"Tesla loses money on every car too." This is false, Tesla averages $18,000 margin on every model S & model X it sells. "So how did GM pull off a $30,000 car with 200 miles of range?" It didn't. It is $30k only after $8000 of federal tax credits.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. It seems like the battery packs on cars are engineered to manipulate people, and this would be an easy way of making two very different cars seem the same. Lithium batteries degrade. With heat, with time, with charge cycles. Article after article writes about how Tesla's battery packs barely degrade! 8% capacity loss over 100,000 miles. This has to be a lie. Unless they've come…
I think a variety of things could be going on. Tesla does it's own research on batteries, so it very well could be making batteries that simply last longer than standard Li-ion cells. They also likely try very hard to design the battery management system such that it does not overcharge or totally discharge the batteries, which improves longevity. They also probably try really hard to keep the batteries cool. Batteries in cell phones and laptops typically die fast because people repeatedly discharge them to 5% and charge them to 100%, which puts the cells through the maximum amount of stress due to volume change. There is also poor thermal management in these devices, so the batteries are often hot when you are using your phone/laptop a lot. Lastly, you get a new phone every two years, so phone makers optimize for the highest initial capacity rather than best capacity over time.