General Electric places World's largest ever order for electric vehicles
Fri 12 November 2010
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The US conglomerate General Electric has announced plans to buy 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015 for its own fleet and through its Capital Fleet Services business. In a statement, GE said it will initially purchase 12,000 vehicles from General Motors, beginning with the Chevrolet Volt in 2011, and then add vehicles from other manufacturers as carmakers expand their electric vehicle portfolios.
Some of the vehicles will be used in its own fleet and the rest will go into its Capital Fleet Services business, which leases cars to corporate customers, with some of them destined for the UK.
GE is the largest US conglomerate in the US. It builds natural gas-fired generators for utilities, electric motors, advanced electric meters and a home electric car charging station called the WattStation, all of which could be in higher demand if drivers buy electric cars.
GE said that it is in a "strong position" to help 65,000 leasing customers convert to electric vehicles and sees the electric-car market adding as much as $500 million in sales in the next three years. This includes rapidly developing markets for GE's charging station.
Several car makers are getting ready to sell new model EVs over the next 18 months. These include Nissan's Leaf, GM's Volt, and Ford's Transit Connect delivery van and Focus.
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