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