7:57 p.m. | Updated
General Electric said Thursday ?that ?it would buy 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015, including 12,000 from General Motors.
Among the cars will be the Chevrolet Volt coming next year, although the Volt is technically a plug-in hybrid with a limited all-electric range.
G.E. said it would convert “at least half” of its ?30,000 ?company cars ?to electric cars and would act as a partner with fleet customers.
The plan was originally announced in London last month by G.E.’s chairman and chief executive, Jeffrey R. Immelt, but the company has now released details. G.E. said it would add other companies to its order list “as manufacturers expand their electric vehicle portfolios.”
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Mr. Immelt also said in London that half of G.E.’s ?45,000 sales force would drive electric cars.
The company also ?will ?open what it called “electric vehicle customer experience and learning centers” at its Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center in Van Buren Township, Mich., and at GE Capital Fleet Services headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minn.
G.E.’s plan is a coup ?for General Motors, whose chief executive, Daniel F. Akerson,? called ?the order “a vote of confidence in the Chevrolet Volt, which we will begin delivering to retail customers by the end of this year.”
G.E. said nothing about a possible order for the Nissan Leaf or other battery-electric cars, but the extra range of the Volt, which has an onboard gasoline engine, would presumably be an advantage for G.E.’s traveling sales force
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