All charged up: GE sparks up electric vehicle market

Talk about seeding the market. General Electric is planning to buy 25,000 electric vehicles -- converting half of its global fleet by 2015. That includes 12,000 of the forthcoming new Chevrolet Volts, which was reviewed by my SmartPlanet colleague Andrew Nusca over the weekend.

This isn't just a corporate sustainability/greening play on GE's behalf. It is no less than a calculated move to help put cars on the road for the electric vehicle infrastructure that GE is aiming to roll out with partners such as Better Place. Hear that J.D. Powers? If more corporate fleet managers get the same idea as GE, you might need to adjust your lukewarm electric vehicle projects upward.