General Motors Co (NYSE: GM) caught the market’s attention on Friday after the automobile giant’s CEO, Mary Barra, revealed that it has partnered with Tesla to utilize the latter’s charging systems in North America. It can be remembered that Ford Motor Company revealed a similar deal with Tesla at the end of May. The stock of General Motors closed Friday’s trading session at $36.23, up $0.38 or 1.06% from the prior close.
As per the agreement, beginning next year, the electric vehicles manufactured by General Motors will gain access to about 12,000 fast chargers from Tesla through the use of an adapter and the charging application of the Detroit, Michigan-based automobile manufacturer.
Similar to Ford, GM will also start deploying a charging port, referred to as the NACS (North American Charging Standard), utilized by Tesla, rather than the prevailing CCS (Current Industry Standard), in its electric vehicles (EV) in 2025.
As an outcome of the deal, Mary Barra pointed out that GM will be able to save a maximum of $400 million out of the earlier announced $750 million capital expenditure for establishing EV charging stations.
The recent collaborations with two prominent Detroit automakers are perceived as a notable victory for Tesla and its electric vehicle charging mechanism. This development is anticipated to force other automakers and also the US government, which has poured billions of dollars into the creation of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network, to rework its strategy and embrace Tesla’s technology.
When the Tesla-Ford agreement was announced in the final week of May, equity analysts praised it as a “win-win” deal. During a live meeting (audio) on the Twitter platform, the GM-Tesla deal was revealed. The deal also reflects an abrupt turnabout in GM’s strategy. Just a few weeks ago, when Ford revealed the deal with Tesla, GM was coordinating with engineering firm SAE International to build and improve an open connector model for CCS.
During the Twitter meeting, which lasted hardly 10 minutes, Barra stated that there is a possibility to make the NACS module a standard for the entire North America. She also expressed her belief that such a scenario would lead to a greater level of adoption.
Interestingly, Barra had not used the Twitter space since October 27, 2022, when Musk concluded the takeover of the social media platform. GM also discontinued advertising on the platform.
A General Motors spokesperson clarified that some of its management executives still use Twitter, but the company has yet to restart advertising on the platform. After the Twitter meeting, Barra stated that there is a possibility for the company to resume advertising. GM, which is reworking its marketing strategy, is currently looking for a chief marketing executive.
As an outcome of the deal, access to fast chargers is expected to double for GM and Ford vehicle users. Correspondingly, the use of Tesla’s network is also expected to increase.
According to the latest data, Tesla has about 45,000 Supercharger connectors spanning 4,947 Supercharger Stations worldwide. The company has not revealed the number of chargers in the US. In comparison, the number of CCS chargers is only about 5,300 in the US, as per the data published by the Department of Energy.
Back in February, White House officials stated that Tesla is keen to provide non-Tesla electric vehicles access to 7,500 of its charging stations by the end of next year.
Tesla vehicle owners will not be given any priority in charging as Musk aims to establish an “even playing field.”
The major worry for electric vehicle buyers is the sporadic availability of public charging networks. Currently, only Tesla has set up an impressive charging network. Other auto manufacturers have signed agreements with third-party firms that have yet to prove their trustworthiness.
The Tesla-GM agreement is expected to keep GM’s stock range-bound with a slight bullish bias in the short term.
The historical price chart indicates that the stock of General Motors is ascending after testing support at 32.50. The next resistance is anticipated only near 42. Additionally, the stock has closed above its 50-day moving average, while the Chaikin Money flow indicator is showing a positive reading. Therefore, we anticipate the stock of GM to remain in an uptrend in the days ahead.
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