GE To Buy 25,000 Electric Vehicles Including 12,000 Of The Chevy Volt

Today, General Electric (GE) offered details about its committment to encourage the widespread adoption of all-electric vehicles. The company plans to walk the walk with a purchase of 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015, including an order for 12,000 Chevy Volt vehicles in 2011 from General Motors (GM), a GE business partner.

Within the next three years, GE expects to generate up to $500 million in revenue from the emerging electric vehicles market. GE owns one of the world’s largest vehicle fleets and global fleet management businesses. It also sells consumer and industrial products like the WattStation, an electric vehicle charging station, and circuit protection equipment and transformers.

Chief executive Jeff Immelt made GE’s intentions public through a series of deals and speeches this fall.

As part of its EV push, GE is also setting up “electric vehicle customer experience and learning centers,” to give customers, employees and researchers access to EV technology. One center will be in Van Buren Township, Michigan outside of Detroit, within GE’s Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center. The other will be part of GE Capital’s Fleet Services business headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, with others to be announced in 2011.

The centers will monitor and evaluate vehicle performance and charging behaviors, driver experiences, service requirements, and operational efficiencies, while also affording the opportunity to experience a variety of manufacturers and models, and gain insights on electric vehicle deployment.