The Auto Writer

Chevy Volt expected to get 230 mpg around town.

General Motors, just weeks removed from emerging from federal orchestrated bankruptcy, put on a product and technology event on Tuesday to inform people about the company’s progress and direction. The telecast featured a talk from GM CEO Fritz Henderson who announced that the upcoming Chevrolet Volt will get 230 mpg around town thanks to its electric motor. The Volt will be supplemented by a 1.4L I4 engine to extend the sedan’s range; no word yet on what highway mpg will ultimately be.

EPA Figures It Out

Henderson prefaced his announcement by stating that the US Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) had calculated the formula to figure out what the Volt’s comparable fuel mileage will be. Given that it will run almost exclusively on electric power around town (until the 40 mile charge is used up), coming up with a comparable fuel consumption number required the federal government to set the standard. GM had been hinting for several days leading up to the event that something was on the horizon, posting ads with “230” online, at football games and at other public events. The “0” portion of the number was actually an electrical outlet with a smiley figure plastered on it.

Coinciding with event, I twittered as @theautowriter to communicate with other journalists and GM representatives throughout the event. Among the Twitter faithful I came across were @raywert @sandbarmark @AsianMartin @JUPCHEVY @danbedore @pickuptrucks and @Jalopnik. From GM, I came across tweets from @TravisParman and @cbarger, among others.

Sorry, No Products To Show

I had been expecting to see some close up shots of new models being introduced, but that wasn’t to be. Instead, Henderson introduced eight of the nine members of the company’s all new executive board and took questions from journalists and tweeters. Most of the questions centered on the Chevrolet Volt, with questions about gas mileage, price, range and the like. Henderson made it clear that the purported $40,000 price tag for the Volt isn’t set in stone while reminding everyone about the $7500 federal tax credit.

GM is also building ten pre-production copies of the Chevrolet Volt per week, putting the car through the paces to make sure that it performs as intended. This is only speculation on my part, but I wouldn’t be surprised if GM moved up production from its anticipated November 2010 start date in a bid to get a leg up on the competition. If the automaker is able to get ten copies of the Volt out per week right now and these cars pass rigorous GM quality requirements, then the transition to production models, however limited, may soon begin. I predict that customers will begin to take delivery of the 2011 Chevy Volt by early 2010 – I may be wrong, but then again I could be right!

Source: General Motors Corp.

See Also — Chevy Volt: Too Much, Too Little, Too Late?