General Motors pledges to be carbon neutral; invests $27 billion in EV and autonomous tech

More and more automakers are planning to make the switch to making fully-electric and electric-assisted vehicles in the coming years.

The latest automaker to pledge towards carbon neutrality is General Motors. Come 2040, the company plans to be carbon neutral in both global products and operations. The announcement comes after the company revealed its new logo ushering in the EV era.

How does the company plan to be carbon neutral 19 years from now? GM says that 75% of their vehicles account for carbon emissions. But by 2025, the company intends EVs to comprise 40% of its model lineup in the US. In addition, GM also wants to have 30 EVs available globally.

To make this plan a reality, GM will invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles in the next five years – up from the initial $20 billion planned before the pandemic happened. The investment will include continued development of the Ultium battery, as well as updating its facilities and factories to build more EVs.

GM will stop selling gas-powered cars by 2035 image

But what about the future of GM's gas-powered cars? Well, the company said that they plan to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035. This means GM pledges to stop selling gas-powered cars 14 years from now. As for gas-powered heavy-duty vehicles, there's no word yet as to what GM has planned for them.

Besides eliminating carbon emissions and offering electric vehicles, GM also wants to make its factories run on renewable energy by 2030 in the US, and 2035 globally. Ideally, the company also wants its electric vehicles to be recharged using renewable sources like wind and solar.

With automakers like GM pledging to be carbon neutral by 2040, we can expect to see more fully-electric and hybrid vehicles roaming the streets in the not so distant future.