That is an estimate and nothing else. The 2010 date is not set in stone because if any problems or delays occur in Volt development, production may easily be pushed back. This was simply a date given to the UAW to make them happy.

It is true though that GM is aiming for late-2010 production for the Volt.

When the volt is on the road the war will end.

In auto maker terms three years forward, is cast in stone.

We see lots of pretty "concept vehicles" that will never see the light of day in a manufacturing line. But the Chevy Volt and equivalent vehicles from other competitors are not among them.

PHEVs are coming; as is the consequences. Mid East irrelevancy by 2020; Clean Air Victory, declared and maintained. Oil demand collapse by 2020. The irrelevance of the Global Warming hysteria even if it is beleived. The end of Peak Oil braying and doomsaying.

The only certainties?

That the Chicken Littles will find some other hysteria to stir the fears of the Rubes, in an attempt to gain power.

In auto maker terms three years forward, is cast in stone.

We see lots of pretty "concept vehicles" that will never see the light of day in a manufacturing line. But the Chevy Volt and equivalent vehicles from other competitors are not among them.

PHEVs are coming; as is the consequences. Mid East irrelevancy by 2020; Clean Air Victory, declared and maintained. Oil demand collapse by 2020. The irrelevance of the Global Warming hysteria even if it is believed. The end of Peak Oil braying and doom saying.

The only certainties?

That the Chicken Littles will find some other hysteria to stir the fears of the Rubes, in an attempt to gain power.

When GM announced the Chevy Volt at the Detroit Auto Show, in Jan., as a PHEV enthusiast, I was very excited!

From the start, however, I heard many negative comments about GM and the Volt project, especially, that they will not build it, it’s just a marketing ploy, or it’s vaporware.

Now that the assembly plant has been declared, it’s refreshing to hear, rather than ”GM wont build the Volt”, but that “they will miss their 2010 date”.

I’d say that’s progress, ay?

Yes, Stu, your observation is on the mark. The "war" for oil will end with the advent of the Volt, or any affordable PHEV with an AER over 25 miles, just as certainly as the P-51D with its long range tipped the balance of power and ended the war in Europe about 63 years ago. Too bad the A123 battery production facilities are not being built in America as fast we built the Mustangs.

The spring of 2011 will be a nice time to drive
in the fresh air of southern California, because victory in the war air pollution conducts upon the lungs of our kids will also be in sight.

This is a very encouraging news!

However, "the war" won't end with 60,000 Volt on the road. This will hardly make a dent on petroleum consumption, nor will the war be over until there will be enough Lithium production to build hundreds of millions of 16 kwh battery packs, and that's a physical impossibility at the moment, given the limited rate of Lithium production.

Ergo, to end "the war", "The General" (GM) should start making 10 HEV's each having 1.6 kwh battery pack for each of 16 kwh battery pack of the Volt AND equip them to be capable of running from CNG that you can fill up at home from your home NG plumbing. The NG should increasing be made from waste biomass and coal and eventually from solar and wind energy.

"I'd say that's progress, ay"

Geore K:
I was thinking the exact same thing.

I think PHEV will sweep the country just like color TV's, desk top computers, and cell phones. I had a friend experience a power outage for about 36 hours, and he, with 4 month old baby, had to move in with me and my AC unit to avoid having the baby in 100+ temperature for an extended period. I told him in a few years, houses will be designed to shift to car battery power in an emergency. Everyone will have an emergency generator. Just one of the points of our PHEV future. BTW, the lithium production gap is a myth, as is the idea that only 60,000 PHEV's will be sold in 2011 to 2014. Now they may be Prius or Volt or something from Nissan, Ford or Dodge, but the cumulative volume will be large. Wait and see.

I had a friend experience a power outage for about 36 hours,........ I told him in a few years, houses will be designed to shift to car battery power in an emergency.

Why is everyone in love with this idea? The Volt's battery pack would run the typical household for a few hours at most. The Volt's gasoline engine, on the other hand, could run it for several days. But today's cars already have gasoline engines. If this was such a hotly desired feature wouldn't cars and trucks come with more powerful alternators and plugs for home connection? Perhaps as a $250 option?

Or maybe people would rather just buy a $300 generator. That way the lights don't go out when a family member drives to the store.

doggy,

We had a large power outage here last winter. The stores had no power either and people were selling generators out of the back of semi trucks for cash. The two gas stations which had power (in my city) also had lines where the wait was ~2 hours to get gas and they ran out of fuel in the first 8 hours or so.

We had a good number of people die or get very sick due to carbon monoxide poisoning using those generators.

Lets see, I use 300kw-hr per month in the summer when I am not trying to conserve energy very much. I am using roughly 10kw-hr per 24 hour period. A 15kw-hr battery pack should see me make it through 36hours.

There were more than 1 million homes without power for about 24 hours in my case (in the middle of winter), and still ~400,000 homes without power after 36 hours. So many people were burning wood to keep warm that you could barely breathe upon stepping outside.

Backup power is great, but why a $30k car over a $300 generator? Especially since a car stops providing backup power when someone needs to drive it somewhere. And if using a car for backup power is such a terrific idea, why wait for PHEVs? With a few trivial design changes today's cars could easily perform the same function. You don't need a $6000 battery for this.

I do congratulate you on an extraordinarily efficient home, though. 10 kWh/day in 100 degree heat is excellent. My house uses 100 kWh/day in those conditions, and plenty of houses in the San Antonio area do much worse.

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firefighters from Grantham arrived on the scene at around 6.15pm. The
engine compartment was damaged in the fire. Be careful while smoking!
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