General Motors Announces Plans to Only Sell Electric Vehicles by 2035
Days of ICE-powered Camaros and Corvettes are sadly numbered as GM moves to eliminate emissions.
The tea leaves have suggested for some time now that we were creeping toward a world without ICE-powered vehicles. As depressing as this may sound for enthusiasts, it is also, unfortunately, a reality that has become even clearer now, as General Motors has announced that it plans to offer a lineup consisting of nothing but electric vehicles by the year 2035.
That announcement was part of a broader communication discussing the automaker’s plans to become carbon neutral by the year 2040 – a full decade before automakers like Ford and Nissan have pledged to do the same. Additionally, General Motors has signed the Business Ambition Pledge for 1.5⁰C, a commitment to set ambitious science-based emissions reduction targets.
General Motors admits that it has a lot of work to do over the next fourteen years or so to meet that goal. Building out an entire lineup of electric vehicles takes time, as does a supporting charging infrastructure, gaining customer acceptance of EVs, and updating its facilities to support BEV production. However, the automaker found that 75 percent of its carbon emissions come from the use of its products, which is what fueled the decision to go 100% electric.
As such, GM will offer 30 electric models globally by mid-decade, while 40 percent of its U.S. lineup will consist of BEVs by the end of 2025. It is also investing $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles over the next five years – up from the $20 billion planned before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That investment will go to the continued development of GM’s Ultium battery technology, updating the Factory ZERO in Michigan and Spring Hill Manufacturing in Tennessee to build electric vehicles, investing in new sites, and job training. Additionally, more than half of the automaker’s capital spending and product development team will be devoted to electric vehicle programs moving forward.
Meanwhile, GM is also committed to renewable energy and plans to reduce the impact it has on the supply chain and the grid by investing in energy sources like solar and wind. That effort extends to assisting EVgo, an electric charging station company, in tripling the size of its network by the end of 2025 with fast chargers powered by 100 percent renewable energy.
Of course, this news means that soon, we will no longer be able to buy Corvettes and Camaros with hyper-powerful V8s, or any other internal combustion engine, for that matter. It’s a bitter pill for sure, and it also means that the future of our hobby seems a bit bleak.
But at the same time, we’ve seen what electric-powered vehicles are capable of performance-wise, and we doubt that this titanic shift toward EVs will kill our hobby. After all, GM is already selling an electric crate motor, and there are still plenty of ICE-powered rides out there in the world just waiting for an LS swap.
Photos: General Motors.
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