General Motors is lifting its skirt higher to show off a little more Volt. The latest pictures released today show off a tiny bit more of the gas-electric hybrid than what we saw in the Good Morning America interview earlier this week. This is a good move on GM’s part to keep all the blogs buzzing about the car. After all, this is the Volt’s second entry this week, and all we see is a little more of the body.
The Volt undoubtedly is the make or break car for General Motors. If it is successful with the new sedan, the Volt can put them at the forefront of technology. But if the car fails to live up to the promise of 40 miles on an overnight (around six hours) battery charge, then it may feel a large backlash from the media that has been following the car.
This is still an ambitious goal for General Motors. Before the car’s launch, it needs to perfect the lithium-ion battery technology used for the car, and it also needs to change the design from the concept car to achieve better aerodynamics. GM employees know this, in the CNBC documentary “Saving General Motors”, employees on the Volt were uncharacteristically vocal about the large challenge it would be to take the car from the concept shown at the Detroit Auto Show in 2007 to hitting the showrooms in 2010.
In a commercial during the Olympics, Chevy showed a brief shot of the Volt concept car with the heading “Launch Targeted 2010”. This leaves a little wiggle room on the launch if needed.
GM seems to be getting the message: the people want a working Volt, even if that means a few more months on the drawing board, rather than have a broken piece of technology in their driveway.
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11.7.2010 @ 22:55