General Electric this week announced that it will purchase 25,000 electric vehicles (EV) by 2015, effectively converting half of its worldwide fleet of cars to electric power by that date.
Besides the global feet, GE said it will also be converting to electric its Capital Fleet Services business, which manages vehicle fleets for companies around the world.
The company reckons that by using its own technologies throughout the EV chain, it will generate $500 million in near-term business.
GM’s Chevrolet Volt 2011 will be the first model GM will be providing, the first of 12,000 units. The remaining lot will come from other manufacturers as they launch new EV models.
The company says the EV market is going large scale and cites the example of the expanding infrastructure to illustrate how the industry is set to grow over the next five years. Currently there are 20,000 charging stations but in 2015 that number is projected to be 2015.
“We’ve always believed that clean energy is about commercialization. It’s not a novelty”, said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt.
