American auto manufacturer General Motors (GM) has pledged to produce only electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025 and become carbon neutral in its global products and operations by 2040, the company said in a statement. The company plans to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035.
The decision comes one week after US President Joe Biden took office pledging to curb carbon emissions and boost the sales of electric vehicles.
The company will offer 30 all-electric models globally and 40pc of its US models offered will run on EV battery by the end of 2025. It also aims to reduce the prices of some of its EVs to make them accessible and boost EV sales in the coming years.
The company will increase its investment in the EV sector to $27bn in the next five years from $20bn planned before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The investment includes continued development of the company’s Ultium battery technology and ramping up facilities such as Factory ZERO in Michigan and Spring Hill Manufacturing in Tennessee to build EVs from globally sourced parts. It is also investing in new sites like Ultium Cells LLC in Ohio.
In the coming year, GM plans to offer an EV in every segment, from crossovers and SUVs to trucks and sedans. The company will also source 100pc renewable energy to power its US sites by 2030 and global sites by 2035, five years before its goal.
In 2020, the company sold 2.55mn units in the United States, of which around 20,000 units were electric vehicles.