GM Came Out Swinging Against Tesla With Its Electric-Vehicle Technology – Barron’s

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General Motors has big electric-vehicle ambitions, and Wall Street appears to be impressed.

GM comes out swinging against Tesla, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a Wednesday evening research report, following the companys electric-vehicle technology presentation near Detroit earlier in the day.

Ives covers Tesla (ticker: TSLA) stock but not General Motors (GM). He was interested in what the state of EV technology is at a traditional auto maker that predominantly builds gasoline-powered vehicles. We believe the event was a clear shot across the bow against [Elon] Musk and Tesla, which continues to lead the EV landscape by a clear margin.

Even though Ives thinks Tesla is in the lead, he said Musks company has to take GM seriously in this EV arms race.

GM CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday that from 2020 to 2025, we will allocate more than $20 billion of capital and engineering resources to our EV and [autonomous vehicle] programs. Our investments are delivering real results and as you will see here today, they will dramatically change the future of this company and of our industry.

GM wants to sell 1 million electric vehicles annually by the middle of the 2030s. It should be noted that Tesla plans to sell 500,000 electric vehicles in 2020. Thats part of the lead Ives mentioned.

GMs EV day should help show investors that GM is serious about decarbonization and has a strong plan, RBC analyst Joe Spak wrote in a Thursday research report. He noted that GM is planning to offer 20 battery-powered models by 2023. Spak is a GM bull, rating shares the equivalent of Buy. His price target is $49 for GM stock. Spak is also a Telsa skeptic. He ratse Tesla stock the equivalent of Sell and has a $530 price target for shares.

J.P. Morgan analyst Ryan Brinkman has the same rating structure on the stocksbuy GM, sell Tesla. GM showcased its work on a next generation of batteries it calls Ultium which possess performance characteristics when mated to its new drive units that we estimate are at least on par with or even exceed that of the most advanced competition, he wrote in a Thursday research report.

Brinkman noted that GM says its batteries can travel up to 400 miles on a charge without compromising performance, such as rapid acceleration. Telsas base Model 3 will go about 320 miles on one charge. That is one data point in favor of GM, but apples to apple comparisons are difficult. Factors such as how many battery cells are included in a cars battery pack isnt known. EVs, in theory, can increase range by adding battery cells. That, of course, adds cost and weight.

GM made a compelling presentation that it will be among the leaders globally in electric vehiclesand made a compelling case that along with its partner LG Chem, its battery science was at the leading edge, Benchmark analyst Mike Ward said in an interview. If Tesla made this presentation there is no telling where the stock would trade.

Thats a funny line. Ward has a point, though. Tesla stock is up 171% over the past year, crushing comparable returns of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Shares trade for about 89 times estimated 2020 earnings. GM shares, on the other hand, trade for about 5 times estimate earnings and are down about 21% over the past year.

GM partners with LG Chem (051910.Korea) on battery technology. Teslas battery partner is Panasonic (6752.Japan).

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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GM Came Out Swinging Against Tesla With Its Electric-Vehicle Technology - Barron's