Widespread electric vehicle adoption faces a number of hurdles and General Motors is calling on the government to help address them.
In a LinkedIn post designed to coincide with today’s announcement about Li-Metal batteries, GM President Mark Reuss said it’s “great that we’ve seen growing enthusiasm for an all-electric future from federal, state and local policymakers.” However, he contends more needs to be done.
He listed several examples including investing in infrastructure that includes fast-charging stations in urban areas and along highway corridors. Reuss believes that if charging stations were widely available, it would boost consumer confidence in EVs.
Also Read: GM Partners With Three Companies To Create Largest EV Charging Network In US
Reuss went on to say, “We have real work in the next five years and beyond to get communities ready to support mass adoption of EVs.” In particular, he said “We have a long way to go before cities have charging infrastructure so all EV owners can charge fast and easy at home, at work and on-the-go.”
The executive also called for modifying the EV tax credit, so “customers of first movers like GM are not penalized.” As we noted in our review of the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV, the crossover isn’t eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit and is effectively getting punished by a program that was meant to spur electric vehicle adoption.
While the Bolt EUV starts at a reasonable $33,995 it’s a tough sale as the credit lowers the price of the Ford Mustang Mach-E to $36,495. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Volkswagen ID.4 drops to $33,690 after the credit.
While GM would certainly benefit from the changes, Reuss said climate change is a real and urgent problem, and electric vehicles are “essential to addressing it.”
