i3 - January/February 2021 - 9

Tech

can bring their whole selves to work is more
likely to foster innovation and dedication.

Q How has COVID-19 impacted your busi-

Courtesy of General Motors (2)

Q

ness operations? How is GM handling new
car launches in the wake of COVID-19?
A I'm so proud of the GM team's resilience
and innovation. Despite the uncertainty
brought on by COVID-19, we pivoted our
manufacturing footprint to quickly produce
ventilators and masks. In total, GM achieved
its goal to deliver 30,000 ventilators by the
end of August 2020. And through it all, we
never missed a beat on our electric vehicle
plans - in fact, we accelerated them.
For example, in 2020, Cruise, the selfdriving company majority-owned by GM,
unveiled the Cruise Origin, a shared, selfdriving electric vehicle developed by GM,
Cruise and Honda; we revealed the Cadillac
LYRIQ, an electric luxury SUV; and we
revealed the world's first all-electric supertruck during the World Series: the GMC
HUMMER EV. Reservations for the HUMMER
EV were full within 10 minutes.
What differentiates the GM brand from other automakers?
We want to put everyone in an EV. General Motors is uniquely
positioned to boldly take the auto industry into the future:
we have the technology, manufacturing expertise and scale
that we believe no one can match.

Early in the COVID crisis, GM
stepped up to build hospital ventilators to treat coronavirus patients. On
August 31, GM and its partner Ventec
Life Systems delivered the last of the
30,000 ventilators to the U.S.
Department of Health and Human
Services. The order was completed in
154 days, with one ventilator made
about every seven minutes.
Barra will present the opening keynote address during the all-digital
CES® 2021. This will be the third time
GM has keynoted at CES, following
appearances at CES 2008 and CES
2016. She recently talked with i3 about
GM's plans for an all-electric future.
C TA . t e c h / i 3

i3_0121_08-10_Tech_Innovator.indd 9

Q As GM's first female CEO, and the first
woman to lead a major automaker, what
lessons have you learned?
A I've learned that the most important thing
we can do to build a strong team is provide
all employees with opportunities to advance
and contribute to their full potential. At GM,
we have a set of core behaviors that are the
foundation to how we drive our business
decisions and activities worldwide. One of
these behaviors is to " be inclusive, " meaning to live moments every day that value
backgrounds, opinions and ideas that may
be different from your own. We have endless
opportunities to learn from each other and
everyone deserves to feel welcomed and
valued for who they are. Over the years I've
learned that a culture where employees

Q With the Chevy Bolt introduced at CES

2016, do you see an all-electric future?
Does this tie into smart cities?
A Electric vehicles are the key growth strategy for General Motors, and will play a huge
role in developing smart cities.
Cities across the world are getting
smarter by introducing new technologies
that sense and analyze data to help solve
problems and create a more livable city -
and in many cases a greener city. EVs will
provide clean transportation for personal
vehicles and in ridesharing - as we also
strongly believe all autonomous vehicles
(AVs) will be EVs.
Building all-electric vehicles with selfdriving capabilities integrated from the
start, rather than through retrofits, is the
safest, most efficient way to unlock the
tremendous potential and societal benefits
of self-driving cars. A significant part of our
vision is enabling self-driving transportation
in city centers, which is why we're so excited
with the progress that Cruise is making in
San Francisco. With the Cruise Origin, we
think about AV technology not just as a
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i3 - January/February 2021

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