Volt Birth Watch

Volt Birth Watch 64: NHTSA Calls GM's Bluff

In a move bound to raise howls of protest from the Chevy Volt's cheerleaders, GM (along with nine other manufacturers) has asked the National Highway Traffic…

Frank Williams Jul 10, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 63: 360 Gas-Only Miles. Maybe.

Jim Majeta at Kicking Tires reports a change in GM's upcoming hybrid electric – gas hybrid Chevrolet Volt's fuel tank size. The 12-gallon tank with a…

Richard Chen Jul 08, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 62: "GM Readies Volt Unveiling to Shift Focus From Crisis"

GM wants to have a production version of its plug-in electric – gas hybrid Chevrolet Volt ready in time for its centennial this September. Automotive N…

Frank Williams Jul 07, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 61: WSJ Disses GM's Hail Mary

The Wall Street Journal's Holman Jenkins joins the growing media chorus asking "WTF's up with GM?" . With GM's stock prices in the $11 per share range for…

Frank Williams Jul 02, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 60: The EV1 is Dead. Get Over It.

The LA Times reports that nobody tells Bob Lutz how to sell electric cars. In response to a NY Times article on GM's woes, an unnamed EV activist wrote a le…

Edward Niedermeyer Jun 30, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 59: Stretched Thin

The Atlantic boasts a lengthy article on the Chevy Volt containing some pretty eye-opening revelations from author Jonathan Rauch. "And how, I ask over co…

Frank Williams Jun 26, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 58: "Notional Targets"

Earlier this year, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz announced that his employer was set to build about 10k plug-in electric – gas hybrid Volts in the car's firs…

Frank Williams Jun 23, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 57: $40k and a Jackass

In yet another Lutzie-worthy display, "Maximum" Bob Lutz tells the Seattle Times that even though first-gen Volts will retail for $40k and generate no profit…

Edward Niedermeyer Jun 19, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 56: "I Would Say There's Almost No Reasonable Doubt in Our Minds Anymore That This is Going to Work"

Hmmm. Automotive News gives us insight into GM Car Czar Bob Lutz's confidence in his not-yet stillborn baby, the Chevy Volt. An odd choice of words to be s…

Jonny Lieberman Jun 17, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 55: $45k? 20-Mile EV Range? Huh?

Tony Posawatz is the corporate QB looking to deliver GM’s Volt-shaped Hail Mary. In a pre-game chinwag with Reuters, the senior engineering executive s…

Paul Niedermeyer Jun 16, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 54: Hype, Deconstructed

Sales in the toilet? Market share down? Cash burning? Thank God for Maximum Bob. Post Black Tuesday, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz demonstrated GM's commitment to a b…

Edward Niedermeyer Jun 10, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 53: GM Wants More Tax Breaks

Not only does GM want the U.S. taxpayer and the Chinese government to subsidize development and sale of the Volt, now they're reaching into Michigan taxpayer…

Frank Williams Jun 03, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 52: Wagoner's $30k Promise an "Unfortunate Misunderstanding"

The Volt cheerleaders at GM-Volt.com have given The General a chance to explain away the controversy over CEO Rick Wagoner's $30k price pledge on their new p…

Frank Williams May 27, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 51: Your Tax Money Hard at Work– for GM

The price for the 2010 Chevy Volt has been going up. Once pitched as a direct Prius competitor, the mostly-electric Volt is now expected to sticker for aroun…

Jonny Lieberman May 27, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 50: $30k by 2010

GM's Vice-Chairman has (characteristically) been all over the map about the Volt's price. The Winner of TTAC's Bob Lutz Award has pegged the plug-in electric…

Paul Niedermeyer May 22, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 49: Due Date Announced! Voila Paris?

Channel 4 reports that GM will unveil their Next Big Thing, the Hail Mary upon which The General's hope for an American ressurrection reside, in Paris. Oui,…

Robert Farago May 19, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 45: "I Can Almost Say the Battery is the Least of Our Problems"

Would it be churlish of us to suggest that GM Car Czar's Volt-related pronouncement is the most unintentionally ironic statement we've ever heard? Never mind…

Edward Niedermeyer May 15, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 44: Batteries Won't Be Fully Ready by 2010

TTAC commentator Bunter1 sent us a link to Design News: "Accelerating Engineering Innovation." And that's what GM's doing with its oft-delayed, highly-touted…

Robert Farago May 07, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 43: Death of the Fuel Cell? An EV is Born!

GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz says GM might be building an EV Volt.

Frank Williams Apr 28, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 43: BusinessWeek Vs. WSJ in Hybrid Smackdown

BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal don't see eye-to-eye on the Chevrolet Volt.

Frank Williams Apr 25, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 42: It's a CAFE Conspiracy!

The Wall Street Journal sees the gas - electric Chevy Volt as a CAFE conspiracy.

Frank Williams Apr 24, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 41: GM CEO Seeks Tax Break for Chinese Volt

GM says it will sell the Chevy Volt in China after its U.S. debut-- If the PRC provides tax credits

Frank Williams Apr 21, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 40: Rust Never Sleeps

A TTAC reader sends the website a picture of a rusty Chevrolet Volt prototype

Frank Williams Apr 15, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 39: The Line Forms at the Rear

Those of you in Chicago, Dallas, or Boston who are anxiously awaiting your Chevy Volt can just keep waiting. In an email to the Detroit Free Press yesterday,…

Frank Williams Apr 08, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 38: Sex, Lies and Videotape (well, Maybe Two Out of Three…)

Since Bob Lutz revealed the Volt concept that made the rounds at the auto shows is more aerodynamically efficient going backwards than forwards, we've known there was much work to be done in the wind tunnel (and no, we don't mean the marketing depatment). CBS auto beat reporter Jeff Gilbert got a look inside the Volt development center, and brings us some of the first images of a camouflaged one-third scale model of what just might be the production Volt. Gilbert doesn't think the model is "all that exciting," saying it looks like little more than a Pontiac G6 or (inexplicably) a Chevy Camaro. But lack of enthusiasm for the mock-up doesn't mean Gilbert won't regurgitate GM's ~~lies~~ marketing playbook verbatim, incredulously spouting such obvious untruths as the long-abandoned $30k pricetag. In fact the "GM wants to sell 100k Volts at $30k by 2010" pablum comes immediately after GM's chief engineer for hybrid electric vehicle programs refuses to say that things look good for the 2010 goal. "Well, it's very clear what our target is, and leadership has asked us 'what do you need to make it happen?' and we have not been turned down once," says the sultan of sliderules. Gosh, that sounds like the development process of every $30k car, doesn't it?

Edward Niedermeyer Apr 07, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 37: Believe! (Sneak Peek)

The Chevy Volt team is energized.

Robert Farago Apr 04, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 35: GM Employees to Be Volt Guinea Pigs

Neurologist-turned-electric-car-expert Lyle Dennis had a private audience with Jon Lauckner, Bob Lutz' lackey "first deputy." Dr. Dennis inquired about the…

Frank Williams Mar 21, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 34: Lutz Gives Up on a $30K Volt

At a special session for bloggers– accessed by TTAC after RF's personal appeal to Maximum Bob– GM Car Czar Bob Lutz said he's "given up on a thir…

Justin Berkowitz Mar 19, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 33: Horsing Around With the Batteries

GM won't make the Easter deadline to have a Volt test mule on the streets. Nor will they make the April deadline Car Czar Bob Lutz revised it to. CNNMoney re…

Frank Williams Mar 19, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 32: How Much Will It Cost Now?

GM plans to include unspecified battery warranty costs into the price of the Chevy Volt.

Frank Williams Mar 14, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 31: Born on the Fourth of July?

Last November, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz shot off his mouth boldly predicted they'd have a Volt test mule on the streets when the Easter Bunny arrived. Now he s…

Frank Williams Mar 14, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 30: "Severely Limited Launch" in 2010. Or Not.

GM says the Chevrolet Volt will have a limited launch

Robert Farago Mar 12, 2008

Volt Birth Watch 29: A Pretty Re-Volting Ad

And you thought the Lincoln ads were bad. The video clip is not a fake; it's actually an ad Chevy is running late at night on some cable channels. I could make all kinds of comments here, but I'll leave that to you readers. If anyone could explain to me what it has to do with selling a gas-electric hybrid car, I'd appreciate it.

Frank Williams Feb 12, 2008