General Motors Co. in Detroit has announced an initiative inviting its U.S. dealers to participate in its CLEAN program that utilizes CDC guidelines in the operations of their businesses in light of COVID-19.
Dealers who enroll in the CLEAN program have agreed to follow CDC guidelines and to use EPA-approved cleansers in connection with the cleaning of their facilities, including high-traffic areas, and the cleaning of new, used, and serviced customer vehicles. Dealers who enroll in the program have committed to following the CDC guidelines and practices upon enrollment.
“With all of the uncertainty in today’s world, we know that our customers’ expectations have changed and that more will need to be done to meet those expectations,” says Barry Engle, executive vice president and president of GM North America. “As a result, our engineering, service, and sales teams have worked closely with our dealer network to develop a program that follows best practices regarding the delivery of new, used or serviced vehicles.”
Participating dealers will communicate their enrollment in the CLEAN initiative to customers through point-of-sale materials and other customer-facing messaging.
The CLEAN initiative is the latest in a series of dealer programs and tools aimed at enhancing the GM customer experience. Other programs include online shopping tools such as Shop. Click. Drive., optional home delivery where available, and extended connectivity services.
In Related News: GM’s Spring Hill Manufacturing plant in Tennessee is expected to be powered by 100 percent solar energy beginning in late 2022.
This green tariff agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority is expected to supply up to 100 megawatts of solar energy per year, or the amount of electricity consumed by 18,000 U.S. households annually, according to the EPA greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator for 225,000,000 KWh.
The energy will be supplied by a solar farm in Lowndes County, Miss., currently under development by Origis Energy.
The commitment is made possible through the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Green Invest program, which is the federal electric utility’s green tariff solution.
This project is expected to increase GM’s use of renewable energy to more than 50 percent of its sourced electricity by 2023, moving the automaker closer to its goal of sourcing 100 percent of electricity from renewables in the U.S. by 2030 at GM-owned sites.
“Our commitment to renewable energy is part of our vision of a world with zero emissions,” says Dane Parker, chief sustainability officer at GM. “We’re committed to using our scale and relationships to increase renewable energy demand and availability.”
Green tariff solutions are a key component of GM’s renewable energy strategy and allow the company to work with utilities to provide renewable energy solutions near its facilities.
Originally GM’s Saturn plant, Spring Hill Manufacturing is the automaker’s largest facility in North America, totaling 2,100 acres. Seven hundred of those acres are dedicated to farming, with an additional 100 acres dedicated to wildlife habitat, composing of wetlands and native grasses. The wildlife area has received Gold recognition and certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council. The plant builds the GMC Acadia and the Cadillac XT5 and XT6, as well as several engines.
“We’re excited that GM chose Green Invest because TVA’s ability to meet the renewable energy needs of our customers will drive vital investment and jobs across our seven-state region,” says Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of the TVA. “Moving forward, large-scale solar installations provide the best value for our customers to help meet their sustainability goals which makes Green Invest a win for everyone.”
GM is ranked 12 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Top 100 List of the largest green power users from its Green Power Partnership program. According to the EPA, GM’s choice to use green power helps advance the voluntary market for renewable energy, as well as the development of those sources. By moving the needle in the voluntary green power market, GM and other Green Power Partners are helping to reduce the negative health impacts of air emissions, including those related to ozone, fine particles, acid rain, and regional haze.
