Would You Drive An All-Electric Car/Pickup?

General Motors Plan All Electric Line-Up By 2023

General Motors (GM) CEO Mary Barra announced the future as “…zero crashers, zero emissions, and zero congestion”.

Vice president of General Motors, Mark Ruess says,  “Although that future won’t happen overnight, GM is committed to driving increased usage and acceptance of electric vehicles through no-compromise solutions that meet our customers’ needs.” By 2023, they are planning on launching at least another 20 all-electric vehicles.  These will be based on the learnings of the Chevrolet Bolt EV, which is Chevy’s all-electric vehicle that was named 2017 Car of the Year by MotorTrend.

GM confirms it’s moving away from hybrids to focus on all-electric.

For 2019 GM confirmed that it was ceasing production of the Chevy Volt, to focus on all-electric and self-driving cars.

As part of this move, GM also confirmed the closure of factories including Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio; Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Michigan and Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, Canada.

It also plans to close transmission plants in White Marsh, Maryland, and Warren, Michigan.

GM Announces 300 million Investment for An American Made Electric Car

General Motors announced it would invest $300 million and create 400 jobs to build a new electric car in Michigan, CEO Mary Barra announced on Friday.

What about trucks?

General motors teased in their article about a new concept platform called SURUS which stands for Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure. The vehicle will be based on a heavy-duty truck frame powered by fuel cell technology. The vehicle will be four-wheel steer and driven by two electric motors. GM also stated that “SURUS could be used as a delivery vehicle, truck or even an ambulance — all emissions-free.” This is all they said, and no photos were added, but as soon we find any more information on this, we will let you know.

According to Trucks.com, Kenworth is also working on a hydrogen fuel cell class 8 drayage truck. Kenworth expects to launch it by the end of the year. Toyota is also working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, “Toyota believes that hydrogen fuel cell technology has tremendous potential to become the powertrain of the future,” said TMNA Executive Vice President Bob Carter”. They currently have a vehicle called the Mirai, which is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

Infrastructure

For this task to even be remotely possible, there needs to be an infrastructure to support it. Given that in Wyoming, it’s still possible to run out of gas in the middle of nowhere because there aren’t any gas stations, there’s a lot of work to do in at least this State. Meanwhile, compared to other States, Wyoming is just getting started at this. Find out more about hybrids and electric charging stations in Wyoming in our previous article here. There are currently only 40 hydrogen refueling stations in the entire United States; incidentally, most of them are in California.

Would you drive an all-electric or hydrogen fuel cell powered car/truck?

General Motors mentioned in their statement about driving usage and acceptance. It seems they might have a lot of work to do on the acceptance part here in Wyoming anyway. After a quick research post on Facebook, I asked my friends if they would drive an all-electric car or pickup truck. One person said they are eagerly awaiting theirs. Brian Connely of Casper, WY noted,”…If it had a range of 100 miles or so, I could use it as a daily commuter back and forth to work w/ a stop at the grocery store, etc. I want to retrofit an old Toyota 4X4 P/U to electric”. However, the majority said, no. 65% of the replies I got said no. 29% said yes, and the rest said they would drive one but not own one. Several people voiced concerns over the range of the vehicles at the moment in WY makes it difficult with the lack of charging stations.  Kim Garrett said, “No, too many miles between outlets…I don’t want to be left high and dry on hwy 220 or 487 in a storm”.

Would you?

Let us know you’re thoughts. Comment below or on our Facebook post.

Toyota Reveals AWD Prius

Kelly, Kevin, and Elizabeth Winter. “GM Outlines All-Electric Path to Zero Emissions.”Media.gm.com, General Motors, 2 Oct. 2017,