Save the Date: Chevy Volt Plug-in Hybrid Coming in 2010 [really?]

Save the Date: Chevy Volt Plug-in Hybrid Coming in 2010 [really?]
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...hevy_volt.html

The concept car that stole the spotlight at this year's Detroit auto show is
coming to a Chevrolet dealer near you, in 2010 -- the internal date GM has
set to produce the Chevy Volt plug-in electric hybrid. Despite the Reuters
story and headline, the Volt is not entirely electric.

The main issue holding the vehicle back is the development of the
lithium-ion batteries that will power the car's electric motor. GM's main
product guru, Bob Lutz, says a working prototype is expected by the end of
this year. Ford is already running a similar hybrid prototype that uses a
hydrogen fuel cell as a back-up generator, as opposed to the Volt's gasoline
generator. Either one acts as a backup to recharge the batteries. GM won
wide media praise for the Volt concept; now we'll see how good its
follow-through is.


AUTOSHOW-GM targets 2010 production for all-electric car
http://tinyurl.com/2ynhpk

GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile ,
Research) has set a target for production of an all-electric car in 2010,
GM's product chief and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said on Tuesday.

Lutz said the major uncertainty facing the Chevrolet Volt, a concept vehicle
GM unveiled in January, was whether lithium-ion batteries can be developed
to power it. A running Volt prototype is expected by the end of 2007, he
said.

"We have set an internal target of production in 2010. Whether we can make
that or not, this is still kind of an unpredictable program for us," Lutz
told reporters on the sidelines of the Geneva auto show.

He added: "We're sort of outside our comfort zone."

GM detailed its broad plans for the all-electric Volt at the Detroit auto
show, but the world's No. 1 automaker declined then to disclose a production
timeline.

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"I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends
respect me. The others can do whatever the hell they please."