Production ready Volt by Labor Day?
Ready for a facial?In the last week GM has announced that the next generation of Chevy Volt test vehicles would soon hit the road, meaning many Volt components and subsystems will be assembled together for the first time. "More chassis, brakes, batteries and other components that affect ride and handling," will finally hit the road AutoWeek reported.
Likewise, GM has also opened a new 450,000 powertrain center designed to bring vehicles such as the Volt to market faster and cheaper. The move could help save GM $200 million this year alone while shaving months off of powertrain development.
And yesterday, GM finalized plans for a $326 million 530,000 square foot Flint, MI plant to build the Volt.
Thus, according to all reports, the Volt is firmly on schedule for a 2010 launch, and a near production-ready Volt could be shown to GM employees as early as September, followed by either a public debut at the LA or Detroit Auto Shows. While great news for the Volt Nation, it would be really shocking if all this momentum was translated into more aggressive production plans - now that would be a statement.
posted by Dahcredyns at
7:14 AM
3 Comments:
That's all and good, but all of that is for nought if GM can't move fast enough on the Lion battery pack to keep up.. From all I've heard, the Lion battery pack is the biggest obstacle to deploying the Volt.
(Ditto the 3rd-generation plug-in Prius).
No doubt.
I've talked to the CEO of A123Systems, a leading potential Volt supplier, and he claims they are ready. Of course, what else is he supposed to say?
Ultimately, I think the technology is ready for a few thousand vehicles, perhaps, but can mass produced batteries for a few 100,000 vehicles with 100 percent reliability be guaranteed. That's going to be the real and final test.
Indigo Incarnates
I really do hope GM does built the Volt (and other cars/trucks that can use eFlex). But I just don't trust this company.
I genuinely worry that GM will make a few thousand Volts in order to scare the hell out of Big Oil and then sell them the patents in a closed-door deal like what happened with the EV1.
But... If Gm's Volt ends up being the real deal (ie. 150 MPG in a $30k car) I'll buy one the first week it's out.
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