General Motors has hired an abundance of new lobbyists in recent weeks as the Biden Administration prepares to invest heavily in electric vehicles and other clean vehicle technology.
According to a report from The Detroit News, GM hired 24 new lobbyists from five different firms in the past week alone, who work to influence public policy with regard to EVs and autonomous vehicles. The lobbyists will also articulate GM’s interests with regard to other important aspects of the automotive industry, including taxes, infrastructure, cybersecurity, trade policy and more.
The Biden Administration has indicated it will introduce new tax incentives for electric vehicles and invest billions to set up thousands of electric vehicle charging stations across the United States. The White House hopes moves like these will help encourage consumers to buy a battery-powered vehicle instead of an internal combustion engine one when shopping for a new car, truck or SUV, in turn helping it to meet the strict climate goals it has set for itself.
GM has committed billions to emerging vehicle technology, with plans to invest $20 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles between now and 2025. The automaker will be keen to get the government on its side when it comes to shaping future environmental policy, then, as the future of its business could hinge on the immediate public response to EVs and AVs. The automaker is also planning to sell electric light duty passenger vehicles only by as early as 2035 and will be fully carbon neutral by 2040.
“General Motors is joining governments and companies around the globe working to establish a safer, greener and better world,” GM CEO Mary Barra said earlier this year. “We encourage others to follow suit and make a significant impact on our industry and on the economy as a whole.”
More than half of GM’s capital spending and product development funds will go toward electric and electric-autonomous vehicle programs in the coming years. The company says it will eventually offer an EV “for every customer, from crossovers and SUVs to trucks and sedans.”
The automaker is also covering off the fleet side of the business with product offerings like the recently unveiled BrightDrop EV600 – purpose-built electric delivery van engineered with companies like FedEx in mind. Fleet vehicles like this could be valuable to GM once the Biden Administration begins replacing the federal vehicle fleet with EVs – a move that could represent $20 billion in business for companies like GM and Ford.
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Comments
What a waste of money. How about giving customers what they want? I guarantee the automakers (or any business for that matter) that survive will be the ones who offer customers what they want, not the ones who try to force things like AVs down our throats.
BTW: gm never said they will sell only electric cars by 2035
Tigger
Its Wine and Cheese.
Lots of people whine about GM discontinuing models, but the real problem is not enough people are putting cheddar down on those models.
It has to be done. Don’t forget that there are oil / natural gas lobbyists that have been influencing the government for decades and will continue to push fossil fuels over alternative energy in congress and presidential administrations.
They’re the major reason why we, as a country, have been dragging our feet on green energy, emissions regulations, high speed rail for so long.
C’mon man! Do you not understand how energy sources work or are you just delusional? Fossil fuels are more suitable for the grid most of the time because output can be adjusted to meet demand and doesn’t need to be stored in batteries. If the renewable energy was stored in batteries those batteries would eventually degrade. Eventually, they will need to be recycled or disposed of, both carbon intensive processes, that aren’t particularly great for the environment. Batteries have been around just as long, if not not longer than the use of fossil fuels. Honestly, the battery lobbyist job is just a losing battle right now because battery tech just isn’t that impressive or great for the environment at this time. Tough pill to swallow, but it’s the truth.
h4cksaw
Hydroelectric Dams are basically used as batteries today. When theirs low power demand the utilities let water build in the lakes behind the dams. During high power demand all the generators are running.
Power demand is usually highest between the hours of 2pm & 10 pm. By installing more solar panels, utilities can shift more hydroelectric power to the evening hour.
Ok and dams are great for the environment now? Hydro is just 6.6% of the total power supply and just 38% of the renewal supply. Lots of holes in your logic, but keep standing on that soapbox. Sun sets before 6pm around me half the year… tough to generate solar energy when there’s no sunlight. Natural gas and other fossil fuels aren’t going anywhere for a very long time.
h4cksaw
Air conditioning uses more electricity than anything else. Most of the country only uses A/C in the summer.
We could also connect the 3 US grids. transmit electricity west in the am hours, east in the pm hours effectively extending the day by 3 hours.
Heating homes will always take more energy than cooling. How? When it’s 30 F degrees outside and 70 inside that is a 40 degree difference. When it’s 85 outside and 75 inside, that is only a 10 degree difference. Heating and cooling is about the transfer of heat, more heat more $$.
We should really stop trying to talk sense to these people, they clearly don’t want to have it. They’ve got their krooked, money grabbing agenda and that’s all they care about.
h4cksaw
Your virgina is showing.
Air conditioning removes heat and humidity from the air. It takes a lot of energy to turn the water vapor in the air back to a liquid. Also all the heat energy gathered inside must be dumped outside. Which takes even more energy.
When heating: every warm body; every time we use electricity; the sun coming though the windows all add extra heat to a space. As our homes and buildings get better insulated the need for heat diminishes.
For supplemental heat. The stuff that we actually think of as the heating bill for our homes and buildings. Its:
50% electric
44% Fossil Fuels
6% wood
Bottom line Electricity demand is highest on the hottest summer days.
Liberals are too stupid to understand energy OR economics.
So clear cutting the natural environment is fine, as long as its for electrical lines? However, if you do it for a natural gas pipeline it’s the end of the world? Do you really not see the hypocrisy in that logic?
h4cksaw
Fossil fuels come from deep within the earth, and you know who lives deep within the earth “Satin” I don’t see how a good Christian conservative can align himself with Satin.
HOW DARE YOU!!!
Battery storage is the most expensive way in the world to make electricity. Liberals should be in jail for causing blackouts.
Wow, it truly is government motors after all. Glad I gave up on gm a long time ago. I come here just to keep up on the competition. Mopar has become what I used to like in gm. The 5.7 hemi has is quickly becoming the modern equivalent of what the 350 chevy smallblock used to be. Mopar literally has all gm’s old european connections as well. I’m so glad Mopar and gm didn’t merge and the good thing about mopar being foreign owned is that I feel this government is leading the u.s. down a dark path and companies like gm are drinking the koolaid more than anyone else. I think gm will phase out the gen v smallblock before mopar phases out the hemi. Sad.
The remnants of Chrysler is kicking butt. They are very underrated. See the new Jeep Magneto concept? It is an EV with a transmission and actually drives like an ICE, not a glorified golf cart.
That’s hysterical. You whine endlessly when GM produces a model in a foreign country and now you’re praising foreign brands. The hypocrisy has reached new levels.
Jeep Wrangler made in Toledo Ohio. Jeep Cherokee made in Belvedere Illinois. The rest of the Jeep lineup made in Michigan. All Buicks except Enclave made in Asia. Who’s the hypocrite now?
BTW, Stellantis is a multinational corporation listed on the European and New York stock exchange with multiple headquarters including the Netherlands, Michigan, France, and Italy.
I don’t give a damn where the home office is, I just care where my vehicle is made.
Jeep Renegade & Compass are made in Mexico.
I stand corrected. Was thinking about the Grand Cherokees and Wagoneers.
Yay, more tax incentives for the rich, thanks sleepy Joe. 78% of BEV tax rebates went to people making over 100k. These more well off people don’t need a rebate if they’re gonna buy a car. How about we stop trying to manipulate the market? If people really want BEVs they’ll just buy them. Sleepy Joe should be more focused on vaccinations and healthcare. Honestly aren’t we under enough state control already?
great idea. lets put an income cap as well as a price cap on these EVs receiving a tax credit.
vehicles should be capped at $50K.
but $100K is too low for income. two teachers make that much.
and how about a partial credit for hybrids?
Well I mean to say the buyer made 100k, so that’s just one person. I consider a yearly income of six figures to be pretty well off.
Depends where you live. If you lived in San frasisco or New York city that 100k salary isnt going to get you much.
a 100k salary is still well above the median (50k) and mean (75k) salary in NYC. Keep defending rebates for the rich tho… it really makes sense.
The reason this tax credit was created was to reduce toxic emission. Capping the amount that someone can make a year or that a car can cost to qualify would just say we don’t care if the rich pollute. The goal of the tax credit is to reduce car emissions even if rich people own thous cars.
we shouldn’t be subsidizing millionaires buying $100K vehicles. period.
Sleepy Joe loves to make all his corporate homies richer tho. He does this by keeping the blinders on the lower class, giving them just enough trivial stimulus and benefits to keep them happily repressed…
I think EV’s have a place. For those who live in the city and have access to parking and electrical it works for them. Because most would just hop a plane to go anywhere than drive and rent a car once they get there.
If I had the room for a EV it would be tempting for just going to store and work. I still want a ICE car for longer trips. I don’t want to have to change plans just to plug in somewhere.
I think giving tax incentives should not be done. Let them sell on their own.
Would you also remove oil and gas subsidies? I think if we paid the real price for fuel people would switch to EV’s a lot sooner. Imagine $6-7 gallon fuel. Fuel prices in the US are artificially low.
You literally don’t know what you’re talking about. How about we remove renewable subsidies too? Per kWh renewables get far, far, far more subsidies than fossil fuels, something like 10x more. If you want to actually read and be educated on the claims you make I’ve included a link.
www. forbes. com/sites/jamesconca /2017/05/30/ why-do-federal-subsidies-make-renewable-energy-so-costly/? sh=2fd2a7b9128c
Not to mention the destruction of the scenery with those stupid windmills and solar farms. But I guess visual pollution does not count to the greenies.
Yet you support those creating noise pollution by those who modify their exhaust systems. Not to mention increased emissions after those modifications have occurred. Oh, and those diesels that are now blowing black smoke aren’t an issue either.
Your thinking has created a need for extreme measures. Look in the mirror when you don’t like these extreme measures being implemented.
I go to the country to get away from noise, and the sea to relax and enjoy the water. I do not go to those places to look at damn windmills and solar panels.
The noise and black smoke from vehicles go away in a few seconds. The windmills and solar panels last forever.
…and that includes onerous taxes on gas, which can be considered an incentive to go electric. Make the ev’s pay their share of road tax.
Time for Mary and company to kiss Slippy Joe’s butt for more government incentives.
In the picture above poor Joe looks like he’s trying to figure out how to get out of the Corvette and Mary is over there saying you just push the button Joe.
i bet trump’s big orange rump couldn’t even fit into a corvette.
I couldn’t tell you what he fits in or the color of his “rump” but I can tell you I have never seen him fall up a flight of stairs.
look at trump’s face. his rump looks just like it.
I will have to take your word for it, apparently you have seen Trump in a way most never have. 😉
i’m the best pimp (and in trump’s case matchmaker) in russia. i’ve got tapes.
Living the dream! I hear your now headed to China with Joe and Hunter, some guys have all the luck!
not quite all the luck … my franchise only covers eastern europe and southern florida.
no time for china. searching high/low for trump’s next wife. you heard it here first!!!
This is what is wrong with the country, lobbyist, special interests and over paid executives.
thank mary and the liberal agenda for that!
a lot of these ev and battery factories are in red states. there is going to be plenty of bipartisan support for ev incentives.
Just what America needs, more deep state controlling lobbyists in Washington DC.
Liberals laugh at Qanon but the deep state is real.
QAnon has ripped family’s apart. Don’t even start with this QAnon bs and it has nothing to do with EVs and lobbying and if you believe in that bs regardless of party you have to be smoking some seriously strong coke.
what to liberals smoke? they are the ones who believe EV battery mining and electricity production don’t ruin the environment more than gas cars and middle east war!
All of you are honestly wasting your energy. GM’s moves, don’t affect you. Yet you continue to believe they do. You’re all wasting your energy. It’s going to happen one way or another. We all should be proud of what GM is doing. Out of all Legacy American Automakers, GM is doing the most innovation w/ Electric Vehicles, and is laying down the foundation for the words they’ve been saying for months now.
My father always told me, “son, a man is only as good as his word” GM is doing exactly what they said they would. -disregarding paying back the US Treasury Completely-.
Point being, fossil fuels are not the way to go. If you’re going to make the case against renewable energy, we could also make that same exact case against fossil fuels in its infancy. Where horses were preferred over the first few combustion engine vehicles. When just as much money is poured into the research and development of Renewable Energy and Storage, as Fossil Fuels have had the advantage of, we’ll really begin to see where we went wrong all along.
Keep telling yourself fossil fuels are the way to go. Keep telling yourself the Globe isn’t warming; that your winters are normal; that your seasons aren’t being pushed back 1-2mos of when you remember them as a child. If we don’t act, all you’ll have left is memories, and not the chance of creating new moments.
keep your blinders on and Joe and Mary will keep taking the money from somewhere… most likely your pockets. It’s obvious that Mary’s pockets are only gonna get fatter… but she’s doing it for the environment, right? C’mon man.
I heard Mary is swapping her big black Escalade for a Bolt…
That’s pretty sad. At least she’s trying not to appear like a hypocrite. But who would take a Chevy bolt over a Cadillac Escalade?! I feel like they’re wildly unprepared for electrification and are trying to act like they are by releasing vehicles that aren’t even going to be here for a few years to make it appear like they are.
gm should be spending money on OIL lobbyists to force biden to lower gas prices!
Melania, your comment “to force Biden to lower gas prices”. Oil prices has always been a sold and priced as the market can bear and the supply available so it leads to a uncertain and fluctuations in supply and price. One advantage of electric is it’s cost and rates are more stable. Our electric bills do have a fuel cost adjustment factor that can change each month but it’s a small factor in the big picture.
The market SHOULD decide, not some regulated utility.
Great. Just what we need. More corporations interfering with our elections for their own personal interest. ⚠️WHOEVER IT IS REGARDLESS OF PARTY LINES DON’T VOTE FOR THEM!⚠️
Lobbyist, are nothing but bribers and should be thrown in jail , along with any politician that makes decisions swayed by them!
GM is a joke now or maybe they’ve always been but ive had the blinders on because they employed me.
Say good bye to more jobs
The NRA is the biggest lobbyist of them all. Those who despise GM lobby efforts, please throw away your firearms.
You obviously have no statistics to back up this claim, but even it if were true atleast the NRA is employing lobbyist as a non-profit organization. Mary and her krooked ass BEV cronies are for profit ventures that rip money directly from my pocket and put it in the hands of people spending over 40k on cars… Disgusting.
I stand corrected on the NRA lobbying. They only spent 3.2 million dollars last year. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to major corporations. Just google largest lobbyist. A site named open secrets dot org. There are no auto manufacturers listed in the top twenty.
if Mary has her way she’ll have lowercase gm on that list in no time. She’s gotta go, along with her special interest cronies. GM spends about 10 million a year trying to influence government policy, which is probably about 10 million too much.
Wasn’t the world supposed to end 10 years ago?
Just for overall road comfort, roominess, luxury, etc I want the Escalade. Plus, If I was ever going to be in an accident God forbid, I would want to be in an Escalade, not a peewee Herman-mobile
EV bolt. Lol
Whether you like it or not, fossil fuels will be mostly depleted by/during the 2040s.
Battery technology is getting better and increasingly more efficient.
You could cover 1.2% of the land in the Mojave Desert with solar panels and it could power the entire nation (new grid of course).
The world is moving onto onto other energy sources. If GM doesn’t adapt, they die – just like any business.
Mostly depleted in 20 years? There is enough oil for 200 years. Now It’s only 20 years. Yes we only have 8 years before the world comes to an end. Thank you for that bizzare projection, did you get that from Al Gore?
We’ve got to stand up and TAKE AMERICA BACK!
Yk Melania I kinda had enough of your bs here’s a video summarizing everything I have to say to you🥰 m.youtube.com/watch?v=OxlJLz9M8hQ&feature=youtu.be
Have a good day Melania! WAP☺️✝️🍊✨🍷