GE to buy 25,000 electric vehicles, nearly half of it from General Motors

General Electric (GE) will buy 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015 and almost half of that will be bought from General Motors (GM), as part of the world's second largest company's clean energy drive.

Connecticut-based GE will convert at least half of its 30,000 global fleet and will partner with fleet customers to deploy a total of 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015.

GE will initially buy 12,000 electric vehicles from GM, beginning with the Chevrolet Volt in 2011, while the rest will be bought from other electric car manufacturers.

GE owns one of the world's largest fleets, operates a leading global fleet management business, and offers a portfolio of product solutions including charging stations, circuit protection equipment and transformers that touch every part of electric vehicle infrastructure development.

This enables GE to lead wide-scale electric vehicle adoption and generate growth for its businesses.

''Electric vehicle technology is real and ready for deployment and we are embracing the transformation with partners like GM and our fleet customers,'' said GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. ''By electrifying our own fleet, we will accelerate the adoption curve, drive scale, and move electric vehicles from anticipation to action.