GM overlooks plug-in hybrids for EVs

General Motors president Mark Reuss has told investors that he's not prepared to waste billions on developing plug-in hybrid powertrains and will instead focus its resources on bringing pure-electric vehicles to the market.

Speaking at the company's investor conference, Reuss labelled plug-in hybrids as "countermeasures" to the internal combustion engine.

He also described plug-in hybrids as a flawed engineering solution: "You can't spend money to force the customer to carry around extra stuff they may not need," he told attendees, adding: "Or you can spend your money on getting the real answer, which is providing the customer a zero emissions, sustainable, affordable solution."

Despite criticising them, General Motors is actually credited as one of the pioneers of plug-in hybrid technology, launching the advanced Chevrolet Volt back in 2010 that combined a 63kW  1.4-litre petrol with a 111kW electric motor.

Instead of driving the wheels, the petrol engine acted as a generator.

Slow sales saw the Holden-badged Volt quietly dropped from the line up back in 2015 after just 246 cars had been sold.