GM unveils Volt on 100th anniversary

DETROIT–General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner unveiled the automaker's long-awaited electric car Tuesday and said the turmoil in U.S. financial markets should not affect government loan guarantees that would help the auto industry develop high-tech cars.

Speaking to reporters at GM's 100th anniversary celebration, Wagoner said the $25 billion in loans were approved last year as part of an energy bill and should now be funded to help the industry build next-generation automobiles and meet government fuel economy standards.

"Really a relatively small fraction of the investment the industry will have to make to achieve these improvements was to be provided for by direct loans," Wagoner said. "We're just asking that those loans now be funded and that the rules and procedures to be able to draw against those loans be finalized promptly.''

GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have been working to get Congress to fund the loans after months of tight credit markets, tepid sales and high gasoline prices.

Wagoner showed off the production version of the Chevrolet Volt, which will be able to go 40 miles on a single charge from a home outlet. He said GM has been testing the car's new lithium-ion battery packs and is confident in their performance.

"General Motors' second century starts right now," he said as GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz drove the four-passenger sedan onto a stage at the automaker's world headquarters.

Lutz told reporters that GM will be able to develop products even if it doesn't get the loans, but the company would prefer to have the financing as it faces a difficult balancing act between spending to meet government regulations and developing new products.

"Obviously it's clear that government loans would take a lot of the stress off," he said.

GM said the Volt will cost about 80 cents to fully charge at a rate of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is about the national average. After that, the batteries will be recharged by a small gasoline engine that allows the car to travel hundreds more miles. GM said the engine will be able to run on E85 ethanol, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

"It's proof that the century-old General Motors is alive and well and that it intends to lead in reinventing the automobile,'' Wagoner said.

The Volt will have a driver-configurable liquid-crystal instrument display and touch-screen-style climate, information and entertainment controls, GM said. It will also include standard Bluetooth wireless connectivity for a cellular phone and music streaming.

GM hasn't announced the Volt's pricing, but it's expected to cost between $30,000 and $40,000.

The Volt is due in showrooms by November of 2010. Lutz said in an interview that the car won't be ready sooner because of the complexity in building an entirely new powertrain.

"This is all-new technology, a lot of very complex software on the interaction between power electronics, piston engine and so forth," he said.

The car, he said, will know a person's normal route home, and if the driver veers off the route, it will calculate whether it needs to start the gasoline engine to recharge the batteries to extend the range, and for how long the engine needs to run.

SEARCH MORE USED VEHICLES FOR SALE

• Used Cars
• |
• Used Sports Cars
• |
• Used Hybrid
• |
• Used SUV
• |
• Used Minivan
• |
• Used Trucks
• |
• Used Commercial Vehicles