” [07:23]

• Donald Trump (on EV regulations):
  “We will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American auto.” [08:37]

• Sharon Turlop (on industry hype):
  “You'll hear the term hype cycle. Well, it's just what happens. You know, things get hyped up and people get excited about it, and then, you know, everyone comes down to earth…” [14:17]

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Timeline & Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–04:32: GM’s EV ambitions and early momentum
• 04:32–07:23: Building and marketing new EVs; early challenges
• 07:23–08:37: Consumer reluctance and political polarization
• 08:37–10:59: Trump’s reelection and regulatory rollback
• 10:59–12:42: GM’s lobbying against emissions standards, especially in CA
• 12:42–14:45: GM’s strategic rationale, investor reaction, and layoffs
• 14:45–End: Broader industry impacts and GM’s future pace

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Tone and Final Thoughts

The episode balances incredulity and pragmatism. There’s a palpable sense of whiplash—from hope and innovation in the early 2020s, to political and financial realism shaping a much slower transition. Both hosts and reporter highlight the massive gap between public ambitions and the complicated, less glamorous reality of industry change.

In summary:
While GM’s retreat may seem like a betrayal to EV advocates and some politicians, the company frames it as a necessary response to a changing market and political landscape. The future, for now, looks less electrified—and a lot less certain.

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Transcript

[Ryan Knudsen]

In the early 2000 and twenties, General Motors really got behind the idea of electric vehicles. And politicians across the country saw the automotive giant as an ally to EV friendly policies. Famously, in 2021, President Joe Biden thanked GM CEO Mary Barra at the opening of the company's new EV factory in Michigan.

[President Joe Biden]

You changed the whole story, Mary. Wherever you are, there you are. You did mar. You electrified the entire automobile industry. I'm serious. You led and it matters.

[Ryan Knudsen]

But in the last few years, and especially after Donald Trump was re elected, the company has dramatically changed its tune. And now some Democrats accuse GM of betrayal.

[Governor Gavin Newsom]

GM sold us out. Mary Barra sold us out.

[Ryan Knudsen]

That's Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom @ a press conference last month after Republicans in Washington passed a law that stripped California of its ability to regulate car emissions.

[Governor Gavin Newsom]

The Republicans rolled that back this year. Donald Trump's leadership. But the American automobile manufacturers allowed that to happen. GM led that effort.

[Ryan Knudsen]

So why would a company that seems so committed to an EV future now work so hard to lobby against it? Welcome to the Journal, our show about money, business and power. I'm Ryan knudsen. It's Wednesday, October 29th. Coming up on the show, why GM slammed the brakes on EVs.

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[Ryan Knudsen]

In 2021, GM said that it was going all in on electric vehicles at General Motors.

[Mary Barra]

Our vision for the future is a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. The key to unlock that vision is electrification.

[Ryan Knudsen]

That's GM CEO Mary Barra.

[Mary Barra]

All of this advanced technology puts GM in an incredible position to help accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. We're spending more than $27 billion on our electric.

[Ryan Knudsen]

The company committed billions to launching a slate of new EVs and phase out gas cars entirely by 2035. Here's our colleague Sharon Turlop, who covers the automotive industry.

[Sharon Turlop]

General Motors, in the last five years or so, has made just a really huge push, and not just a PR push, but they have invested billions of dollars, tons of infrastructure. They're hiring their corporate structure all around the idea of replacing gasoline engines with electric vehicles. And within a decade or so, Sharon.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Says, GM presented this decision as being about more than just business.

[Sharon Turlop]

Mary Barra, the CEO, talked about GM not just as a huge company that, you know, wants to make money and sell the best cars, but as a force to help fight global warming. She talked about GM's commitment to electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles and rolled out some pretty ambitious goals and, you know, and really made a really big splash with that.

[Ryan Knudsen]

At first, Wall street reacted positively. At the end of 2021, GM's stock was up by some 50%. At the time, the country's biggest EV producer, Tesla, was seeing runaway growth, and GM wanted to compete for the same customers. But switching from gas to electric, of course, isn't as easy as flipping a switch.

[Sharon Turlop]

When you switch from gasoline to electric, it's not like you just, you know, pluck out the gas engine and stick a battery there, like the entire supply chain needs reworking. So they had to work on this. They work a battery called the Altium battery that would essentially be kind of like plug and play so they could use the battery across the whole lineup. And that in itself was a big project, and they wanted to not be dependent on suppliers in China or suppliers elsewhere for their battery.

[Ryan Knudsen]

GM took some of its old gas car factories and converted them into modern electric car plants.

[Sharon Turlop]

One of their more famous factories, it's partially in Detroit and partially in a town called Hamtramck. They made those old Cadillacs, but that factory was really on the cusp of shutting down. And they decided that they were gonna overhaul this factory. They now call it Factory Zero. And that's where they make some of these really big electric trucks and pickups.

[Ryan Knudsen]

That overhaul of Factory 0 cost $2.2 billion. Everything GM built was brand new. A new body shop, a new paint shop, a new automation. And when it opened, that's when President Biden took the podium to cheer the company's progress.

[President Joe Biden]

God, it's good to be back in Detroit. And that Hummer's one hell of a vehicle, man.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Many of the early modern electric vehicles GM launched stayed true to the type of vehicle GM is known for, big trucks and SUVs.

[Sharon Turlop]

So think the Cadillac Escalade. It's a really big SUV. They actually revived, if anyone remembers, the Hummer. Oh, yeah, yeah. As both an electric suv, and they made a Hummer pickup truck, and then they did electric versions of their Silverado pickup truck. You know, and some of these vehicles are just coming out because of the automotive, you know, the product cycle. It takes time.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Yeah, I remember a lot of TV ads from around that time that were like, this awesome new electric vehicle and it's going to be out in like three years or something. Like what? Like, why are you pitching me this now when I can't even buy it forever?

[Sharon Turlop]

And that speaks to the urgency that GM felt to have these vehicles, not just to sell, but also to fight the image that they were just kind of sitting still while everybody else, you know, moved forward and innovated.

[Ryan Knudsen]

GM was all in on EVs. But there was a problem. Customers weren't.

[Sharon Turlop]

You started to see signs of electric vehicles piling up on dealer lots. More and more deals to move the vehicles.

[Ryan Knudsen]

One reason the infrastructure for EVs was slow to emerge. Charging stations were being built, but unevenly. And consumers had range anxiety. The other factor, EV policies became more strongly associated with Democrats. And the cars became a political football.

[Sharon Turlop]

During the Biden administration. It was a really big priority of the Biden administration and before President Biden, President Obama, to use federal regulations to push automakers toward vehicles that were more fuel efficient and emitted fewer toxins. And so then it became the debate of government intervention, and they became kind of a, you know, seen as a bit of a Democratic cause.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Then President Trump was reelected.

[Sharon Turlop]

That's when things really just. I mean, it's dramatic to say the bottom fell out because these cars are, you know, these vehicles are still selling and they are. But, I mean, it was really a switch. I mean, President Trump mentioned in his inaugural address that he was going to try to end the regulations that were pushing people toward EVs.

[President Joe Biden]

We will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American auto.

[Ryan Knudsen]

So how did GM navigate the changing landscape? That's next.

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[Ryan Knudsen]

Today. We're 10 years away from Mary Barra's ambitious goal of having 100% of GM's vehicles be electric. But the company hasn't made much progress. This year. Only 6% of GM's sales have been EVs. And as the political climate changed, GM started to walk back its bold pledge.

[Sharon Turlop]

It started with little things like language. So GM said, you know, they proudly spoke of their goal to be all evil by 2035. You'd see in their language they would just say, we're going all ev. And then, you know, if they were asked or you could read in their comments, well, when are you going all ev? And it was kind of a, you know, you weren't getting really a specific answer. And then Mary Barra particularly started to say, well, this is, you know, yeah, this is still happening. It will play out over decades. And by the beginning of this year, GM didn't say, we're not gonna meet this goal anymore. But they were no longer arguing or kind of pushing back at the assertion that they weren't going to make the goal. And then they were just saying, this is going to play out over decades.

[Ryan Knudsen]

But GM just didn't pull back its company strategy. It also became a leading opponent of stricter government emissions rules, mostly through political lobbying. And one of the company's targets was California.

[Sharon Turlop]

So California had the ability to set stricter emissions regulations than the federal government. So California had this leeway and there were, you know, more than a dozen other states that were able to attach themselves to California's higher emission standards. And so California was essentially driving the national industry through state regulations, which was a particular point of contention.

[Ryan Knudsen]

In 2022, California put in place a strict vehicle emissions rule that would have effectively outlawed the sale of gas powered vehicles by 2035. And GM largely supported it.

[Sharon Turlop]

Shortly after President Biden took office, GM came out and said, hey guys, you know, let's not fight this, let's get on board. It's in everyone's interest to meet this goal and we think it's doable. And so GM was then behind California's rule setting ability.

[Ryan Knudsen]

But this year, along with a lot of other carmakers, GM started fighting the state's power.

[Sharon Turlop]

What GM did instead was get behind the effort in Congress to strip California of its ability to set these regulations at all. So to take away California's ability, which they've had for many years, to set stricter air quality standards.

[Ryan Knudsen]

And one way GM did this was to lobby lawmakers in states that were considering following California's lead.

[Sharon Turlop]

Gm, they were aggressive in their lobbying. They sent a message to all their employees that were in states that would have adopted these regulations and encouraged them to please lobby their lawmaker. They used really strong language about how these regulations would be devastating to General Motors.

[Ryan Knudsen]

GM this year has spent more to lobby the federal government than any company other than Meta, using the money to fight clean air and fuel economy rules, weigh in on tariffs and other issues, and the effort has been successful. This spring, Congress passed a law that stripped California of its right to set emission standards. And that mandate that would have effectively required car companies to sell only EVs by 2035 is toast. Why do you think Mary Barra is doing all this lobbying?

[Sharon Turlop]

I think Mary Barra is looking at the landscape. She's looking at the fact that she needs to keep plants running. She needs to sell cars that are profitable, and the market has changed dramatically. So, you know, it's a pragmatic approach.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Has she been asked directly? You used to be talking about this, and now you're doing something different?

[Sharon Turlop]

Yeah. And she said she goes back to the customer. She said, we're focused on our customer. We thought, you know, the customer wasn't ready for what we were trying to do. And so we're making what our customers want.

[Ryan Knudsen]

And it seems like it's what investors want, too. After GM announced a few weeks ago that it was taking steps to quickly downsize some of its biggest EV bets and other moves, the company's stock shot up 15%. And today GM said it was laying off thousands of workers at factories that make electric vehicles and EV batteries. Looking back, was Mary Barra's original goal of all EV cars by 2035, was that just too ambitious?

[Sharon Turlop]

I mean, it certainly seems like it. I've talked to several people who've said, well, yeah, this is. You'll hear the term hype cycle. Well, it's just what happens. You know, things get hyped up and people get excited about it, and then, you know, everyone comes down to earth and this is just like what happens. But that certainly wasn't the prevailing opinion when the industry was kind of blowing up. This thing was starting to really show cracks well before President Trump took office and well before these regulations changed.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Companies like Ford have also lost billions and are rethinking their plans when it comes to electric vehicles And Rivian the EV company recently laid off 600 employees in the face of weaker demand. How consequential are Mary Barra's decisions on the future of this industry?

[Sharon Turlop]

GM is the biggest player, the biggest traditional player. They span the globe. If GM succeeds at something, the industry has to respond. So where GM goes from here very much matters.

[Ryan Knudsen]

And where GM appears to be going is down a much slower road toward an all electric future.

[Sharon Turlop]

It seems like, you know what's happening now is this is going to be like this is going to be slow. It's going to be incremental. It's not going to be this dramatic change that it once looked like it was going to be.

[Ryan Knudsen]

That's all for today. Wednesday, October 29th. The Journal is a co production of Spotify and the Wall Street Journal. If you like our show, follow us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We're out every weekday afternoon. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.