GM to launch Volt by end-2010 despite skepticism

http://www.reuters.com/article/Autos07/idUSN2062690720071121

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to launch its electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, by the end of 2010 despite skepticism at GM about that target, its chief of global product development told Reuters on Tuesday.

As the race to bring a mass-market, rechargeable electric vehicle to the market heats up, GM's Bob Lutz said employees working on the Volt "are becoming increasingly nervous."

"There is a lot of skepticism within the company about the timeline," Lutz said at the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit. "People are biting their nails, but those of us in a leadership position have said it has to be done."

Lutz said the Volt plug-in hybrid -- which GM plans to road-test early next year and produce by late 2010 -- is crucial to GM's efforts to snag the environmental technology crown from Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research).

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None of this 5-10 years away nonsense. I hope they do make it happen, because Toyota and Ford will have to follow. Series hybrids are the next logical step towards a practical electric car.

Detroit is in sorry shape. They need to do something revolutionary, like the E-Flex, or they're dead.

If they do, I may be buying my 1st American car in 25 years. That would certainly be a good thing.