Despite all the skepticism and doubts prevailing in the automobile sector, General Motors Corp. is going ahead in full speed to launch its hybrid electric car. Chevrolet Volt, the much talked about electric car is to be launched in the year 2010. People employed at GM Corp are quite nervous as the company decides to test the vehicle next year and launch it by the year 2010. All this is being done aggressively to gain the top notch position by beating rival company Toyota Motor Corp in environmental friendly technology.
The most popular hybrid car that has allowed Toyota to control almost 80% of the market for hybrids in the United States is the sedan Prius. While GM regrets not producing a hybrid car when it should have and letting Toyota gain the top notch position, it is striving assertively now to launch its hybrid electric car in order to regain the position from Toyota. GM Corp wants to change the public perception of its iconic image of the military sports utility vehicle of the Hummer to something sleeker and something that has mass appeal.
Chevrolet Volt is an effort to plummet its image ahead of all other automobile giants. To establish its image as soon as possible, GM Corp. has set a timeline for the production of the vehicle. In this hybrid vehicle, plug-ins have been provided that charge up the vehicle for short trips here and there. The battery power of Volt is designed such that it provides an average of 40 miles on just the battery. There is a gasoline-powered engine on-board as a back-up. It is said that the Volt would have lithium-ion battery packs, which remain charged longer than the nickel hydride batteries.
Lithium-ion technology remains the biggest challenge for producing a plug-in as they try to reduce the cost of batteries and increase the power and storage capacity. The lithium-ion technology that is used in the electrical devices like laptops tend to over-heat, when used excessively. The company is right now testing this battery technology from two of its suppliers namely A123 Systems and Compact Power Inc. There are vigorous plans to make the Volt ready by next year for driving tests and launch by 2010. One just has to wait and watch if GM Corp will be successful in leaving behind Toyota and launch its hybrid vehicle as the new icon.
