GM To Make 500,000 Electrified Cars A Year By 2017

" Recently, General Motors made a provocative announcement: by 2017, the company plans to produce 500,000 electric and partially electric vehicles each year.

To put that in perspective, in 2011 GM sold just over 9,000,000 vehicles worldwide. If the U.S. auto industry continues its rollicking pace — and if auto markets in the rest of the world keep growing (China, India) or recover (Europe) — GM could easily pass the 10,000,000 mark within five years. That would make electrics and partial electrics about 5% of the company’s total output.

But what kind of vehicles will these be? As our colleagues at Green Car Reports point out, GM isn’t planning to focus much of its attention on hybrids. Yes, it will continue to work on its eAssist hybrid system, which is already found on certain Buick and Chevrolet models. As of October 31, GM had sold about 26,000 eAssist vehicles in 2012.

But GM Product Chief Mary Barra seems to be betting on plug-in hybrids and extended-range electric cars like the Chevrolet Volt, which has sold more than 19,000 units this year "

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