by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer

Two major American automakers are further ramping up their electric vehicle goals. General Motors plans to increase its spending on electric and autonomous vehicles to $35 billion through 2025, a 30% jump over its most recent forecast. Similarly, Ford Motor Company’s luxury Lincoln brand predicts that about half of its sales will be all-electric models by 2026. The company aims to have 40% of its global sales from EVs by 2030.

Why This Matters: Electric vehicles are a rapidly growing market, with many competitors. Wood Mackenzie, an energy research and consulting firm, suggests that electric vehicles will make up 18 percent of new car sales by 2030, and many companies are fighting to get a slice of this market. In total, U.S. automakers have committed $65 billion to the EV race.

The luxury EV market is particularly competitive. Lincoln’s EV targets fall short of its largest American rival, Cadillac. The General Motors luxury brand has plans to offer only EVs by 2030. Neither Lincoln nor Cadillac offers a fully electric vehicle in their current lineups as they attempt to catch up to EV leader Tesla.

Ramping Up EV Production: President Biden has included $174 billion in his American Jobs plan to help spur the uptake of EVs, including $100 billion in new EV rebates and a goal to install 500,000 charging stations. Meanwhile, at the end of May, a Senate committee greenlit legislation that would increase tax credits to as much as $12,500 for EVs assembled by union workers in the United States.

These incentives have pushed GM to take action on increasing EV production in the U.S.GM promised to debut two new U.S. battery plants, each costing over $2 billion, though it’s still unclear where those plants will be. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra plans to meet on Wednesday with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other key Democrats to discuss EVs and vehicle emissions, as well, according to Reuters. 

GM has also said it was setting a goal to sell all its new cars, SUVs and light pickup trucks with zero tailpipe emissions by 2035. Ford has echoed these goals, as the Ford Motor Company released plans for an electric version of their classic F-150 pickup truck, the best-selling American truck for 44 years.