GM’s ‘All-in’ Electric Future Now Includes Gasoline

by David Ferris (Politico Pro Energywire) The company's latest hybrid plan illustrates how tough it is for traditional automakers to navigate a transition to electric vehicles. -- General Motors introduced the plug-in hybrid car to America. Then the automaker killed it and foreswore ever making it again.

The vacillations were on display Tuesday as GM, America’s largest automaker, said it would reintroduce a gasoline-electric car with a plug — a combination it effectively abandoned three years ago when it promised to go "all in" on electric vehicles and turn away from gasoline altogether.

GM is the latest automaker to signal that it's returning to the plug-in hybrid. The vehicle type seemed to be on its way out until late last year.

That’s when EV sales began slowing both in the U.S. and abroad, sending automakers back to the plug-in hybrid. It offers a compromise: a number of emissions-free electric miles, along with a gasoline tank that assures that long road trips won’t live or die on the country’s patchy network of EV charging stations. READ MORE

Excerpt from GM Authority: GM is aiming to transition its entire light-duty vehicle fleet to zero tailpipe emissions by the 2035 timeframe, and to that end, the automaker has a long list of new all-electric models coming down the pipe. That said, The General recently announced plans to reintroduce plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) to the North America market as a means of meeting rising fuel economy and emissions standards during the EV transition.

The announcement was made by company CEO Mary Barra as part General Motors’ Q4 2023 earnings report.

“Our forward plans include bringing our plug-in hybrid technology to select vehicles in North America,” Barra said. “Let me be clear, GM remains committed to eliminating tailpipe emissions from our light-duty vehicles by 2035, but in the interim, deploying plug-in technology in strategic segments will deliver some of the environmental benefits of EVs as the nation continues to build its charging infrastructure.”

Barra went on to state that the new PHEV models will help The General “comply with the more stringent fuel economy and tailpipe emission standards that are being proposed,” adding that the technology will be delivered “in a capital and cost-efficient way because the technology is already in production in other markets.”

Just last week, GM Authority explored the possibility that GM would reintroduce hybrid models to North America, arguing that while hybrids weren’t impossible, the technology wasn’t totally viable either, largely as a result of timing and cost.

It was recently reported that the EPA had sent a new fuel economy standards proposal to the White House for review, which included a 56-percent reduction in projected fleet average emissions for the 2027 through 2032 model years compared to the 2026-model-year requirements. The proposal may also mandate that 60 percent of automaker production be dedicated to EVs by 2030. READ MORE; includes VIDEO

Excerpt from Detroit Free Press: Some GM dealers have reportedly asked for GM to consider plug-in hybrids — which are propelled by both an electric motor and a gasoline engine for backup — arguing the vehicles would alleviate range anxiety and charging challenges that holds back some car buyers from purchasing a battery-electric vehicle. GM last sold a hybrid in the United States — the Chevrolet Volt — from 2010 to 2019.

“They’re listening to dealers,” Dan Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities, told the Detroit Free Press. “This was a long time coming and they needed to go down this path to appease the dealers and it’s what consumers want. They’re hedging their bets. By not going hybrid, GM would be shooting themselves in the foot.”

During the detailed call with analysts, Barra outlined the steps GM has taken to fix its EV battery module production, how GM is working to fix software glitches on the Chevrolet Blazer EV that is in stop-sale status and GM's plan to relaunch its self-driving car subsidiary, Cruise, after it halted operations following an accident between the autonomous vehicle and a pedestrian last October.

She declined to share details on the timing or which vehicles will get the hybrid technology.

Jeff Windau, senior equity analyst with Edward Jones, said GM has "gone all in with EVs and now we’re seeing softening in the EV market."

"But there is demand for hybrids," Windau told the Detroit Free Press. "The challenge is when (GM) might look to launch something. Any type of hybrid launch would require additional expenses. That wasn’t outlined in the discussion today. It seems like it’s a thought, but that they’re not fully committed to it yet. We’ll have to see how it plays out."

David Whiston, auto analyst at Morningstar, told the Free Press that, "The hybrid comment is GM reacting to actual demand versus ambitious (zero electric vehicle) goals of GM, the overall industry, and regulators. EVs aren’t affordable for many now and there needs to be more public and residential charging setup. That takes a lot of time. The base level Equinox starting at around $35,000 in midyear is a key test for how much mass market EV demand there is, especially if it’s not Tesla making the affordable EV." READ MORE