General Motors Going All-Electric: Two New EVs By 2019, 20 New EVs by 2023
With Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Hackett set to announce the company’s strategy to investors on Tuesday, General Motors seized on the opportunity on Monday to make arguably a bigger splash by announcing its plans to ditch the combustion engine entirely and go 100% electric in the future.
General Motors’ Monday announcement revealed that the automaker will launch two new all-electric vehicles “based off learnings from the Chevrolet Bolt EV” within the next 18 months, and that those two EVs will be the first of 20 new all-electric vehicles to launch by 2023. It is likely that one of these new forthcoming EVs is the Bolt-based Buick that was previewed for a focus group in California earlier this year.
“General Motors believes in an all-electric future,” said Mark Reuss, General Motors executive vice president of Product Development, Purchasing, and Supply Chain. “Although that future won’t happen overnight, GM is committed to driving increased usage and acceptance of electric vehicles through no-compromise solutions that meet our customers’ needs.”
To get to this point, GM is taking what it calls a two-pronged approach that involves the expansion of both battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric technology. Earlier this year, General Motors and Honda announced a joint venture—Fuel Cell System Manufacturing—specifically for the purposes of mass-producing hydrogen fuel cell systems.
GM also announced SURUS—standing for Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure—a four-wheel-steer concept built on a heavy-duty truck frame and powered by two electric motors and a fuel cell. The SURUS is intended to serve as the future architecture for commercial and service vehicles like delivery trucks and ambulances. SURUS was not revealed publicly on Monday.
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