Chevy’s Volt has amassed lots of press over the years. So, where is it? What is going on now?

First, some background. The Volt is important because of what it could mean. It is predicted to run an impressive 40 miles per charge, and after that will use a small gas engine to charge a larger battery stack. With hybrids, the battery supplements the engine; with the Volt, it's the other way around. In practical terms this means that many short-distance commuters may never have to gas up. 

As July’s Atlantic exclusive on GM’s process and advances points out, GM’s Volt seems significant not so much because it is an electric car, but more because of what it could mean for GM and for the U.S. auto industry overall. There are going to be electric vehicles in the mainstream in the next five years. Half a dozen car companies are racing to get PHEVs to market. The X prize has produced a range of suitors with either electric cars or hybrids with stunning mileage estimates. So, the fact that the Volt is an electric car is less noteworthy than the fact it will be American-made; apparently GM's corporate culture has evolved to achieve this product.

Although GM grabbed headlines by being the first of the big automakers company to announce plans to build what it considers an electric car, it may not win the race to mass-produce one. GM has set such ambitious targets that it is now unclear how they can possibly meet them AND deliver a quality product.

The Volt’s engineers sound like they're stressed out, obsessed, and unable to vacation without thinking about how to improve battery capacitance.  Well, that's how the Atlantic article depicts the situation, anyway. Lance Turner, battery engineer, told Atlantic, “We’re counting on home runs every single time, and quite frankly, we’re hitting doubles right now.”

On the upside, GM also sounds like it's breaking free from a stale business model. I would bet that, like many enormous, history-rich corporations, GM needed a fresher product, delivery, brand and culture. Thanks to some economic motivation, the Volt could be the first product of a new GM.   

Photo by Autoblog/GM