GM CEO Barra discusses what she sees as GM's 'game changer' and her future at GM

General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday said the next few years will be critical for GM's future strategy, which will bring more and more all-electric cars to the roads and personal autonomous vehicles to driveways — and she plans to be at the helm to see it through.

GM's near-term future plans were part of a broad-reaching, and often irreverent, 40-minute interview Barra gave to David Rubenstein, chairman of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

On Jan. 15, Barra will have been GM's CEO for 10 years. Rubenstein took the opportunity to ask her about the business, her status as a celebrity in Detroit, her family life, her experiences with each of the three U.S. presidents who have held office since she has been in the job and her future plans.

"If somebody said, 'You’d be a great senator or governor.' Any interest in that?" Rubenstein said.

“Less than zero," Barra shot back without hesitation.

The following is an edited-down version of the interview with Barra.

Q: In 25 years, will there be any internal combustion engines?

A: I believe in 25 years, it’ll all be electric or hydrogen fuel cells. But it will be emissions free.

How has Tesla gotten ahead of the legacy automakers?

General Motors has always taken electric vehicles very seriously. Twenty-plus years ago, we had the EV1, so in a certain sense we were a little ahead of our time from a technology perspective. But we never stopped working on EVs.

But I do have to give Tesla a lot of credit because they stayed committed, they had to work through the years of getting to scale and growing. I think they’ve really helped the EV market. Now there’s a lot of competition to Tesla. It’s going to change the dynamics.

What do you drive?

One of the best parts of my job is I get to drive a lot of things. I am driving a Hummer EV, which is a lot of fun. You get respect driving a Hummer EV. I am also driving a Blazer. By the way, if you didn’t catch it, the Blazer is outside in the front. It’s an EV, which was Motortrend’s SUV of the year, so please check it out.

Is there a measurement to show that EVs are more environmentally friendly given that mining for the precious metals needed for the batteries causes pollution?

There are studies ... but are we building the vehicles sustainably? GM has set carbon neutral goals for 2040. Already, we operate almost all our facilities around the globe with zero waste. There is so much renewable energy and we have goals set for all that and we’re working to make sure the supply chain follows that as well. It’s a journey that we’re on and we will be in a better place from a climate perspective when all these initiatives take place.

There was a movie that had the Barbie Corvette in pink. Do you make pink corvettes?

We don’t actually make a pink Corvette; we still make Corvettes. By the way, I had a Barbie Corvette when I was growing up. Not pink. It was yellow.

What is the most popular color car?

White. People love white cars and this is true for the United States. It’s true for China as well. White is the No. 1 color.

How much extra gas do you have when the low-gas light gets to blinking?

How long has it been blinking is the question?

About 10 minutes.

That’s probably problematic. But it depends on the model. But generally you probably have 30 or 40 miles … we don’t want you to be stranded.

Let’s talk about your background.

I grew up in Waterford, Michigan. (My father) was a diemaker. (My mother) was a bookkeeper for a small company.

Did you always want to work for GM since being a little girl?

No, not really. But I always liked math and science and occasionally — very rarely — my dad would get to bring a new vehicle home and it was exciting.

You got into Stanford business school (earning an MBA). You could have said, ‘I don’t need to go back to General Motors, I can go anywhere … go work at being a venture capitalist or private equity or something good' (audience laughs because Rubenstein cofounded private-equity firm Carlyle Group). Did you ever consider those important professions?

First of all, General Motors was generous enough to pay my way through business school so I went back. And, I love the business. It’s an exciting business. We get to be an important part of people’s lives. I love vehicles. Now we’re going to change the way people move, make it better for the environment. So I’m passionate about it.

But I missed out on private equity.

Do you have a lot of lunches or dinners with other CEOs of automobile companies?

Not really any. There aren’t any right now. But there are women in other auto companies in very significant roles.

I assume you’re a really big deal in the Detroit area. Can you go out to lunch or shopping in a department store without people coming up to you with resumes? Do you wear sunglasses and hats to disguise yourself?

Only in the local area, but not everybody recognizes me. A lot of people don’t pay attention to business, but the people who do, I find them to be very respectful. It comes with the territory.

As head of the Business Round Table, I assume you’ve had to deal with presidents of the United States.

I've interacted with President Obama, President Trump and now President Biden. We’re a highly regulated company so I think it’s important to have a good relationship from a bipartisan perspective. We’re going to work with every administration.

What do you do for relaxation?

I try to get exercise in, I love to walk. I am a horrible golfer, trying to get a little better, but don’t have enough time to really do that. Spending time with family. I have two grown children and I love to spend time with them. And, I do believe in retail therapy.

If I’m looking 10 years down the road, how will a car be different from what it is today?

One of the greatest opportunities within 10 years is the vehicle having the opportunity to be a personal autonomous vehicle. So, yes, you love to drive, but you’ve gone to dinner with a friend and had a couple glasses of wine, the vehicle can drive you home.

There are no autonomous vehicles on the road today that meet the standard of what I call Level 4. There are ride share applications that we have and we’ll have running again, but no personal-owned vehicle that is fully autonomous. I think that’s a game changer from a safety perspective. Also, think about people who can’t drive today for various reasons, that will open it up.

Most CEOs serve for three to four years. Have you given any thought to how much longer you want to do this?

Well, I serve at the pleasure of the board.

But you’re the chairman of the board, so ... ?

But there’s 12 other members. This is such an exciting time and in the next couple years, it’s going to be the years to really execute this new strategy. So I’m energized.

More: GM CEO Mary Barra's rare, behind-the-scenes interview: Who she relies on in 'lonely job'

More: GM makes several leadership changes, creates a new global role, to improve speed to market

Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM CEO Barra talks GM's 'game changer' and her future at GM