General Motors and DTE have partnered for what is claimed to be the largest renewable energy investment yet in the automaker’s home state of Michigan—allowing GM to assemble its upcoming electric vehicles, like the GMC Hummer EV, with clean power. 

Through the investment in an additional 500,000 megawatt-hours of solar power—expanding its existing commitment to the MIGreenPower program at DTE—GM will be able to power all of its Detroit-area facilities from clean energy. 

That includes the company’s Renaissance Center headquarters, its global tech center, its main Michigan proving ground, and the Orion and Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, plus several smaller sites. 

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016

The Orion plant is the home of the Chevrolet Bolt EV, while the Detroit-Hamtramck plant will build the GMC Hummer EV, the Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle, and many other future EVs to be built on GM’s next-generation electric-vehicle architecture. 

The new investment builds on several previous commitments to cleaner manufacturing—including an announcement by GM last February to buy 300,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy. This ups the total renewable amount to 800,000 Mwh.

"Not only should this agreement reduce emissions in the near term, it's a glimpse into a world with electric vehicles, built by renewable energy, and in the case of our workplace chargers, charged by a green grid, too," said Dane Parker, GM's chief sustainability officer, in a release accompanying the announcement. 

Ford made a similar commitment to the MIGreenPower program in February 2019, adding 500 Mwh of wind energy from DTE to its 500,000 Mwh from a solar array at its Michigan Assembly plant—also bringing many of its Michigan facilities all-renewable.

GM’s vision of an all-electric future includes a commitment to source 100 percent of its facilities with renewable energy—in the U.S. by 2030 and globally by 2040.