General Motors mulls manufacturing only electric vehicles by 2035
General Motors will stop producing fuel-guzzling vehicles by 2035 and shift to electric models in order to become carbon neutral by 2040. It will use 100% renewable energy to power its US facilities by 2030 and global operations by 2035. The announcement comes a day after US President Joe Biden signed several executive orders that give priority to climate change. Here are more details.
Future goals of the company
As part of its "triple zero vision," GM imagines a zero-emission future via electric vehicles and aims to achieve it by 2040 by becoming carbon neutral. Other goals include zero crashes using advanced safety tech and self-driving vehicles and zero congestion.
'Selling zero-emission vehicles a necessity'
Outlining the company's future plans, GM CEO Mary Barra said, "For General Motors, our most significant carbon impact comes from tailpipe emissions of the vehicles that we sell — in our case, it's 75%." "That is why it is so important that we accelerate toward a future in which every vehicle we sell is a zero-emissions vehicle."
Currently, EVs make up less than 5% of global sales
For the global automotive industry, electric vehicles, which include both battery-powered and fuel cell cars, are currently a niche segment and make up less than 5% of sales, as per analysts. They are also costly to produce because of the battery and fuel cells that power them. However, experts believe that stricter regulations to reduce carbon emissions will increase their usage.
'Transition to EVs will be profitable'
GM's chief sustainability officer, Dane Parker, has said that the company plans to be profitable while transitioning from vehicles with internal combustion engines to EVs. "We're confident that with the resources we have and the expertise we have that we'll overcome challenges and this will be a business model that we will be able to thrive in the future," he added.
GM to release 30 new EVs globally by 2025
The company has already announced that it is planning to shift three of its US factories to manufacture electric vehicles. As part of a $27 billion investment in electric and autonomous vehicles, it will launch 30 new EVs globally by 2025. It also expects to sell most, if not all, of its luxury Cadillac cars and SUVs across the world as e-models by 2030.
