- GM still plans to only sell EVs for its light-duty passenger vehicles by 2035
- The automaker's backed off its current EV sales targets
- GM expects to be the first U.S. automaker outside of Tesla to turn a profit on EVs
General Motors still aims to eliminate tailpipes from its light-duty passenger vehicles by 2035, CEO Mary Barra said in an interview with The New York Times.
GM announced the all-electric pledge in 2021 as a key part of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Barra said at the time that about 75% of GM's carbon impact comes from the tailpipe emissions of the vehicles it sells. The 2035 target would see that go down to zero for light-duty vehicles, while still leaving GM an opening to continue selling heavy-duty trucks with internal-combustion engines.
2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV
The first steps toward that goal were predicated on the rollout of GM's new EV battery and propulsion system, until recently branded Ultium. That hasn't gone smoothly, but GM is still committed to ditching tailpipes, Barra said, adding that the automaker is on track to start making EVs profitable by the end of the year. It would be the first U.S. automaker to do so outside Tesla, which has made money solely off EVs sales since 2021 after profiting for years on sales of emissions credits.
That optimistic outlook assumes issues GM has had so far in its EV ramp-up will be short-term. Barra said the automaker has largely solved the production issues that got this ramp-up off to slow start and have led to the delay of of some EVs, while touting the supposedly imminent arrival of the $35,000 version of the Chevrolet Equinox EV that will be a key affordability play until a new Bolt EV arrives as a 2026 model.
2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV
Barra said earlier this year that GM will miss a target, announced in 2022, to have production capacity for one million EVs by 2025, claiming the market is "not developing." But there's still time between now and 2035 for that development to take place. And while Barra has expressed surprise that EVs have become political, she said GM won't change course regardless of which party wins the presidency in November—despite the proudly anti-EV stance of the Republicans.
GM is still making changes, though. The automaker earlier this month pulled the plug on the Ultium name for its EV batteries and related components, and is moving ahead with plans to adopt lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells to lower costs.
