GM announces plans for meeting reaching neutrality goals

Electric vehicles are an important factor in combating climate change. To meet international emissions targets and limit warming to below 2 degrees celsius, environmental groups have, in recent years, been campaigning for manufacturers to move away from petrol and diesel. 

Now, General Motors (GM) has announced that it plans to start a phase-out of all diesel gas-powered vehicles by 2035. Additionally, it has set an ambitious target of becoming totally carbon neutral by the year 2040 at the latest. 

For the last few years, GM has been leading the way in its plans to reduce its environmental impact. The company’s leaders say they hope to move quickly towards a future free from emissions altogether, both for US consumers and around the world.  

The firm says that it’s striving to meet its goal of using 100% renewable energy in all its US facilities by 2030, followed by all its international ones by 2035.  It is currently on track to achieve these objectives and plans to release 30 new electric vehicles in the next 5 years. 

Will electric vehicles be profitable?

Despite concerns over profits, the company is positive about switching to all-electric vehicles and says it will be profitable. 

Chief sustainability officer Dane Parker said in a statement that it will have little impact on profits, adding that reducing prices along with huge advancements in technology mean that electric cars are an exciting opportunity. 

He said, “We feel this is going to be the successful business model of the future. 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.”

CEO Mary Barra also said in a LinkedIn post, “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. That is why it is so important that we accelerate toward a future in which every vehicle we sell is a zero-emissions vehicle.”