THE SUSTAINABILITY INTERVIEW
COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION
GM’ s ongoing commitment to the energy transition is illustrated by its founding – and ongoing, high profile – membership of Transform: Auto, a programme developed by Trio to reduce Scope 3 emissions in the global automotive industry.
Cassandra says it now has more than 800 companies signed up and has expanded from the US to the European Union and the UK.“ The whole idea is that we are sharing best practices, helping everybody get more clean energy in our supply chain and that’ s going to elevate the entire automotive industry.”
At the same time, GM’ s energy innovators, led by Kurt Kelty, VP of Battery and Sustainability – who is“ wicked smart”, says Cassandra – are working on new battery technology and collaborating with other companies.
She says:“ The battery is the most expensive part of the electric vehicle, so we have got to drive down those battery costs, but we also have to innovate so that we can give customers choice.
“ With the different battery chemistries, we’ ll be able to get to a point where when you are choosing an EV, you can choose your battery based on your needs.‘ This is my short-distance commute vehicle, so I don’ t want to pay for a long-range battery’, or“ This is my road tripper: I need to be able to go long distances, I will pay more and have this battery’.”
While tariffs turmoil endures, anti-sustainability anger burns and politics becomes ever more perplexing, GM’ s action and Cassandra’ s perspective are a welcome antidote.
32 May 2026