GM says Tesla charging deal will save automaker up to $400 million

DETROIT — General Motors CEO Mary Barra said a charging deal with Tesla announced Thursday will save the automaker up to $400 million on a planned investment in building electric vehicle charging in the United States and Canada. .

GM said in October 2021 that it plans to spend $750 million on electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the two countries. That includes home, workplace and public charging in the United States and Canada, GM said at the time.

“We think we can save up to $400 million of the three-quarters of a billion dollars originally allocated to this because we were able to do it faster and more efficiently,” Barra said Thursday in an interview with CNBC. Quick money.” “We’re really looking at ways to be more capital efficient as we move forward.”

Barra, in response to a question about licensing other Tesla technologies, said the Detroit automaker “is always going to be looking at ways to be more capital efficient” and “if there’s has other partnership opportunities, you know, we’re going to be very open to them.”

The agreement between GM and Tesla will allow GM EV owners to access more than 12,000 Tesla fast chargers, starting next year, using an adapter. It will also include GM adopting Tesla’s charging port instead of a current industry standard.

The deal with GM follows Crosstown rival Ford Motor’s announcement of a similar deal with the Elon Musk-owned automaker. The CEOs of the two Detroit automakers announced the deals alongside Musk on Twitter.

Wall Street analysts hailed the Tesla-Ford deal as a “win-win” when the deal was announced last month.

Shares of GM and Tesla rose more than 3% in Thursday’s extended trading session.