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GM plans to become EV software leader, expand EV lineup to 20 by 2028: Reuters

Renovations and new construction continue at General Motors Factory ZERO Friday, July 2, 2021, in Detroit, Michigan. GM is investing $2.2 billion to convert the former Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant into its first fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly facility. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)

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General Motors plans to set itself up as the leader of electric vehicle software and intends to tell investors at a meeting next week that this, along with expanding its electric vehicle lineup to 20 models by 2028, is its focus over the next several years in the United States market.

Sources close to the matter told Reuters earlier this week that GM intends to shift from an automaker to a platform company as it could be the key to broadening its profit margins. “GM’s gone from an automaker to a platform company, and here are all the things you can do with that,” the source said. “The question you should ask yourself is will we see doubling of revenues? Will we see margin expansion? Those are the sorts of things that you’re going to see over a period of time. Stay tuned for pretty impressive numbers on revenue and margin expansion.”

Next week at the Investor meeting, GM plans to show how it will spend its $35 billion budget for expanding its electric vehicle lineup through 2025. Additionally, the sources said that executives would discuss its plans for autonomous vehicles and give five-year targets for revenue and profit margins.

GM has announced on several occasions that it will be all-electric by 2035. Its electric vehicle program already consists of the Chevy Bolt EV, which has been plagued with battery issues in 2020 and 2021. However, the company will resurrect the Hummer line with the GMC Hummer EV, which will enter production in the Fall, the automaker said. GM plans to unravel additional details regarding the Hummer EV during the meeting, which will take place next Wednesday. Additionally, the company will give more information on the EV600 delivery van, the Cadillac Lyriq, and new product launches like the electric versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup, which could come in late 2022 and late 2023, respectively.

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GMC shows off Hummer EV “CrabWalk” feature in real-world conditions

GM introduced its new software platform called Ultifi last week. The company highlighted that software-oriented products would be vital in keeping profit margins high during the transition from ICE to EV. It will detail some plans for this at the meeting as well, as well as how it will leverage partnerships with LG to cut the cost of EV production, which is pricey due to the cost of batteries.

By 2028, GM wants to have at least 20 new EVs in the US, mainly consisting of the region’s most popular body styles. These include SUVs, pickup trucks, and crossovers.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with tips! Email us at tips@teslarati.com, or you can email me directly at joey@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially revealed its 2026 Summer Update, which comes with a variety of crazy new features, including Navigation fixes that owners have been wanting for months.

Tesla routinely releases a larger update with the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter updates, where it ships a variety of new features, bug fixes, and other additions to customer cars.

The 2026 Spring Update featured things like “Hey Grok” voice assistance, a redesigned self-driving app, Unreal Engine visual upgrades, and more.

Tesla’s Summer Release has about ten new features; we’ll show you each and detail them below:

New Grok Voice Commands

“Grok can now make phone calls, search and play music, adjust climate, open the glovebox, and answer questions about your Tesla.”

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Self-Driving Stats in Mobile App

“View and share self-driving stats from the mobile app.”

Caraoke With Scoring

“Caraoke now scores your singing while in Park. High scores are saved to your Tesla profile.”

Automatic Navigation

“Automatic Navigation now adapts to your routine.

In addition to Home, Work, and upcoming calendar events, your vehicle can now suggest and route to places you visit regularly – like a school drop-off on the way to work, or the gym on the way home.”

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Preferred Routes

“For a more personalized experience, navigation now prioritizes routes that you’ve taken before”

Set Arrival Energy from Mobile App

“Set your desired Arrival Energy from your phone.”

Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App

“Skip the USB drive and upload a custom wrap of your car from the mobile app. Instructions for creating a custom wrap here: https://github.com/teslamotors/custom-wraps.”

Rear Display Lock

“Kids can watch content on the rear screen, but only the front row can control it through the rear screen app.”

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Other Improvements

  • Find Superchargers by name when searching for a destination
  • Add Apple Music songs to queue from search and artist page
  • Set your preferred zoom level for the Self-Driving visualization
  • Intro animations for new Model 3 and Y
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Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you, as the company’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, finally shed some light on the reason they are putting a satellite internet terminal on its ride-hailing-geared vehicle.

On Monday, Tesla officially confirmed that it would integrate Starlink V5 terminals into Cybercab vehicles, something many Tesla fans had figured the company would do, as the vehicle is primarily geared toward giving rides without any passenger intervention.

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The ability to access the internet would allow riders to work or play in the car with their devices. It seemed like a more-than-reasonable feature to add to the Cybercab, which made its way off the production lines for the first time earlier this year.

Tesla reveals first vehicle model to receive Starlink integration

However, the move is not for the rider, as Elluswamy confirmed on Monday night. Instead, it’s actually for Tesla to be able to have a constant connection to the cars in the Robotaxi fleet so it can troubleshoot issues, contact riders, or resolve other issues.

Elluswamy said:

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“It is still not required for safe operation of the vehicle. Connectivity is primarily meant for navigation, customer service and, in general, fleet management.”

Many initially assumed the option of constant connectivity would be enabled on the Cybercab for passenger entertainment or work. With the Cybercab, passengers won’t be doing anything but enjoying the ride, so it seemed more than logical that they would be hanging out with Starlink internet access as an amenity.

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However, Tesla’s primary concern with Robotaxi is safety, and nailing these first unsupervised rides is a crucial step to setting a good narrative on how effective driverless transportation can be.

Being able to get in touch with passengers or a vehicle if something is wrong is a crucial part of the overall experience, and preventative measures are being taken by Tesla to ensure a smooth process, even in the worst-case.

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Tesla Robotaxi program expands in Florida to two new cities

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has expanded its Robotaxi program in Florida to include two new cities: Tampa and Orlando.

This marks the second and third cities to be added to the company’s available locations for autonomous ride-hailing in the Sunshine State, joining Miami, which was the first Florida city to offer Robotaxi rides.

Tesla announced the addition of Orlando and Tampa to the Robotaxi program on Tuesday morning. The cities now join Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and the San Francisco Bay Area as locations where Tesla can operate its Robotaxi platform:

These rides are unsupervised, as AI Head Ashok Elluswamy confirmed the suite in Florida is operating without safety drivers or anyone within the cabin to assist with operation.

Orlando Tesla Robotaxi Operation

The geofence in Orlando covers a prominent irregular shaded zone on the map, roughly 4-6 miles across in key dimensions, so it likely measures somewhere between 25 and 45 square miles, which is comparable to other early Tesla launches in other cities.

It encompasses central and southern areas bounded by major highways including SR-417 and SR-528, including parts of the Orlando metro core, tourism-adjacent zones, and residential/commercial districts. This represents an initial targeted rollout in a tourist-heavy region, positioned for quick expansion via Tesla’s software updates.

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Tampa Tesla Robotaxi Operation

In Tampa, the shape of the geofence is a shaded polygon covering key neighborhoods, explicitly including West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Hyde Park, and downtown Tampa proper, with boundaries along major roads and the Hillsborough River area.

This focuses on high-demand central zones and will offer tourists and citygoers rides without drivers.

Robotaxi Progress

Tesla has been operating Robotaxi since last June, when it launched in Austin. The geofences in most regions have already expanded several times since their launch last year, but the bigger complaint is vehicle availability. Tesla has been working to add more Robotaxi-enabled vehicles to its fleet.

Tesla expands Robotaxi geofence, but not the garage

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The company still plans to utilize its Cybercab, a new vehicle that is being produced at Gigafactory Texas, for the Robotaxi suite alongside the Model Y, which has been the vehicle of choice for Tesla with early operations.

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