GM (Officially) Unveils the Chevy Volt
After several unofficial debuts of the ravenously anticipated Volt — including sightings on the set of Transformers 2 and an accidental leak of photos last week showing the Volt design team — GM has officially taken the wraps off the final Volt production car.
No word on pricing yet, but unofficial estimates have ranged from $30,000 to $48,000. Sounds to me like GM is pushing the price estimates as high as possible to make the final price sound like a deal when they actually announce it.
According to reports, and aside from the central Prius-like LCD display, the Volt is decidedly un-high tech on the inside. Apparently, GM made this design choice on purpose to appeal to the largest market as possible.
During the change from concept car to production model, some of the more provocative lines and styling have been lost. This development appears to have disappointed many of the early fans — some of whom say they’re no longer interested in owning a Volt. A CNN article quotes Lyle Dennis of GM-Volt.com as saying:
“The majority of [the comments on my blog] are negative. A lot of people are saying they’re very disappointed and ‘take me off the [waiting] list.’ “
Nonetheless, as the first production plug-in hybrid electric vehicle to reach the mass market, the Volt represents a huge development. Time will tell if GM’s styling choices help to sell more of them, or push disillusioned buyers away.
Update: More detailed pictures below.
Posts Related to the Chevy Volt and Plug-In Hybrids:
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- Toyota and EDF Testing Plug-in Prius in UK
- “Producible” Chrysler Plug-In Hybrid: 0-60 in 4 Seconds
- GM Releases Teaser Pictures of Chevrolet Volt
- How to Build an Electric Car Charging Infrastructure: Smart Grids, Fast Charging and Universal Access
- Chevy Volt’s Lithium-Ion Batteries Road- Tested By Month’s End
- Chevy Volt: Where Is GM’s Electric Car?
Image Credits: GM
The real leaked photos make the car look much more plastic.
The finish on these has been highly retouched and make it seem more substantial.
frankly the real photos make it look too cheap.
hopefully they will fix it before release.
the original concept car actually looked extremely cool.
This on look like all the other aero buckets but at least keeps it’s efficiency which is the main selling point. too bad though because with the original styling it could also have been a great design .
of course with most of the car makers stock owned by oil interests through mutual funds the jury is still out whether the automaker’s board is actually pushing for the success of the auto shareholders or the oil company shareholders. We don’t know if they really want this car to succeed. The oil share holders make more profit from their oil than they ever will if a car maker sells a lot of economy cars.
Sorry, I was really excited about the original Volt that was shown on television, but now, no matter how revolutionary it is, they have ruined it’s looks. I’m not interested in one anymore.
[...] enough, ENVI, Chrysler’s eco-technologies division, is also finalising a rival to the Chevrolet Volt, slated for commercial release in 2012. The car will feature a small gasoline engine for topping-up [...]
[...] embraced hybrid technology, Toyota could soon face steep competition—take the recently-announced Chevy Volt, for instance. Instead of looking to solidify the Prius’ status as the most fuel-efficient [...]