GM is pushing for a nationwide quota on zero-emissions vehicles, throwing the weight of America’s largest automaker behind a single nationwide requirement rather than the current patchwork of state-by-state requirements. If the General gets its way, such policy would result in dramatically more electric cars on the road over the next decade.
The GM proposal would add a claimed 7 million-plus electric cars to the road by 2030, which is far higher than current figures. It’s hard to reconcile consumer demand alone justifying such popularity: By InsideEVs’ estimate, fully electric cars accounted for just about 143,000 sales through September; that’s only about 1.1 percent of all new-car sales. Still, it’s worth noting that cars with more than 200 miles of range — three Tesla models and the GM-built Chevrolet Bolt EV — account for the vast majority of the total. And more 200-plus-mile EVs are on the way.