TOLEDO, Ohio – When General Motors boldly announced its goal last month to make only battery-powered vehicles by 2035, it didn't just break from more than a century of internal combustion engines.
It also clouded the future for 50,000 GM workers whose jobs could become obsolete far sooner than they knew. The message was clear: As a greener U.S.
economy edges closer, GM wants a factory workforce that will build only zero-emissions vehicles. It won't happen overnight. But the likelihood is growing that auto workers who for decades built machines that run on petroleum will need to do different work in the next decade — or they might not have jobs.