General Motors CEO Mary Barra still calls electric vehicles (EV) the "end game" for the automaker, even as she concedes the road there is longer and bumpier than the company once planned.
Speaking with Fortune, Barra framed EVs as the industry's long-term endpoint while ticking off the reasons adoption has slowed in the United States: shifting regulations, an incomplete charging network, and plain old practicality. The talking points are familiar, but the confidence remains intact. GM's north star is still electric, she says. It just now comes with hybrids bolted on for the interim.
Asked why the U.S. transition has lagged China and Europe, Barra pointed first at the regulatory environment. A few years ago, she told Fortune, automakers were building toward rules that effectively assumed EVs would make up "40 to 50 percent" of sales by 2030. Those policies changed, and in her telling, customers gained more propulsion choices as a result. Translation: the mandates that were going to force the issue eased off, and buyers went back to picking what they actually wanted.
Barra also leaned on charging infrastructure as a bottleneck. Federal legislation funneled money into expanding the network, but she said permitting and other obstacles have made installing chargers slower and harder than expected. The number of available chargers continues to climb each quarter, she added, which is the kind of caveat that sounds better than the underlying pace.
She cited the usual EV upsides too: instant torque and never visiting a gas station. And she pointed to China and Europe as proof that government policy drives adoption, with complementary programs building out charging in those markets.
GM continues to expand its all-electric offerings as well. The company brought back the Chevy Bolt, albeit for a short run, while it's finding success with lineup of Cadillac EVs and getting strong response to its Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV full-size pickups.
For now, GM plans to offer multiple propulsion options rather than go all-in on batteries, including hybrids in "the segments we think are important." That marks a notable shift from the pure-EV messaging of a few years back. Barra said in 2024 the transition would take decades, and that the destination hasn't changed. The arrival time keeps sliding.
[Images: General Motors]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.