General Electric, whose equipment provides one-third of the electricity in the world, plans to order "tens of thousands" of electric vehicles in about a week, according to company CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

While Immelt did not give a total or identify a manufacturer at a recent speech in London, he said the order will be the largest in history.

"This is a huge step up," Brett Smith, a vehicle technology analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, told Bloomberg. "It's the biggest order to date I'm aware of, by a lot."

The order should help bolster GE as it attempts to expand its clean-energy technology, which includes wind turbines, solar panels and car chargers. Company spokesman Gary Sheffer told the news provider that for every dollar of electric vehicle sales, GE estimates it could get 10 cents in revenue.

For drivers looking to purchase an electric car or any other vehicle, it can be helpful to consult an online direct-to-consumer auto finance provider, which can offer competitive rates on car loans and enable the customer to negotiate using cash.