Britain’s Autocar reports, “General Motors has reaffirmed its pledge that the Chevrolet Volt will be the world’s first mass-produced plug-in electric car when it goes on sale in 2010.” GM designers “have also confirmed that plenty of styling cues from the 2007 concept car will be carried over to the final production version,” including its fastback rear end. However, “the car’s design has had to change from the concept’s for practical reasons. The production version will be a five-door five-seater built on the next-generation Delta platform,” the architecture beneath the Saturn Aura and Chevy Malibu sedans.
GM is one of several mainstream automakers pursuing an electric car, though the Volt may be the only sporty electric planned by a major manufacturer. Several other performance electrics are on the way, including one already in production, but all are offered by fringe automakers or start-ups, and none are as cheap as the Volt’s anticipated price. CNET has reported that GM “has said it wants to sell the Chevy Volt…for around $30,000,” though the company will not yet commit to a price, and expensive battery technology may well push it beyond that threshold.
Reuters reports that GM “will have to sell the much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid at a loss initially,” according to United Auto Workers union president Ron Gettelfinger. “Gettelfinger made the comment in the context of arguing that environmental regulations and calls for the auto industry to move faster in rolling out rechargeable hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles needed to be realistic.”
Edmunds Inside Line says that GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz remained “close-mouthed on such critical details as the production and rollout schedule” for the Volt, but promised “that the automaker is ‘committed to seeing the program through.’” In a post on GM’s Fastlane blog, Lutz wrote, “Many great ideas die every day because we value the safety of the tried-and-true over the risk that true innovation requires. This is not going to be the case with Volt; we are going for the brass ring.”
Autoblog Green notes that, in the blog post, Lutz revealed “that GM was willing to lose money on the Volt.” Lutz lamented GM’s failure to pursue the hybrid technology that Toyota used to power the Prius, writing “We made that mistake once. We won't make it again. I think the whole company has learned when you step out and do bold things, you win and when you're cautious and let other people do the bold things, you lose.”
The AP reports, “Fully charged, the Volt could drive around 40 miles without using any gasoline. Its motor will be powered by lithium-ion batteries. General Motors hopes to have the rechargeable vehicle on the market in 2010. The automaker estimates it will sell about 100,000 Volts a year by 2012.”
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