Bob Lutz used the Geneva Motor Show as the backdrop for announcing that General Motors wants an all-electric vehicle in production by 2010. Presumably that vehicle would be a production version of the Chevy Volt concept that was very well received at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show in January. As the company has been saying since the Volt was unveiled, the major obstacle is battery technology. Current lithium-ion batteries don't have the range or durability to satisfy GM's requirements, so the question remains whether or not they will in a few years or another battery type will emerge as a front runner.
Though the production timeline for the Volt is now set, GM is not entirely sure that it will succeed in meeting it. Lutz commented, "We're sort of outside our comfort zone." While that may be true, GM is the largest automaker ever to have offered a production EV to the public with its now controversial EV1 program. Lutz, however, stated there's still a 10% chance this project will completely fail. He also warned us that a production Volt would not look very much like the concept, especially the front wheels that are optimistically placed too far forward to be production feasible.
[Source: AutoblogGreen]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
far jr @ Mar 7th 2007 8:13PM
"Volt would not look very much like the concept, especially the front wheels that are optimistically placed too far forward to be production feasible."
Too bad, I sorta like the wheels pushed forward and out like that. However I can see expensive suspension damage in a minor crash too.
snakesausage @ Mar 7th 2007 8:53PM
"We're sort of outside our comfort zone."
“there's still a 10% chance this project will completely fail”
This is exactly what is wrong with GM (and most of corporate US) today. To be a huge success you have to have a pioneering spirit, excellent execution and the drive to succeed at what ever you endeavor! Way to rally the troops Putz!
Peter @ Mar 7th 2007 8:53PM
Geez I hope it doesn't look like that. The windshield is about 10 inches tall, you can barely see out. The view from inside is more important to me than the view from outside. I hate this trend to short greenhouse and tall dash/door sills, like you are sitting in a well.
Petey @ Mar 7th 2007 9:01PM
Dear God, hopefully Lutz isnt till around in 2010.
Josh Oliver @ Mar 7th 2007 9:04PM
I applaud Mr. Lutz for stating this....but he said the same thing some 3 weeks ago to The Detroit News that the VOlt would be out in three years.
I, sincerely hope that he plans to see this Volt out through the design studio doors and into the driveways of those tree huggers that just have to own one.
Tony Belding @ Mar 7th 2007 9:23PM
I'm confused. Did he really say "an all-electric vehicle", not the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt that was described previously? And if he now wants GM to produce a pure EV, what's the explanation for that huge turn-around? You can't just say something like that and then walk away, there's got to be more info!
Howard Kerr @ Mar 7th 2007 9:27PM
Let's see, there are, to my reading of this article, at least THREE red flags pointing to this car....or even one like it NOT being produced by 2010.
For starters, the article says "....General Motors wants an all-electric car IN PRODUCTION by 2010." This doesn't say IN SHOWROOMS, but in production. The deadline can still be met, theoretically, by producing a handful of prototypes.
david @ Mar 7th 2007 9:48PM
10% chance it may not come to fruition means a 90% chance it will. oh the pessimists.
Sam @ Mar 7th 2007 9:56PM
Good, maybe people will finally shut up about the EV1 being axed. Much ado about nothing!
Michael Karesh @ Mar 7th 2007 9:59PM
I still don't get why GM is showing us this car now, especially if the body will never see production. If it is going to happen, then GM is tipping its hand. See any other 2010 cars at the shows? No? There's a reason for that.
And if the car isn't going to happen, then GM is just making another promise it won't keep.
Either way, it makes no sense to show this car now.
In response to comments here:
"In production" means saleable units are rolling out of a factory. Prototypes don't count.
It's still a plug-in. By all-electric he means that the only motor connected to the front wheels is an electric one. It'll have an engine, but this engine only charges the batteries, it does not directly power the wheels.
Andrew @ Mar 7th 2007 10:16PM
Autoblog toyonazis are seriously ill. Lutz is honest, Lutz doesn't f around, he is the real deal, how many other people in the coporate world tell it how it is and doesn't sugar coat it???? GM haters really just need to go on the new grand canyon horseshoe walk and lean really far over the side.
Mike G @ Mar 7th 2007 10:30PM
Actually #11, most people are just tired of GM making promises it has no real intention of keeping. Why so many resources dedicated to the wasteful Hummer line of POV's (Penis Overcompensation Vehicles), meanwhile the best small car GM can offer is the Cobalt? Really? Or maybe they could spend some of that severance package money from firing workers on designing better smaller cars so they would sell more and wouldn't have to fire so many workers in the first place?
Or is all that high falutin' logic too "Japanese" for a good old boy like yourself.
Andrew @ Mar 7th 2007 10:38PM
maybe it's that they are a company that likes to give consumers options and provide a wide range of vehicles. you like a typical moron will list Hummer as the cause of the end of the world. do this...if you can process this thought...go to Toyota.com and look at the Land Cruisers mpg....you tell me if there is a night and day difference....I will help you....there isn't. Hummer makes money and yes some people like off road vehicles or vehicles that are bigger. BTW people who relate sizes of vehicles to penises think of the cock way too much...which would be you #12.
sydbot @ Mar 8th 2007 12:07AM
There are more resources going to Hummer?! Does that mean we'll see a Wrangler-sized competitor soon?! Personally, I think Hummer's offerings are kind of, well...cool. What is the only other SUV-only domestic brand? Jeep...well, with the terrible looking Compass, not so much on the SUV-only deal. And no, I have not sat in or rode in a Compass yet. I heard the interior was the same as the Patriot, which looks great outside, but incredibly ackward (like the Caliber) once you sit in it. Same reason I don't like the HHR. But back to Hummer, they don't really compete on price with Jeep...so who do they really compete with? Land Rover. Who else is all SUV and luxery/sub-luxery? I think the H3 is pretty nice...except for the price. And the Cobalt? Aside from the numb, "guess where I'm pointed" steering (and obnoxious body roll), the Cobalt is a pretty good car. Sounds...well, not as bad as the Corolla and has a waaay softer ride. Like Buick soft. But I digress, Hummer is good, Cobalt is acceptable and Lutz is good for the company. He's a rockstar executive, like Steve Jobs. Except not a complete *jerk*. Somebody sad they don't have a figurehead?
GOT @ Mar 8th 2007 12:10AM
Bring it on Bob Lutz!
Jeff R. @ Mar 8th 2007 12:12AM
Major kudos to GM for keeping things interesting as usual. Typically I don't care for "Earth-friendly" vehicles but the Volt looks great. I have a feeling it won't get the green light, but I'm glad to see that Chevy can make an Earth-friendly car look so cool. And despite what the GM-haters say, GM is one of the only auto manufacturers other than Toyota or Honda who has made notable commitments to planning and producing Earth-friendly transport.
And major kudos to those on Autoblog who do stick up for GM, it's nice to see I'm not alone.
Glenn @ Mar 8th 2007 1:12AM
GM is just amazing now; putting out really neat show pieces. They are very aggressively trying to out Toyota, Toyota. And I bet that American know-how (and Bob Lutz) will just end up doing it.
Mike G @ Mar 8th 2007 2:08AM
Yes, you know on second thought I really think it's impressive how GM is closing so many factories and firing so many American workers, no other auto company in the world can compete with GM when it comes to firing Americans, or building concepts that will never actually see production. Or giving out of touch old executives like Bob Lutz flashy, smiley photo ops. Yee haw. Go Colonel Motors. You guys are right, GM is losing market share every day, but hey that's probably just an unsubstantiated rumor like global warming. Now excuse me while I go polish my piece of crap GTO, which I overpaid for so I could look like the world's biggest rental car jockey.
sockgap @ Mar 8th 2007 4:11AM
By 2010? Big deal. They had a fully electric vehicle shipping years ago with the EV1 and chose to recall them all and crush them as part of some dodgy deal with big oil. They actually refused to sell customers keep their clean and much loved leased EV1s. I will not reward GM evil behavior with my business now or in 2010.
JP @ Mar 8th 2007 6:42AM
#10 - maybe you don't understand the "concept" of concept cars. They are strictly meant as a design study, ie, let the designers draw up what they want without the shackles of it being manufacturable. Only in the last few years have several concept cars mirrored what the production version became.
#12 - have you even been inside a cobalt or driven one? I wonder how it is chevy sold over 200k cobalts last year, it must be a really crappy car. I agree that the civic fares better and is a better car all around, but I would argue that cobalt is better than corolla.
#19 - remove the tin-foil hat, move out of your grandma's basement and get a job. Why do the EV1 conspiracy theory nutjob whacko's never seem to think that Ford or Toyota are "in it" with big oil for killing the electric ranger & rav4? In all 3 cases it was a money-losing project so they were killed off.