GM Joins Growing List of Carmakers Going Electric

Several governments, including those in Britain and France, have declared that sales of new fossil-fuel powered cars will be phased out gradually over the next couple of decades. China, currently the world’s leading new-car market, is discussing a similar ban on the sale of new fossil-fueled cars but has not offered any specific targets yet.

GM executive Mark Reuss said:

General Motors believes in an all-electric future. 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.

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In the same announcement GM also introduced its “Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure” (SURUS) that the company said is a fuel cell–powered, four-wheel steer concept vehicle on a heavy-duty truck frame driven by two electric motors.

GM’s Chevy Bolt sold 2,107 units in August, more than the Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model S or Model X. For the year to date, Bolt has sold 11,670 units, behind both the Model S and the Model X.

The Chevy Bolt also sold more units in August than any plug-in hybrid, although it trails the Prius Prime from Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and its cousin, the Chevy Volt, in year-to-date sales.

U.S. rival Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is expected to announce its new plan under new CEO Jim Hackett late Tuesday. We can all be pretty sure that electric vehicles will be a significant part of whatever Hackett has to say, but Ford’s problem is that, unlike GM, it needs to show a commitment to a new and rapidly evolving industry with some concrete idea of where it stands and where it’s going. The plug-in Chevy Volt has outsold Ford’s C-Max Energi by nearly three to one so far this year, and the Chevy Bolt sold more units in August than the all-electric Ford Focus EV has sold in the first eight months of the year.

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GM stock traded up about 4% in the noon hour Monday, at $42.01 in a 52-week range of $30.21 to $42.48, a new high set this morning. The 12-month consensus price target on the stock is $39.52. GM and other carmakers will be releasing monthly sales figures for September Tuesday morning.

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