Votes for Volt

Votes for Volt

So far, the vote is overwhelming: 440,000 to 2,200.  

As of this week, General Motors’ “Vote for Volt” Web site has 440,000 visitors voting in favor of GM building the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid concept versus 2,200 voting nay.

At the same time, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz in his Fastlane blog this week blasts naysayers, who claim the Volt is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Lutz’s comments came in response to a Detroit News article that said GM was “unplugging” the Volt, trying to tone down the publicity and expectations around the concept.

“We’re not unplugging anything,” Lutz wrote. “…this is not a publicity stunt, but it’s as if people don’t want to believe it if we give them anything short of a guarantee of Volt delivery… with an exact date, time and sticker price.

“We are 100-percent committed to making this happen,” he added.

Indeed, AutoObserver sources insist GM Chairman Rick Wagoner hesitated on signing off on showing the Volt at the Detroit show until GM engineers and researchers convinced him the Volt, or something like it, had a good chance of going into production.

As far as publicity goes, GM says no concept ever unveiled received more exposure than the Volt. Built on a platform GM calls the E-flex System, the Volt is a lithium-ion-battery-powered electric car that has a range of 40 city miles after a six-hour charge from a household electrical outlet -– which would make it a viable daily driver for Americans whose one-way work commute is 20 miles or less. 

The car also has a flex-fuel combustion engine that extends the driving range to 640 miles. The 1.0-liter, three-cylinder, turbocharged engine does not drive the wheels –- instead it creates electricity that powers the wheels. E-flex, according to Wagoner, is the system creates options. It “will allow the automaker to leverage a range of electrically driven propulsion systems,” enabling the platform to accommodate a variety of fuels, such as diesel, ethanol, 100-percent biofuels or hydrogen fuel cells.

Skeptics point to GM’s ending production of the EV1 as evidence of GM’s lack of commitment to environmentally friendly cars. They further point out the challenges of producing a lightweight, affordable, durable battery that can deliver the speeds and distances required by consumers.

Those challenges aren’t lost on GM. “This is probably the toughest and most exciting effort GM has undertaken,” said Lutz. “There is no turning back."

The other unanswered question is if GM builds it, will buyers purchase it? That question will only be answered when it is on the market with a real sticker price

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.