The latest on the Volt

A September 29 article in the Wall Street Journal reported that the Chevrolet Volt, General Motors Corp.'s electric-plug-in concept car, will be built at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, begining production in 2010, according to a tentative contract agreement reached between GM and the United Auto Workers union.

This is the most definitive report I have seen on a production schedule for the Volt.

Comments

[Rick]

I wonder if they do this with other new models. I mean talking about their production starts years in advance. Could be, but I'm never aware of any new production cars until they are pretty much in the show room and ready to go. Usually I don't know about a new kind of car until I see it driving down the street and I say - "hey whats that".

The Volt is the most famous car ..... that doesn't exist.... and I wonder if we get an announcement in 2009 that they are going to start production in 2014... and then in 2011 maybe they say 2017

[Nucbuddy]

Rick,

Their other models have not had major motion-pictures made about them.

[bigTom]

I would have to think that if they say 2010, they gotta follow through. That said I suspect production volumes may be very low, say perhaps 1000units the first year, so as to minimize financial exposure to possible recall problems if some aspect of the technology (such as the battery) is discovered to be not reliable enough.

For the coming PHEVs, more than the when, I am interested in the price. The Volt, and even more the Recharge sound great, but are they going to be an economically good choice for buyers?

[Mike]

Interesting issue with the cost of a battery pack. My thought is that they should produce a model that doesn't have PHEV capability. Just a straight serial hybrid with a MPG rating north of 80 MPG.

[George]

Their other models have not had major motion-pictures made about them.

Umm, nucbuddy, this thread is about the Volt, a series hybrid PHEV, not the EV1.

[kert]

Er, EV1 was built in series hybrid, or your more fashionable "PHEV" configuration as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EV1#EV1_series_hybrid

[Nucbuddy]

George,

google.com/search?q=volt+ev1

44,800 hits.

The Volt looks nothing like the old EV1, yet Chevy engineers say the new car has learned lessons from the old.

[greg woulf]

I heard they plan on 60,000 Volts selling under $30,000.

The Volt is a true series hybrid, like a diesel locomotive.

The normal production cycle for new autos is 3 years, and that's what the Volt's been on. Typical to schedule one year following the announcement prototypes come out. They say they'll have those in 2008.

I'm going to continue to drive my current car until the Volt comes out and then keep it as a backup.

[Beek]

> I'm going to continue to drive my current car until the Volt comes out and then keep it as a backup.

I am going to buy a Volt and take out the battery and put it in an ultra-light aircraft. I will then put some deWalt batteries in the Volt and then I will have a SHEV and a ULEP (electric plane). hehehe