General Motors only wants to sell emission-free cars from 2035
Chevy Bolt EV. (Image: GM)
No time right now?
The US automaker General Motors is nailing it. The group wants to have buried the combustion engine in just 14 years. With this, GM is preparing for tougher political guidelines.
From 2035, the US auto giant General Motors (GM) plans to only offer emission-free vehicles worldwide and completely forego combustion technology. The group aims to become CO2-neutral overall by 2040. CEO Mary Barra said on Thursday that GM wants to join “governments and companies around the globe working for a safer, greener and better world”.
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US policy increases pressure on automakers
With this, GM is rushing past the competition and is setting itself more ambitious climate targets than other manufacturers in terms of time and scope. At Volkswagen, for example, the year 2040 is vaguely the prospect of phasing out combustion engines. The premium brand Audi recently indicated that it would switch to emission-free cars before 2030. However, this is not a reliable, resilient promise – especially since the company had already made similar suggestions in 2017 with a view to 2025.
The decision of the GM group is also to be seen under the impression of increased political pressure in the USA. For example, the most populous US state, California, does not want to allow any new combustion vehicles from 2035. At the same time, California is the largest US auto market. The state has also been a pioneer in climate protection for a long time with regulations that many other states apply as a model.
President Biden wants to massively promote e-cars
The election of Democrat Joe Biden as president may also have played a role. He had always emphasized that he wanted to devote himself more to climate protection. Accordingly, shortly after the election, GM announced that it would focus on more ambitious emissions targets in the short to medium term. Biden had also announced that it would be promoting the purchase of electric cars. So it is not surprising that the auto giant’s new course has already been favorably noted in the White House.
The changeover will be a mammoth task for GM. Because of the 2.5 million vehicles sold in the USA last year, only around 20,000 are electric. Furthermore, GM hasn’t had much luck recently. It was not until November 2020 that the manufacturer had to call over 68,000 electric Chevy Bolt vehicles to the workshops because their batteries could have gone up in flames.
GM now wants to accompany the announced change of course with a large investment program. Over the next five years, the group wants to increase its investments in e-cars from 20 to 27 billion US dollars.
