So Government Motors is abandoning all pretense of being a commercial company responding to market forces? What a surprise!
GM looks jealously at the government subsidies that Tesla has received. That is what it is all about.
Relative to the efficiency of electric cars they are no more efficient than a diesel engine. Yes I said that. A diesel engine is about 35% efficient. A lithium ion battery and the electric motor is about 95% efficient or better.
From the burning of coal or natural gas at the generating station you will lose about 63% of the energy. The biggest energy loss is at the generating station. Most of that energy goes up the smokestack. A typical power plant converts about 37% of the energy of the coal or natural gas into electricity. The losses of energy from the battery to the electric motors is only a few percent depending on the efficiency of the electric motor.
Point being an electric car is not one damn bit more energy efficient than a modern diesel or gasoline engine. They burn just as much hydrocarbons.
Entropy always wins.