GM, Volkswagen Say Goodbye to Hybrid Vehicles

[Zorro]

Auto makers for two decades have leaned on hybrid vehicles to help them comply with regulations on fuel consumption and give customers greener options in the showroom. Now, two of the world’s largest car manufacturers say they see no future for hybrids in their U.S. lineups.

General Motors Co. and Volkswagen are concentrating their investment on fully electric cars, viewing hybrids—which save fuel by combining a gasoline engine with an electric motor—as only a bridge to meeting tougher tailpipe-emissions requirements, particularly in China and Europe.

GM plans to launch 20 fully electric vehicles world-wide in the next four years, including plug-in models in the U.S. for the Chevy and Cadillac brands. Volkswagen has committed billions to producing more battery-powered models, including introducing a small plug-in SUV in the U.S. next year and an electric version of its minibus around 2022.

“If I had a dollar more to invest, would I spend it on a hybrid? Or would I spend it on the answer that we all know is going to happen, and get there faster and better than anybody else?” GM President Mark Reuss said in an interview.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/gm-volkswagen-say-goodbye-to-hybrid-vehicles-11565602200

[still_one]

1. No GM or Volkswagen for me.

[lagomorph777]

2. It looks like the day has arrived.

And now our carmakers have to catch up to meet foreign emissions standards, instead of the reverse. But whatever it takes, I'm glad it's happening.

[VMA131Marine]

3. This is a good move by both companies

Interestingly, Toyota is now behind the curve on producing fully electric vehicles, partly because they invested so much in hybrids.

[SCVDem]

4. Poor Donnie

He's going to have a sad!

He wanted coal fired cars.

[jmowreader]

5. And that's what they're making

You know where electricity comes from, correct?

[DavidDvorkin]

6. 30% at this point

30% of US electricity comes from coal, about 63% from fossil fuels overall. But that's declining and renewable sources are rising. In the long term, the move to electric cars will be very important in cutting global warming.

[NickB79]

7. Until we hit limits for lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements

A billion electric cars globally will require massive new mining endeavors to supply the batteries.

[DavidDvorkin]

8. That's a problem with current batteries

That could change and probably will.