General Motors on Wednesday unveiled new technology features that include an artificial intelligence assistant that people can talk to while they drive, a lower-cost battery and self-driving software that will allow drivers of some cars to take their eyes off the road in some circumstances.
The announcements, at an event in New York attended by Mary T. Barra, the G.M. chief executive, seemed designed to show that the company is a technology leader on a par with Tesla and Chinese rivals like BYD.
“Together, these innovations signify a fundamental shift in G.M.’s evolution,” the company said in a statement.
In the United States, the G.M. brands Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC are second only to Tesla in electric vehicle sales. Chinese carmakers are effectively banned from the United States by high tariffs. But in Asia and Latin America, G.M. is losing sales to companies like BYD and Geely.
Including vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel, G.M. sold about twice as many vehicles worldwide in the third quarter as Tesla did. But Tesla, which is run by Elon Musk, has a stock market value more than 20 times as large as G.M.’s, reflecting investors’ belief that the smaller carmaker is at the forefront of new technologies like autonomous driving.
Beginning next year, G.M. said, it will be offer Gemini, Google’s A.I. system, in both electric and gasoline vehicles. Drivers and passengers will be able to ask Gemini for restaurant recommendations, directions and information from the owner’s manual for the car.
In 2028, G.M. said, it will introduce a more advanced version of its driver-assistance software, called Super Cruise, that will allow drivers to take their eyes off the road when they are on many highways. Currently, systems offered by G.M. and other manufacturers require drivers to watch where the car is going and be prepared to intervene if the software makes a mistake. Initially, the new system will be available only on divided highways, but G.M. said that later versions would also work on city streets
The electric version of the Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle will be the first model to get the new eyes-off technology, G.M. said.
To accommodate the new features, vehicles will be equipped with a more powerful computer system that will enable faster software updates and more capacity to handle the demands of artificial intelligence, G.M. said.
The company also said that, beginning in 2028, it would mass-produce batteries that used more manganese and less nickel and cobalt for use in electric vehicles. Manganese is significantly cheaper than the other two metals. Recent advances in so-called lithium manganese rich technology, or LMR, will allow batteries to store as much energy as more typical batteries that contain a lot of expensive nickel and cobalt, G.M. said.
The company said that it expected to be the first carmaker to offer the technology, which will cut the cost of manufacturing an electric vehicle by thousands of dollars. But Chinese companies are also working on it, G.M. executives acknowledged.
Automakers are under pressure to cut the cost of batteries to compete with Chinese manufacturers, and to maintain electric vehicle sales after the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress eliminated tax credits that had reduced the cost of such cars by up to $7,500.
Batteries are the most expensive component in electric vehicles and the main reason E.V.s cost significantly more than comparable vehicles powered by gasoline.
Jack Ewing covers the auto industry for The Times, with an emphasis on electric vehicles.
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