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GM to launch plug-in hybrids with 70 miles of electric range
General Motors is preparing to introduce plug-in hybrid vehicles as early as next year, with around 70 miles of electric-only range, after customer demand and falling hybrid sales exposed a gap in its line-up.
By Charlotte Redford · 4 min read
General Motors is preparing to introduce plug-in hybrid vehicles as early as next year, with an expected electric-only range of around 70 miles, as the American carmaker responds to customer demand for fuel-efficient models it currently cannot offer in the United States.
The move marks a shift for a company that had committed heavily to battery-electric vehicles. GM's only hybrid on sale in America today is the $110,000 Corvette Grand Sport X, leaving it without a mainstream electrified option at a time when rivals are recording record hybrid sales.
Mike Anderson, GM's vice president of propulsion engineering, told CNBC that hybrids are coming because the company is not «tone deaf to our customers». He added: «We know what they want and we want to give that to them as quickly as we can.» Anderson declined to give a timeframe or identify which models would be electrified.
Forecasting firm AutoForecast Solutions expects plug-in hybrids to arrive in late 2027 or early 2028. The vehicles are rumoured to offer roughly 70 miles (113 km) of electric-only range. Popular models such as the Chevrolet Equinox and Silverado are expected to receive the plug-in hybrid treatment, although details remain unclear.
The strategy is not entirely new territory for GM. Chevrolet already sells a plug-in hybrid version of the Equinox in China, where it combines a turbocharged 1.5-litre engine, an electric motor and a 16.5 or 24.4 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery. That set-up produces a combined 365 hp (272 kW) and 417 lb-ft (565 Nm) of torque, accelerates from 0-62 mph in as little as 6.8 seconds and can travel up to 96 miles (155 km) on electricity alone.
GM's hand has been forced by a market that has moved faster than its product plan. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline has fallen to $4.37, but it remains $1.24 higher than a year ago, pushing consumers towards fuel-efficient vehicles. Hyundai's hybrid sales soared 39 per cent last month to a September record, Honda sold more than 106,000 hybrids in the third quarter, also a record, and Toyota's electrified vehicle sales rose 36.6 per cent in September and 29.2 per cent in the third quarter.
Against that backdrop, GM's third-quarter sales fell 5.5 per cent to 670,974 units, with year-to-date sales down 6.4 per cent. Part of that decline can be attributed to the absence of hybrids from its showrooms. The company went all-in on electric vehicles, a bet that has not paid off as quickly as expected, leaving it without the fuel-efficient models buyers are actively seeking.
Anderson said GM's «long-term vision is an all-electric future», but acknowledged that «it's going to be a journey that involves technology diversity» in the meantime. That language leaves room for plug-in hybrids to sit alongside battery-electric models rather than replace them.
For British readers watching the global car industry, the episode illustrates a wider pattern: manufacturers that committed early and exclusively to electric power are now adding hybrid options to bridge the gap while charging infrastructure and consumer adoption catch up. GM's decision to follow demand rather than dictate it may prove instructive for other carmakers weighing similar bets.
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