General Motors (GM) has announced that it plans to phase out all of its diesel and gas-powered vehicles by 2035, with the aim of going completely carbon neutral by 2040. The company said Thursday that it’s on track to meet its goal of using 100 percent renewable energy to power its U.S. facilities by 2030 and global facilities by 2035.
For several years now, GM has been striving to reduce its impact on the environment by moving toward an emissions-free future. The company has announced plans to release 30 new electric vehicles globally by 2025; more than 20 will be just for North America.
“For General Motors, our most significant carbon impact comes from tailpipe emissions of the vehicles that we sell — in our case, it’s 75 percent,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a message on LinkedIn. “That is why it is so important that we accelerate toward a future in which every vehicle we sell is a zero-emissions vehicle.”
All-electric switch will still be profitable
Dane Parker, GM chief sustainability officer, added that the plans aren’t likely to have an impact on profitability.
“We feel this is going to be the successful business model of the future,” he said. “We know there are hurdles, we know there are technology challenges, but we’re confident that with the resources we have and the expertise we have that we’ll overcome those challenges and this will be a business model that we will be able to thrive in the future.”
Parker said the combination of a reduction in pricing and advancements in technologies has “made this an inflection point that we want to seize.”