Mary Barra, General Motors (GM) CEO recently made a huge future prediction regarding projected plans around her company’s electric vehicle (EV) models, stating the expectation is for GM to sell one million EVs each year.

Car and Driver reported that while that may not be the best number to aim at if we are talking about today (in the here and now, versus future expectations), since currently, each Bolt EV sold has reportedly been costing GM approximately $7,000-$9,000. Having said that, with battery research on the rise, and declining costs around batteries in general, not to mention the stricter regulations for emissions globally (thus, ultimately making fossil fuel cars that more costly), these calculations could be changing, making this one-million-projections that much more worthwhile.

GM has created about 18 different EV prototypes, from autonomous cars, sedans, SUVs, as well as sportscars, all on the same platform, which could make up for the slew of GM EVs on the horizon; making Barra’s one-million-EV-annual target one that shows the company a profit in the years ahead.

With that said, the largest factor in all this is the change in cost when it comes to batteries. Back in 2010 when the Volt was first released, estimates in general had the cost for each kilowatt-hour battery at over $1,000. In today’s age, those costs have decreased to $200. Cited via Bloomberg, GM President Mark Reuss stated that if battery costs hit $100 for each kWh, then GM would stand to make some money when it comes to their all-electric vehicles. 

With a focus on the Chinese market sales, when GM started back in 2017 that it would introduce 20 brand-new all-electrics by the year 2023, then a clearer picture is revealed around the one million EVs annually, currently projected, and how this makes sense for GM, moving forward.