GM plans to launch 10 'new energy' vehicles in China by 2020

Attendees visit the General Motors Co (GM) Cadillac booth at the Auto Shanghai 2017 vehicle show in Shanghai, April 20, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

CHICAGO - General Motors Co (GM) plans to launch 10 "new energy" vehicles including hybrid electrics, plug-in hybrids and pure electrics in China by 2020.

Besides Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid electric that has already been in sale in China, GM's Buick will have a pure battery-electric for China by 2020, the Detroit News reported in a news released Thursday.

"New energy" vehicles are now the focus of the Detroit-based automakers. Months ago, GM launched its new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, a pure electric with an estimated 380 kilometers of range and equipped with a 60-kwH battery pack. Recently, it debuted the Buick Velite 5 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle based on the Chevrolet Volt.

Available at a price around $30,000 after a federal income tax credit, GM sold 4,384 Bolt EVs in April this year in the United States.

A McKinsey & Co study in January found the cost of an average battery pack has dropped from more than 1,000 dollars per kilowatt hour to an estimated 227 dollars per kilowatt hour in 2016. The research firm predicts that the cost could fall to less than 190 dollars per kilowatt hour by the end of 2020 and further to less than 100 dollars by 2030.

Statistics provided by the federation show that US sales of EVs and plug-ins in 2016 totaled about 159,000 units, up 37 percent from 2015.