GM, Ford, Stellantis CEOs go back to the drawing board with EVs

Unless your name is Tesla, the U.S. EV market has been a minefield for original equipment manufacturers. There were dangerous cracks even as customers set a record sales pace through the first three quarters of 2025.

U.S. consumers flocked to dealerships to buy EVs last year, right up until September 30, when the $7,500 EV tax credit expired. But even in the third quarter, during the height of that buying frenzy, customers purchased 90 different EV models; only nine sold more than 10,000 units.

This is the climate non-Tesla EV makers have to compete in, and it has forced General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, the Detroit Big 3, to completely reevaluate their strategies.

“The vast majority of EVs sell at a rate of far less than 2,000 units a month, or 6,000 units a quarter. In the volume-driven business of automotive manufacturing, low volume is the enemy; EV profitability remains a distant dream for nearly every automaker,” Cox Automotive said last year.

GM confirmed this during its first-quarter earnings call last month. CFO Paul Jacobson said that quarterly EV losses were down several hundred million dollars year over year due to lower volumes. GM, Ford and Stellantis lose money on every EV they sell, so selling fewer of them is better for their bottom lines.

Despite this fact, OEMs are not abandoning EV manufacturing. They all still see EVs as the future of transportation and point to the success of their hybrid models (and Tesla) to show that there is demand yet to be tapped.

But each manufacturer seems to have a different strategy to bridge the gap between current demand and what they expect in the near future.

Ford CEO outlines company's future EV strategy

Of the Detroit 3, Ford seems to be the most proactive with its EV strategy. And it needs to be since it wrote down $19.5 billion in EV-related losses.

Ford is completely changing its strategy. Instead of making more expensive EVs, Ford wants to build a fleet of cars that start under $30,000, and it is relying on its Skunk Works innovation division to deliver more cost-effective platforms.

Ford Model e losses by year

• 2025: $4.8 billion
• 2024: $5.1 billion
• 2023: $4.7 billion
• 2022: $2.2 billion

"By the end of the decade, 90% of our global nameplates will offer electrified powertrains, including advanced hybrids, extended range electric vehicles, and full EVs," CEO Jim Farley stated in Ford's first quarter earnings call.

Ford is transforming its Louisville Assembly Plant to build its Universal Electric Vehicle system, which supports multiple EV brands built on a single platform. That plant is expected to produce Ford's next generation of EVs by 2027.

Two years ago, Ford announced plans to reduce its EV production capacity by 35%, and Farley said last year that "the really high-end EVs, the $50k, $60k, $70k EVs just weren’t selling.”

According to Ford, an EV’s battery can account for up to 40% of the vehicle’s total expense, so the company reimagined EV battery tech to make them smaller and more cost-efficient.

Ford says its plan is to make EVs profitably by 2029. Model e lost close to $4.8 billion last year.

General Motors' EV focus is on the present, not the future, like Ford

While EVs were a big part of Ford CEO Jim Farley's opening remarks to investors during the company's earnings call, GM CEO Mary Barra didn't discuss them much.

Her first mention of electric vehicles was to share the good news that GM's EV market share rose to about 13% from 10% quarter to quarter, while CFO Paul Jacobson talked about the benefits of lower EV volumes.

GM is all about lowering losses from its electric division as the company, which took $6 billion in EV charges in the fourth quarter alone, including $1.8 billion in non-cash charges and $4.2 billion in supplier commercial settlements, impairments and contract cancellation fees.

"Our focus remains on improving EV profitability and scaling our business as market adoption grows, albeit at a slower expected pace than we had previously seen," Jacobson said during the company's first-quarter earnings call.

Of the $5.6 billion in EV-related cash charges recorded since the second half of 2025, GM has paid back about $2.6 billion as of March 31.

"We continue to expect a benefit of $1 billion to $1.5 billion for the calendar year as we rightsize our EV capacity and run at substantially lower EV wholesale volumes," Jacobson said.

Stellantis reveals future EV plans, but it has bigger issues to fix first

Earlier this year, Stellantis said it took a $26 billion write-down from its EV losses, leading to its first-ever annual loss in 2025.

While EVs are clearly a multibillion-dollar problem, Stellantis is also undergoing several other transitions.

New CEO Antonio Filosa is still only about a year into his new gig, and the company has to figure out what to do with its sprawling portfolio of 14 brands. Last year, the company announced that it was abandoning its plan to sell 100% EVs by 2030.

But that doesn't mean the company is completely abandoning its EV ambitions; after all, the company has a huge footprint in Europe, where the EV market is much more mature than it is here in the U.S.

Last December, Stellantis unveiled the fruits of its partnership with Saft, a new Intelligent Battery Integrated System (IBIS) that could change EVs forever. 

IBIS systems embed inverter and charger functionalities directly into the battery, regardless of chemistry or application, according to Automotive World.  

This build supplies electric energy directly to the motor or to the grid, while also powering the vehicle’s 12V network and auxiliary systems. 

Benefits of IBIS battery system for EVs include:

• Up to 10% energy efficiency improvement
• Vehicle weight reduction of 88 lbs. (40 kg), which frees up to 17 litres of volume
• 15% reduction in charging time
• Easier maintenance

Stellantis didn't go into much detail about its EV strategy during its first-quarter earnings call.

Related: Jeep, Ram parent Stellantis announces $70 billion change