GM charts course to create safer, better and more sustainable future
Automaker’s vision has potential to save 1.2 million lives globally each year
Over the last century, cars, trucks and crossovers transformed our lives by giving us the freedom of mobility. They changed the way people lived and worked, and the way cities came together. Today, we’re in the midst of another revolution as groundbreaking technologies and customer lifestyles are transforming personal mobility once again.
Recently, Mary Barra, GM’s chairman and CEO, put forth a bold and ambitious vision for the future to create a safer, better, more sustainable world for us all:
Zero crashes — so we save lives.
Zero emissions — so our children can inherit a healthier planet.
Zero congestion — so our customers get back a precious commodity: time.
It’s a vision that unifies all of General Motors in purpose. A vision that has the potential each year to save 1.25 million lives worldwide by eliminating human error, the root cause of more than 94 per cent of vehicle crashes; eliminate over 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide; and give commuters back one week of time they spend in traffic every year.
ZERO CRASHES
With safety as our top priority, GM is working toward a future of zero crashes. We have systems in place now to protect passengers during a crash, but we’re also building crash-avoidance technologies that will help prevent accidents from happening in the first place.
This includes technologies like automated emergency braking, lane departure warning, side blind-zone alerts and our “teen driver” software which helps parents instil safer driving habits in their young drivers.
Another key technology is Cadillac’s Super Cruise — the industry’s first truly hands-free driving system. Our Canadian engineers were key members of the team who worked on this breakthrough technology which uses two advanced systems: facial recognition software that keeps drivers engaged, and vehicle positioning via a combination of precision radars, cameras and a LiDAR-based (Light Detection and Ranging) mapping system to detect external surroundings.
ZERO EMISSIONS
General Motors believes in an all-electric future and a world with zero emissions. General Motors believes in the science of global warming, and we are responding. Here in Canada, all our manufacturing plants are landfill-free, joining the 142 global facilities that recycle, reuse or convert-to-energy all waste from daily operations, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
On the vehicle propulsion side, we are moving relentlessly to a zero emissions future. No more gas. No more diesel. No more carbon emissions. The Chevrolet Bolt EV, which cracked the code between longrange electric driving and affordability has been a game-changer with an EPA-estimated 363 kilometres of range. In 2017, Chevrolet sold more than one-third of all the plug-in EVs in Canada.
ZERO CONGESTION
No one wants to waste time, fuel or money sitting in traffic. Achieving a world with zero congestion will require us to use vehicles to their maximum potential: keeping them moving and transporting each day for as long as possible.
Most personally owned vehicles sit idle 95 per cent of the time. Wasted time equals wasted opportunity. That’s why we started Maven, a personal mobility app. Maven provides hassle-free, on-demand vehicle access without the constraints of car ownership. All evidence shows that our next-generation of customers love it. Maven city car-sharing launched in Toronto this year.
Around the world, forward-looking cities and businesses want to be included in the deployment and rollout of these advanced mobility solutions because they will enable so many more economic, social and inclusive benefits. In a world where innovation and unrecognised possibilities exist, we not only have the unique opportunity to be part of this industry transformation, we have the privilege and responsibility to shape how it will fit into the world.
This is just the beginning.