GM announced last week its plan to ditch fossil fuels completely over the next 15 years,a historic shift for the combustion-engine automaker with brnds liek Chevrolet and Cadillac.
The automaker is plotting an "all-electric future," in which all operations will be certified as carbon neutral. By 2035, all GM vehicles will only run on battery as the company positions itself to better compete with automakers like Tesla.
GM intends to phase out all light-duty vehicles using internal combustion engines beginning in 2025 and replace them gradually with pure electric vehicles. In recent weeks, the company announced the planned rollout of up to 30 new EVs that will be released as sedans, SUVs, and pickup trucks.
Even GM's heavy-duty trucks and manufacturing facilities will transition to clean technology, and the company said the decision is the way forward that all industry players will take on eventually.
"General Motors is joining governments and companies around the globe working to establish a safer, greener, and better world," NBC News reported GM CEO Mary Barra as saying in a statement.
Barra believes that GM focusing on battery-powered vehicles will bring success to the company over the long-term and the realignment will "make a significant impact on our industry and on the economy as a whole."
The shift will see GM betting big on its Ultium battery technology which will be the backbone of upcoming EV releases. The target is to make all-electric vehicles highly efficient that consumers will be convinced they are cheaper to own and operate.
The big picture for the automaker is to eliminate its carbon footprint altogether. GM projects that by 2040, its operations in and outside of the United States will be governed by clean technology with the use of solar, wind power, hydrogen power, and carbon capture.
GM's electric ambitions will require the development of technologies and infrastructure in support of the push. It is expected that the company will double down on working to give Tesla a good fight by releasing EVs that boast noticeably superior powertrain and advanced autonomous driving system.
Equally important is the setting up of the electromobility network that will challenge Tesla's already ubiquitous Supercharging stations in the United States. Quartz said GM's electric push will hurt in the short-term as the company will trigger the rapid depreciation of assets that were built over the past 100 years.
However, these same assets were deemed by analysts to be "stranded" soon so GM is betting on the future by accelerating the jump from carbon to green technologies. In essence, the automaker is retooling now so it can be on the same track that Tesla started building on years ahead.
