How Ambitious of GM
GM’s First Environmentally Friendly Car
One vehicle that’s already drawing oohs and aahs at the International Auto Show after being previewed by the media is a concept car from General Motors (GM) called the Volt. It’s generating a fair amount of excitement among industry insiders too, in large part because it’s an electric car made by a company not known for its environmentally friendly products. Here’s how it works: The Volt relies on batteries and electric motors for nearly all of its propulsion. You plug it into an outlet in your house like you would a toaster and charge the battery overnight while you’re sleeping. Then drive to work, to the grocery store, drop the kids off at soccer practice. You may never need to visit the gas station. (That is, unless you drive more than 40 miles a day, in which case a back-up gasoline engine will kick in once the battery pack is exhausted.)
The problem with this concept car is that Volt won’t be available in showrooms until at least 2010, primarily because the battery technology needed to get cars like it into production and on the road is some years off. GM’s plan is an ambitious one, and generally viewed as an effort by the company to enhance its not-so-environmentally-sensitive image.
