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General Motors aims to be almost all electric by 2035

General Motors has set a goal of making the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral, including operations, five years after that.

Detroit automaker investing $27B US in electric and autonomous vehicles in the next 5 years

A new sign is unveiled at General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, on Oct. 16, 2020, in Hamtramck, Mich. The automaker is aiming to make almost all of its vehicles electric by 2035. (Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press)

General Motors has set a goal of making the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral, including operations, five years after that.

The Detroit automaker's push into electric vehicles has gone into overdrive this year.

GM has already announced that it will invest $27 billion US in electric and autonomous vehicles in the next five years, a 35 per cent increase over plans made before the pandemic. It will offer 30 all-electric models worldwide by the middle of the decade. By the end of 2025, 40 per cent of its U.S. models will be battery electric vehicles. The company plans to include crossovers, SUVs, sedans and trucks in its electric vehicle lineup.

GM said Thursday that it will source 100 per cent renewable energy to power its U.S. sites by 2030 and global sites by 2035. That's five years faster than its previously announced global goal.

And it has a goal of making all new light-duty vehicles, the vast majority of its fleet, fully electric within 14 years. The company will concentrate on offering zero-emissions vehicles in different prices ranges. It's also working with others, including the Environmental Defense Fund, to build out the necessary infrastructure to power its electric vehicles and to promote their use.

This image provided by General Motors shows the new company logo. General Motors is changing its corporate logo and starting an electric vehicle marketing campaign. (General Motors via The Associated Press)

New logo to reflect shift

To account for carbon emissions that it cannot eliminate, GM expects to invest in carbon credits or offsets

The 112-year-old auto giant unveiled a new corporate logo this month to signify its new direction as it openly pivots to electric vehicles. It wants to be seen as a clean vehicle company, rather than a builder of cloud-spewing gas-powered pickups and SUVs.

GM scrapped its old square blue logo for a lower case "gm" surrounded by rounded corners and an "m" that looks like an electrical plug.

It also announced a new partnership with Microsoft this month with hopes of accelerating its roll-out of electric, self-driving cars.

All-electric federal fleet

GM's push for carbon neutrality comes a day after U.S. President Joe Biden signed executive orders that include moving to an all-electric federal vehicle fleet. His goal is to transform the nation's heavily fossil-fuel powered economy into a clean-burning one.

So far, Wall Street has cheered the shift by GM which says the industry has reached a history-changing inflection point for mass adoption of electric vehicles.

Its shares this year have outpaced even high-flying Tesla, rising more than 20 per cent to date. Shares rose almost two per cent Thursday.