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Chevrolet Volt Takes a Giant Leap Forward
WILMINGTON, Delaware — After months of hype, the Chevrolet Volt took a giant step toward becoming a reality on Tuesday when General Motors told shareholders that its board has approved mass production of what it describes as an "extended-range electric vehicle."
Inside Line has learned that GM is intent on making the Volt much more than a niche product, targeting an annual production volume of 100,000 units a year after 2010. GM said it plans to build the Volt in its own backyard, at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center that now builds full-size luxury sedans.
"We intend to show a production version of the Chevy Volt publicly in the very near future," said Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and CEO, in perhaps the most encouraging news to come out of the GM annual shareholders' meeting here. "We remain focused on our target of getting the Volt into Chevrolet showrooms by the end of 2010."
Wagoner added: "The Chevy Volt is a go. We believe this is the biggest step yet in our industry's move away from our historic, virtually complete reliance on petroleum to power vehicles."
GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson confirmed for Inside Line that the Volt's "exterior and interior design are finalized." He said the automaker will not release specific funding information on the Volt, however. The next steps toward production include validating the car's lithium-ion batteries and working on "ancillary systems," such as its air-conditioning system and stereo. "We need ancillary systems that won't suck the batteries," Wilkinson said. "These must be different for an electrically driven car. The supply base [for such technology] is not there yet."
The target volume of about 100,000 Volts per year is substantially more than production on the automaker's EV1. GM leased only about 800 EV1s during the course of that electric vehicle's life cycle, the automaker said. Although GM has not released ballpark figures on Volt pricing, Wilkinson said, "We want it to be a volume vehicle, not like the Tesla [Roadster]. We want it to be priced like a real car, not just one driven by guys in Silicon Valley."
GM intends to both sell and lease the Volt. It is also mulling whether to lease the Volt's batteries to help cut costs to the consumer.
GM said preliminary plans are to produce the Volt at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, "subject to successful discussions with state and local governments." The plant builds the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne full-size sedans. The Volt will not share architecture with the DTS and Lucerne, Wilkinson emphasized. It will share its underpinning with unspecified global small cars from General Motors. "We don't want to do a completely unique architecture," said Wilkinson. "That's where the EV1 ran off the tracks. Every piece was unique and not shared with any other car."
The choice of Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly is critical, Wilkinson noted. "We build high-volume vehicles where we sell them," he said. "We want to build the Volt in North America. And with new technology, it is advantageous to build the car near your technical center [in this case, GM's Warren, Michigan, Technical Center] as you launch."
GM is also mulling where to stage the production Volt's unveiling. The SEMA show has been ruled out because the Volt "is not a SEMA kind of vehicle," said Wilkinson. He said the Volt would be unveiled before the end of the upcoming auto show cycle, which includes the 2008 Paris and Los Angeles auto shows and the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.
What this means to you: The pieces are falling into place nicely for a production version of the Chevrolet Volt. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Inside Line has learned that GM is intent on making the Volt much more than a niche product, targeting an annual production volume of 100,000 units a year after 2010. GM said it plans to build the Volt in its own backyard, at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center that now builds full-size luxury sedans.
"We intend to show a production version of the Chevy Volt publicly in the very near future," said Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and CEO, in perhaps the most encouraging news to come out of the GM annual shareholders' meeting here. "We remain focused on our target of getting the Volt into Chevrolet showrooms by the end of 2010."
Wagoner added: "The Chevy Volt is a go. We believe this is the biggest step yet in our industry's move away from our historic, virtually complete reliance on petroleum to power vehicles."
GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson confirmed for Inside Line that the Volt's "exterior and interior design are finalized." He said the automaker will not release specific funding information on the Volt, however. The next steps toward production include validating the car's lithium-ion batteries and working on "ancillary systems," such as its air-conditioning system and stereo. "We need ancillary systems that won't suck the batteries," Wilkinson said. "These must be different for an electrically driven car. The supply base [for such technology] is not there yet."
The target volume of about 100,000 Volts per year is substantially more than production on the automaker's EV1. GM leased only about 800 EV1s during the course of that electric vehicle's life cycle, the automaker said. Although GM has not released ballpark figures on Volt pricing, Wilkinson said, "We want it to be a volume vehicle, not like the Tesla [Roadster]. We want it to be priced like a real car, not just one driven by guys in Silicon Valley."
GM intends to both sell and lease the Volt. It is also mulling whether to lease the Volt's batteries to help cut costs to the consumer.
GM said preliminary plans are to produce the Volt at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, "subject to successful discussions with state and local governments." The plant builds the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne full-size sedans. The Volt will not share architecture with the DTS and Lucerne, Wilkinson emphasized. It will share its underpinning with unspecified global small cars from General Motors. "We don't want to do a completely unique architecture," said Wilkinson. "That's where the EV1 ran off the tracks. Every piece was unique and not shared with any other car."
The choice of Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly is critical, Wilkinson noted. "We build high-volume vehicles where we sell them," he said. "We want to build the Volt in North America. And with new technology, it is advantageous to build the car near your technical center [in this case, GM's Warren, Michigan, Technical Center] as you launch."
GM is also mulling where to stage the production Volt's unveiling. The SEMA show has been ruled out because the Volt "is not a SEMA kind of vehicle," said Wilkinson. He said the Volt would be unveiled before the end of the upcoming auto show cycle, which includes the 2008 Paris and Los Angeles auto shows and the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.
What this means to you: The pieces are falling into place nicely for a production version of the Chevrolet Volt. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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