General Motors used the sprawling Los Angeles Auto Show as a platform to announce that the Chevy Volt — its hotly anticipated plug-in hybrid vehicle — will roll into California showrooms by the end of 2010, thereby beating Tesla Motors‘ Model S and other competitors to market.
The Volt’s big claim to fame, that it can travel up to 300 miles before refueling (40 miles on one electric charge), has made it one of the most-watched advanced vehicles headed to market. With Tesla’s roadster costing $109,000 (the Model S is slated to cost $50,000 after rebates and tax breaks) and Fisker Automotive‘s Karma priced above $87,000, the Volt has been unofficially tapped as the most consumer-friendly of the bunch, with an anticipated price tag of $40,000 (before a $7,500 tax credit) and a money-saving fuel economy of 230 miles-per-gallon.
But before you can buy it from a dealer, General Motors plans to run a demonstration program for the car, and is partnering with three California utilities to do it. This $30 million pilot will give out 100 volts and install 500 charging stations for public use. It didn’t identify the utilities it would be working with to make this possible.
GM plans to build between 8,000 and 10,000 Volts in its first year of production — on schedule to be building between 50,000 and 60,000 soon afterward.
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The company made news this week when its CEO, Fritz Henderson, stepped down due to board pressure to make faster changes. So far, leadership there has been adamant that this development won’t affect progress on the Volt.
