GM Hopes To Jolt Car Sales With Volt

General Motors has created a new plug-in car, the Chevrolet Volt, and there's a lot of money and expectation riding on it.

Twelve years ago, GM introduced the first modern electric car, the EV-1, which was featured in the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" The EV-1 never caught on.

The Volt is a battery-powered compact car scheduled to hit the market by the end of 2010. It is designed to give GM the kind of highly fuel-efficient vehicle it needs to compete in an era of rising gas prices.

GM is also hoping the Volt will be such a technological leap forward that those consumers who have turned their backs on Detroit will give the company and its cars a fresh look.

To watch Bob Bonifice, the Volt's design director, give Early Show viewers a sneak peek at the car, click the play button below.




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[leykis1oh1]

I bought a 2001 Impala. I''ve had to replace the intake manifold gasket three times because of a flaw that Chevrolet knew about. They''re response was a shoulder shrug. I will never buy an American made(built somewhere else) car...I''m sticking with the Toyotas, THEY''RE built in America.

[MacTrek777]

Electric cars will come into their own when gasoline powered cars become too expensive to run for the average citizen. The big three will make sure they get their cut of the pie.

[rf35]

I''m not holding my breath. Someone, somewhere, somehow will manage to kill this off. Anyway, by 2010, I''m hoping hydrogen fuel cells cars will be more available, and a little infrastructure to go with them.

[karoled]

The EV1 "never caught on"? Did you see the film?!! GM took it back under the cover of darkness, took it off the market!!