The Volt is well on its way to becoming a reality. It has officially the product program, like any other production vehicle. This means that funds have been allocated for development and engineering work is underway.GM's development team has chosen the next-generation Delta platform for the vehicle and two versions, one with a gasoline engine and one with a fuel cell, will be created.
No official costs have yet been associated with the Volt project however GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz predicted that the design, engineering and tooling would minimally cost $500 million. One issue that is certain is that GM wants to build the Volt in the United States. It seems as though the Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant, currently building the Chevrolet Cobalt, is the first choice. No production date has officially been announced however GM typically needs around 36 months to bring a vehicle to production once the design is selected.
photo: Chevrolet