General Motors to start its second attempt to be a mass-market leader in EVs

To be sure, GM and Tesla both have formidable competitors in the rear-view mirrors: Ford, as well as Jeep, which just this week unveiled its own plans to roll out plug-in versions of its lineup. Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Kia, and newer EV makers including Rivian, Fisker, Nio, Xpeng, and others are also working on cranking out battery-powered vehicles.

“When we started out here, we were told electric cars were impossible, and even if, really if you could make an electric car with a couple of hundred miles range, then nobody would buy it anyway because people love gasoline cars,” Musk told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting last month. “When we started out it was dumb to start a car company and then dumb squared to [start] an electric car company. Now we have the highest operating margin in the whole industry.” Further added, “There’s a lot of talk of competition among electric vehicles. But really EVs take market share from gasoline cars. And from Tesla’s standpoint, we obviously welcome this,” at the meeting.

At $35,000 less than the Tesla Model Y, the Equinox should have real competitive power — at least on the pricing side. General Motors (GM) CEO Mary Barra last year said the company can “absolutely” catch industry leader Tesla in US sales of EVs by 2025. A special company emphasis is on safety as a priority for families with the hope that the model will become a best seller for the company.