GM Chief Mary Barra Rewrites Roadmap: Plug-In Hybrids To Deliver Green Goals As EV Growth Slows

General Motors Co GM CEO Mary Barra revealed during the company’s 2023 earnings call that it intends to incorporate plug-in hybrid technology to select vehicles in North America despite its vision to stop selling combustion-engine light-duty vehicles by 2035.

What Happened: Barra on Tuesday announced the company’s intention to deploy plug-in technology without providing a specific timeline for the same.

“We are going to be bringing those in at a time where we need them from a compliance perspective,” Barra said, referring to new tailpipe emission standards being proposed. For 2024, however, pure electric vehicles are the focus, she added.

GM’s Goals Of Eliminating Tailpipe Emissions: The CEO reiterated the company’s commitment to removing tailpipe emissions from light-duty vehicles by 2035 on the call.

“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 said.

EV Targets For 2024: Regarding the company’s EV portfolio, Barra said that the company intends to scale the production of its EVs this year and produce 200,000 to 300,000 Ultium-based Chevrolet GMC, Cadillac, and BrightDrop EVs in North America while also bringing new models to showrooms.

However, this will all be subject to customer demand, Barra said, while adding the company may switch to making more combustion engine vehicles and fewer EVs if demand drops.

"It's true, the pace of EV growth has slowed, which has created some uncertainty," the CEO said.

In October, GM withdrew its EV production targets of making 400,000 EVs from 2022 to the first half of 2024.

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