General Motors (GM)

GM appears to be setting the stage for the US to challenge Norway’s lead in electric vehicle adoption with a new Super Bowl ad featuring Will Ferrell.

GM’s out with another press release saying it aspires to be fully electric in its consumer fleet by 2035. Yet the company only sells one EV, down from a few if you included the Chevy Volt/Cadillac ELR a few years ago, on its lots. Press releases are easy and often for GM. Putting EVs on the lots is what we want to see.

Every day, presumably now for the next 14 years, GM will be rolling gas vehicles off its assembly lines knowing that each one will be contributing heavily to carbon emissions. Also, one has to wonder, Why make pie in the sky promises for 15 years in the future when current GM leadership will no longer be there and will have no responsibility? It all feels a little… greenwashy.

GM announced that Cruise, its self-driving startup, has raised a new $2 billion financing round led by Microsoft.

The software giant is putting some skin in the self-driving game.

GM recently launched its new BrightDrop electric van to electrify delivery vehicles, and now the automaker announced that it is investing $800 million to produce new electric vans in Canada.

GM is again teasing the Chevy Bolt EUV ahead of the full unveiling, which the automaker has now confirmed is coming next month.

The GM announcements keep coming at CES 2021 this year. Today GM CEO Mary Barra announced a new division called BrightDrop that would be building electric delivery vehicles and the technology to go along with it.

GM is starting a huge campaign this week in the US and will be rolling out in phases globally to highlight the automaker’s move to electrification. The campaign was done by McCann as well as the logo and type, which was developed in-house. It’s a big change and will envelop all of its products, including its legacy ICE vehicles.

GM is set to produce a Honda-branded electric vehicle and an Acura-branded electric crossover in Mexico and Tennessee starting in 2023.

GM is getting into the habit of releasing small —very small — teasers of upcoming electric vehicles, and now it is releasing another one for the Bolt EUV teaser.

This time, it’s the headlights.

GM has dropped its plan to build the Nikola (NKLA) Badger electric/fuel cell pickup truck and take a stake in the controversial company.

However, GM will still supply Nikola with fuel cell hydrogen technology for its semi trucks.

GM has said that its Cadillac brand could go all-electric by the end of the decade, and it is facing some pushbacks from its dealerships.

The automaker has now given them a generous ultimatum.

GM announced today that it dropped out of litigation the Trump administration launched against California over the state’s effort to implement its own more stringent emission regulations on the auto industry.

While it is good news, the move does appear opportunistic following President Trump being defeated in the US elections earlier this month and President-elect Joe Biden having confirmed his support for electric vehicles.

GM is getting serious about its new electric vehicles coming to market in the new few years, and it is going to support them with a new EV organization and tools.

GM has given everyone a first peek at the SUV version of the GMC Hummer EV, which will complement the previously unveiled pickup truck version.

GM has teased a new electric pickup truck prototype in the background of a new investor presentation.

We bring you a glimpse of it.

GM has committed to an additional $7 billion in funding for electric car and autonomous vehicle programs and will launch 30 new EV models globally through 2025, CEO Mary Barra announced today. Two-thirds of these new EV models will be available in North America, and 40%(!) of GM’s US model line will be battery electric vehicles by 2025. GM also announced it would be moving its US debut of the Cadillac Lyriq SUV up from late 2022 to early 2022.

But GM has been making a lot of announcements lately, yet if you go to a GM dealership today, there’s a very small chance you’ll see an EV. Should we take GM at its word?

GM is announcing today that it is initiating a voluntary recall of 68,667 Chevy Bolt EV electric cars model year 2017 to 2019 over a potential fire risk. There have been 5 reported fires in close to 70,000 vehicles produced.

What you need to know if you are a 2017-2019 Bolt Owner:

• There have only been 5 fires out of almost 70,000 cars on the road over 3.5 years
• GM recommends that you don’t park your car in a garage at full state of charge
• GM recommends that 2017-2018 Bolt owners set “Hilltop” state of charge or 2019 owners manually set to 90% when charging. Instructions are below. Some 2019 Bolts were made from LG Cells manufactured in Holland MI and those aren’t affected by this recall.
• Chevy Dealerships will put a 90% top limit on the amount of charge (There is no OTA) until there is a long term solution found. You can enter your Bolt VIN here to start the process.

GM has released the tiniest of teasers for its upcoming Chevy Bolt EUV electric car — the much-anticipated follow-up to the Bolt EV.

GM is kicking off its hiring effort and making construction progress at its Ultium battery factory under its new Ultium Cells LLC joint-venture with LG Chem.

The new startup is looking to hire over 1,000 workers that will support the production of GM’s future electric vehicles.

GM has unveiled its 1977 Chevy K5 Blazer-E converted to electric power with its upcoming eCrate conversion kit using Chevy Bolt EV batteries.

Where they can get away with it, certain legacy carmakers are still perfectly content to be dragged, kicking and screaming, toward electrification. Curiously though, there are instances in which the self-same car companies that make little effort in their home country can’t resist the revenues on offer in nations with significant EV sales. Numerous of them have fought for Norwegian consumers in recent years, and even electric vehicle laggards, Toyota, now have a pure electric vehicle for the Chinese market, despite aggressively campaigning against “plugging in” in Europe.