GM Links Sustainability to EV Development

Adopting sustainable practices such as sharply limiting waste trucked to landfills is saving General Motors $100 million in annual operating costs, a company executive says.

Dane Parker, GM vice president and chief sustainability officer, says during a web conference organized by Goldman Sachs that factory-level initiatives aimed at increasing sustainability are part of the automaker’s broader push to build 1 million electric vehicles annually by 2025.

“The path has never been greener,” Parker says. “We believe the electric future is now.”

GM’s goal is to build a dozen electric vehicles that will appeal to buyers in all segments and price points. As part of that effort, the automaker aims to significantly reduce the cost of batteries used in EVs, in part by using less minerals such as cobalt, nickel and lithium.

“We’re engineering out materials that will be a constraint,” Parker says.

By the middle of the decade, the battery packs used by GM are projected to have twice the energy density of those used today and cost 60% less, he says.

The automaker also is preparing for battery recycling even though Parker says batteries are proving quite durable. “They’re lasting for the functional life of the car,” he says. Nevertheless, a used battery still can be used to store energy for the grid or for a private home.

“It opens up other business opportunities for us,” adds Parker.

While manufacturing plants account for only 2% of GM’s emissions, the automaker is making progress toward its goal of running all its plants exclusively with wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy before the end of the decade, he says, adding GM is making a concerted effort to buy the energy from local sources.

“We don’t want to buy credits. We see wind and solar as additive,” Parker says.

GM’s use of water in its manufacturing operations has declined 14% and is targeted to go lower, and the automaker is pulling forward its goal of being “landfill-free” before the original target of 2025. Landfill-free also means eliminating the use of incinerators to burn trash, he says.

Parker notes the GM assembly plants building electric vehicles (below) will not differ all that much from the plants now building conventional vehicles with internal-combustion engines. “You’ll still have a body shop,” he says, and a process for marrying the body to the powertrain.

Orion Assembly-Chevy Bolt_0

While GM is preparing for an electric future, incentives will help move consumers into EVs, Parker says. “The changes can happen very quickly,” he says. “No one who has ever driven an electric vehicle says they want to go back. Incentives have proven very effective.”

President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign and transition team have committed to the installation of 500,000 EV charging stations in the U.S. by 2030 and extending a tax credit for the purchase of the vehicles, according to a Washington Post report.

While 80% of current EV owners say they charge at home, more public chargers will ensure that drivers feel comfortable taking them on long trips, Parker says. Public chargers also are needed in high-density urban neighborhoods where people may have to park on public streets, he says.