Biden Calls GM's CEO 'Amy Barrett,' Says GM Will Go 'All Electric by 3035' (November 4, 2022)

In Carlsbad, California, President Joe Biden told a story about General Motors and got the CEO’s name, the year and the timeline wrong. The official transcript has to correct him twice: “At the time, Amy Barrett [Mary Barra]* was—Barra—Chairman Barra of General Motors was suing the State of California.” She “called me up and said they’re going to go all electric by 3035,” a year the transcript corrects to 2035 [1].

Amy Coney Barrett is a Supreme Court justice. Mary Barra runs GM. And the date GM pledged was 2035, not 3035 [1].

The rest of the story did not hold up either. GM dropped out of the California lawsuit in November 2020, when Biden was still president-elect, according to an Associated Press report published by Fox Business [2].

The video above shows part of Biden’s Nov. 4, 2022, remarks at Viasat headquarters in Carlsbad. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project, which marks the White House’s corrections with an asterisk [1].

”$369 Billion”

The GM story came in a pitch for Biden’s climate spending. “In addition, we’re making the biggest investment ever to deal with the climate crisis. I know you all know there’s no climate problem,” he said, to laughter. “But I was able to get not all I needed, but $369 billion put in that bill” [1].

After telling the GM story, he added: “Every other company has signed up to do the same thing. So we’re working with the auto industry to transition to an electric vehicle future, providing tax credits to buy electric vehicles” [1].

”She Left That Meeting”

Biden placed the turnaround at a White House event. “I invited the CEOs of the auto companies to the White House lawn, in the back—you know, behind the White House. And I talked about automobiles, and they talked about electric vehicles,” he said [1].

“Well, she left that meeting, and she dropped the suit,” Biden said [1].

The record runs the other way. On Nov. 23, 2020, “General Motors says it will no longer support the Trump administration in legal efforts to end California’s right to set its own clean-air standards,” the AP reported. Barra “said the company agrees with President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to expand electric vehicle use” [2].

The White House lawn event came later, on Aug. 5, 2021. That day, Biden credited something else for Barra’s commitment: “We had a long discussion on a Zoom call with a bunch of labor leaders and other—other major business leaders, and she made a commitment, and she’s keeping it” [3].

”I Spoke to the Guy Who Invented It”

Earlier in the same speech, Biden made another claim. “You know how much it costs to make it? The guy—I spoke to the guy who invented it—the insulin. He said he didn’t patent it because he wanted it available for everybody. It costs $10—T-E-N. Ten,” he said [1].

Insulin’s discoverer, Frederick Banting, was “travelling to England in February 1941, when his plane crashed in Newfoundland and his life was tragically cut short,” according to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. And “Banting sold the patent rights for insulin to The University of Toronto for $1” [4].

U.S. Patent No. 1,469,994, granted in 1923, lists Banting, Charles Herbert Best and James Bertram Collip as its inventors [5].

“500,000 Charging Stations”

Biden also promised a charger boom. “You guys are going to install 50—excuse me, 500,000 charging stations around the country. So it’s going to be—that’s like 500,000 gas stations. Not a joke. Five hundred thousand,” he said [1].

In December 2023, Fox News reported that the program “has yet to yield a single charger two years later.” “Just $101.5 million has been distributed for seven state NEVI awards and just two projects, located in Columbus, Ohio, and Pittston, Pennsylvania, have begun construction,” according to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, Fox reported [6].

By the Numbers

3035: the year Biden gave for GM’s electric goal; the transcript corrects it to 2035 [1].
2020: when GM actually dropped the lawsuit, before Biden took office [2].
1941: the year insulin’s discoverer died [4].
500,000: charging stations Biden promised [1].
$101.5 million: charger money distributed by late 2023, per Fox News [6].

What Happened Next

The EV credit ended. On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Public Law 119-21, which ended the clean vehicle credit for vehicles “acquired after September 30, 2025” [7].

GM wrote down its EV bet. In October 2025, GM said “it plans to take a $1.6 billion charge in the third quarter as it revamps its electric vehicle strategy as the end of the federal government’s EV tax credit is expected to slow demand,” Fox Business reported [8].

In January 2026, GM’s “fourth-quarter net income was lowered by over $7.2 billion in special charges that GM attributed primarily to changes in its EV capacity and investments,” Fox Business reported, adding that GM “expects to save up to $750M from rollback of federal emissions rules under Trump administration” [9].

For the other energy claims in this speech, see HYGO News’ page on Biden’s coal and “coffee maker” remarks, and for his insulin patent claim in Las Vegas, the page on that story.