Electric Car
The Future Is Electric, Not Oil-powered Cars
Electric vehicles are a topic of great importance to the future of GM … and to the future of our country for that matter..
Over the last day and half, you’ve heard a number of interesting perspectives about how to address energy independence and climate change … and there are some great vehicles on display here that contribute to the solution to those issues.
I’d like to talk about General Motors’ vision … and why we are also inspired to help solve what we perceive to be the very real, very challenging environmental matters facing our country and our industry.
These issues are, by their very nature, global in scope. So, let’s begin with an assessment of the global auto industry. Despite the current challenges of the auto industry in the United States … globally, our industry is in the midst of tremendous growth.
There are about 820 million vehicles in the world today; roughly 12 percent of the world’s population enjoys the benefits of automobile ownership and driving. Automobile ownership and use is a rough indicator of what some call middle class economic status. With rapid growth in many regions of the world, there are more people achieving this status than at any time in history, and the personal freedom that autos provide is highly valued.
As such, we expect that at least 15 percent of the world’s population will own a vehicle by 2020 – that’s a billion vehicles. This expansion is being fueled by growth in emerging markets like China and India.
As you’ve already discussed, this growth has created serious concerns about the automobile’s almost exclusive dependence on petroleum. This increasingly creates issues with supply and availability, sustainable growth, climate change, and even national security.
As we look at this picture today and consider the future of the automobile, one fact stands out above all others… going forward, we can no longer rely primarily on oil to supply the world’s
Electric vehicles are a topic of great importance to the future of GM … and to the future of our country for that matter..
Over the last day and half, you’ve heard a number of interesting perspectives about how to address energy independence and climate change … and there are some great vehicles on display here that contribute to the solution to those issues.
I’d like to talk about General Motors’ vision … and why we are also inspired to help solve what we perceive to be the very real, very challenging environmental matters facing our country and our industry.
These issues are, by their very nature, global in scope. So, let’s begin with an assessment of the global auto industry. Despite the current challenges of the auto industry in the United States … globally, our industry is in the midst of tremendous growth.
There are about 820 million vehicles in the world today; roughly 12 percent of the world’s population enjoys the benefits of automobile ownership and driving. Automobile ownership and use is a rough indicator of what some call middle class economic status. With rapid growth in many regions of the world, there are more people achieving this status than at any time in history, and the personal freedom that autos provide is highly valued.
As such, we expect that at least 15 percent of the world’s population will own a vehicle by 2020 – that’s a billion vehicles. This expansion is being fueled by growth in emerging markets like China and India.
As you’ve already discussed, this growth has created serious concerns about the automobile’s almost exclusive dependence on petroleum. This increasingly creates issues with supply and availability, sustainable growth, climate change, and even national security.
As we look at this picture today and consider the future of the automobile, one fact stands out above all others… going forward, we can no longer rely primarily on oil to supply the world’s