Josh Tavel
Senior Vice President, Energy Storage and Propulsion, R&D and Manufacturing Engineering
2021-02-19
Josh Tavel is General Motors’ senior vice president of Energy Storage and Propulsion, R&D and Manufacturing Engineering. He leads a team that is responsible for closely integrating GM’s products and processes during the vehicle development process, including all battery development and battery manufacturing activities. With his deep experience pioneering EV engineering programs coupled with vast knowledge of the EV customer journey, Tavel’s focus is on delivering a more streamlined approach to technology development, unlocking faster implementation of new programs and better aligning teams to deliver on GM’s core growth objectives.
In his former role as global vice president of Customer Care and Aftersales, Tavel led the team responsible for servicing every vehicle in GM’s portfolio and delivery of parts worldwide for GM and non-GM vehicles. During his time in this role, his team successfully deployed a strategy to define a frictionless customer experience for both ICE and EV service customers as the company accelerates its transition to an all-electric future.
Previously, Tavel served as the executive chief engineer for Battery Electric Trucks, leading a team responsible for GM’s dedicated electric truck architecture that has become the benchmark for speed-to-market with quality. In addition to being an EV pioneer, Tavel has held various U.S. and international truck positions, covering mid-size, light duty, and the commercial medium duty trucks and upfitter integration.
Tavel joined GM in 2001 and has worked in a variety of locations, including Sao Paulo and Indaiatuba, Brazil; Incheon, South Korea; GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan; and GM’s Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan. He has extensive experience across the product development process, vehicle, and hardware engineering. In addition, he has also worked in manufacturing and has created many external partnerships.
Tavel earned a bachelor’s degree in Automotive Engineering and Technology from Minnesota State University and a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Michigan.