Ford and GM largely share EV, carbon-neutral plans | Daily News Byte

The Ford Motor Co. and Manufacture 2030 (M2030) announced a strategic partnership to help automaker suppliers reach their goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 worldwide, and by 2035 in Europe.

M2030 began working in 2008 on “new ways to spread sustainable practices across global supply chains” toward sustainability and carbon-cutting efforts, according to the group’s website. Ford is the first American automaker to partner with the group. Its work is designed to help suppliers measure, manage and reduce carbon emissions, according to a joint news release from M2030 and Ford.

“Achieving carbon neutrality for Ford is an important company goal and central to our goal of helping build a better world,” said Jonathan Jennings, Ford supply chain global vice president. “This is becoming a strong demand from our customers, shareholders and investors, and the supply chain is essential to achieving this goal. Reaching our targets will require us to reduce emissions to our full value chain, particularly from purchased energy, products and services. M2030 is a key program for Ford to help us all not only in reporting emissions but in developing realistic action plans and glidepaths to achieve our goals.”

In the first phase of the partnership, Ford is offering a voluntary platform to more than 5,000 Tier 1 global supplier sites, spanning more than 66 countries, including suppliers that have not yet established target carbon reduction based on science.

“This is a powerful example of how Ford’s scale and proven industry expertise can help accelerate the transition to EVs and support a diverse supply chain that’s good for people and the planet, and good for business,” said Cynthia Williams, Ford sustainability, homologation and compliance global director. “By working together and leveraging our collective expertise, we believe this platform will help our suppliers deliver significant carbon reductions and greater positive impact.”

Driven by strong demand for its new electric vehicles (EVs), Ford in July outlined a series of initiatives for acquiring battery capacity and raw materials that “light a clear path” to reach its target annual run rate of 600,000 EVs by late 2023 and more than 2 million by the end of 2026. Ford plans for more than half of its global production to be EVs by 2030.

The initiative will also support the company’s commitment to the First Movers Coalition, a global initiative to leverage purchasing power and supply chains to create early markets for innovative clean energy technologies, according to the release. As part of the coalition, Ford is committing to purchase at least 10% near-zero carbon steel and aluminum by 2030.

Ford has drawn up specific rules of conduct for its suppliers since 2003 and in 2021, established a formal supplier code of conduct that includes expectations related to human rights, environment , responsible material sourcing, and legal business practices for every member of the company’s supplier community.

General Motors has also focused on an EV and carbon-neutral future recently declaring its “rapidly growing portfolio” of EVs to be “solidly profitable” by 2025 in North America as EV capacity in the region is scaled in more than 1 million units annually.

“GM’s ability to grow EV sales is the payoff for years of investment in R&D, design, engineering, manufacturing, our supply chain and a new EV customer experience designed to be the best in the industry,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra. “Our multi-brand, multi-segment, multi price point EV strategy gives us incredible leverage to grow revenue and market share, and we believe our Ultium Platform and vertical integration will will allow us to continue to improve battery performance and costs.”

Over the next three years, GM plans to move “very aggressively” toward EV leadership as adoption is expected to reach 20% of US industry sales by 2025. Plans include:

• • Multiple pickup truck, SUV, and luxury vehicle segments to represent approximately 70% of EV industry volume;
  • A new digital retail platform with US dealer partners to enhance the shopping and purchasing experience for EV customers and reduce GM costs by an estimated $2,000 per vehicle;
  • Building EVs at five GM assembly plants in the US, Canada, and Mexico;
  • GM’s battery cell joint venture Ultium Cells will operate plants in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan by the end of 2024; and
  • Continue to secure battery raw material needs beyond 2025 with strategic supply agreements and direct investment in natural resource recovery, processing, and recycling.

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Featured photo credit: Marcus Lindstrom/iStock

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