GM Expected to Make Electric Cars This Year
General Motors Corp. is expected to announce today in Los Angeles that it will begin producing electric vehicles to be sold in California as early as this year.
A company source said GM Chairman John F. (Jack) Smith Jr. is scheduled to make the announcement at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, which begins today with a two-day preview for the media. “It involves the production of electric vehicles,” the source said. “It is for 1996.”
The announcement would mark the first specific commitment by a major auto maker to build electric vehicles. It would come as the California Air Resources Board is contemplating postponing a requirement that major auto makers produce electric vehicles beginning in 1998.
In a press release, GM said only that Smith would “make a significant announcement concerning GM’s plans for advanced technology vehicles” at the company’s Saturn exhibit. GM executives provided no other details, including the number of vehicles to be produced, the price or whether they would be powered by lead-acid batteries or more advanced, powerful ones.
This would not be the first time that GM has said it would produce electric vehicles. In 1990, then-Chairman Roger Smith startled the auto world by announcing that GM would mass-produce the sporty two-seat, battery-powered Impact car by the mid-1990s.
But financial troubles prompted GM to abandon that promise. While the company continued to work on electric vehicles, it joined forces with Ford, Chrysler and Japanese manufacturers to convince state regulators that it would be premature to try to introduce the nascent technology to consumers.
After nine months of intense lobbying by the auto and oil industries, the air board in December signaled its intent to push back the requirement for exhaust-free cars until 2003. The board will not vote on easing the mandate until March.
In exchange for the reprieve, the auto makers agreed to sell small numbers of electric vehicles in 1996 and ’97 and to continue their multimillion-dollar investment in the technology.
In a news conference with reporters in Detroit on Wednesday, Jack Smith--who is also GM’s chief executive--would not comment on today’s announcement. But when asked about what he expects the air board to do, he said, “My judgment is that CARB is going to back down from the mandate.”
Ever since it unveiled the Impact, GM has been recognized as the leader in the electric-vehicle race. The company says it has already spent $350 million to develop electric vehicles and devise innovative manufacturing processes.
In addition, it has invested in a joint manufacturing venture with Ovonic Battery Co. to produce a nickel-metal hydride battery, which can drive small cars twice the distance of lead-acid batteries before recharge.
Although it could not be learned what vehicle GM will produce, the vehicle is likely to be a variation of the Impact concept. The company hesitated to introduce a two-seater because of the limited appeal, but it could use many of the Impact’s technologies in a somewhat larger, more utilitarian vehicle.
It is also not clear whether GM will sell the electric vehicles to the public or focus instead on fleet sales to utilities and other businesses. The auto makers would prefer to put small test fleets on the roads to see how they perform in real-world conditions.
Making the announcement at the Saturn exhibit may have symbolic importance. Smith has previously said that electric vehicles may be sold in Saturn dealerships and perhaps be given a Saturn badge. Saturn is GM’s most forward-looking car division and is the one that originated many marketing ideas, such as no-haggle selling, now widely copied throughout the industry.
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Auto makers unveil their latest for the media in Detroit. D2
