GE Will Buy 25,000 Electric Vehicles by 2015

No comments November 12, 2010 in Extended Range EVs.

Electric cars may not make sense for some commuters yet, but for businesses, the benefits of going green means keeping more green in their wallets. Need proof? General Electric will be buying 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015.

Many businesses rely on cars, trucks, and vans to ensure their companies operate. GE owns over 30,000 vehicles, and it isn’t just gas they have to pay for. Every time a car needs an oil change, a replacement part, so on and so forth, that costs GE money. Electric cars remove much of those maintenance costs (though even EV’s need new tires every now and then). It makes firm fiscal sense to ditch regular cars in favor of electric vehicles, and I am sure GE has been crunching the numbers quite hard. By just changing their fleet over, they can pocket money they had once been shelling out for gas consumption and routine maintenance. They expect $500 million in savings over just the next three years. That is some serious pocket change.

Of course, GE isn’t going 100% electric right away. Their largest single order of vehicles will be 12,000 GM vehicles, among them many Chevy Volts, starting in 2011. By 2015, GE wants to have 25,000 electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles (as the Volt is) in their fleet or for their fleet customers. This is a win-win for GE, as they are helping spread EV technology while getting a chance to proliferate their own charging technology. It could also be the beginning of a closer working partnership between the two Generals.

GM had set some pretty lofty sales goals for the Volt, but this big purchase (which won’t happen all at once for obvious reasons) will really help GM get this car on the road. Plus, people who work for GE, but perhaps can’t afford the Volt’s upfront costs, will get a chance to experience an entirely different kind of car without paying for it.

This is huge news friends, and very good news for hybrid and electric vehicles.

Source: GE News

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

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