GM To Release Electric Truck Next Year With 20 More EVs By 2023

General Motors Company (GM) plans to release a full-size electric Chevrolet pickup truck offering a range of 400 miles sometime next year.

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On July 16, the automaker released its annual sustainability report which explained that the Chevy pickup which will be part of the automakers’ goal of releasing 20 electric vehicles (EV) by 2023. The report stated, “Chevrolet BET Truck, which will be the brand’s first electric full-size pickup, offering 400+ miles of range on a single charge.”

Last year, at the Barclays Global General Automotive Conference, GM CEO Mary Barra offered a preview on the company’s truck plans by saying that “EV building blocks” will be used for its full-size trucks in the future. She stated on November 21, “General Motors understands truck buyers, and we also understand people who are new coming into the truck market, that view it as a lifestyle vehicle.” She added, “We understand both customers very, very well.”

There were no details on what the mile-range for vehicle towing will be for the truck which is generally considered key information for consumers when making a buying decision.

GM announced changes on March 4, 2020 for its vehicle cells with plans to make them more energy and cost-efficient by reducing the amount of cobalt in its batteries by 70%. The company highlighted that it will offer power ranging from 50 to 200 kWh, which could allow for a driving range of up to “400 miles or more.”

The goal is to bring down battery cell costs to $100/kWh to allow the company to scale-up its production levels. GM previously announced a range of mass production efforts including working with LG to mass-produce batteries in Lordstown, Ohio for a total joint investment of $2.3 billion. In January, GM also announced additional plans to revamp its Detroit plant at a cost of $2.2 billion to enable electric and autonomous vehicle production.

The multi-year strategy comes in light of GM’s competitors announcing EV trucks. Telsa’s (TSLA) Cybertruck was announced last November and Ford (F) plans to bring an electric truck to sale by 2022.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas noted the market cap of GM is under $40 billion which is less than one-fifth of Tesla’s. He believes the divergence between the market cap of the two, in addition to Ford, “deserves greater consideration.” The analyst stated that based on his estimations, he believes GM’s EV business to be “roughly $100 billion.” Jonas reiterated his Buy rating on the shares and a price target of $43 that is based on the overall business, not including GM’s electric division.

GM stock is down 27% year-to-date with a Moderate Buy analyst consensus that breaks down into 8 Buy ratings versus 3 Hold ratings and 1 Sell rating. The $29.50 average price target implies 12% upside potential for the shares in the coming 12 months. (See GM’s stock analysis on TipRanks).