Gear

Volt Unplugged? Not, Sez Lutz

GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is so committed to the Chevy Volt that he spent his Saturday on a blog post rebutting the "naysayers" at the Detroit News. Under the headline "GM tries to unplug Volt hype," the News wrote Friday that an edgy GM was trying to "temper expectations" about its chances of getting […]

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GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is so committed to the Chevy Volt that he spent his Saturday on a blog post rebutting the "naysayers" at the Detroit News. Under the headline "GM tries to unplug Volt hype," the News wrote Friday that an edgy GM was trying to "temper expectations" about its chances of getting the Volt from concept to production. "We're not unplugging anything," Lutz fired back:

I've said before that this is not a publicity stunt, but it's as if people don't want to believe it if we give them anything short of a guarantee of Volt delivery ... with an exact date, time and sticker price.

In truth, the skeptics dwell less on the sticker price than on the fact that (as analyst Joseph Phillippi told the News) "all of this is irrelevant until they get a battery pack invented." Bitter memories of the EV1 also play a role. Will the Volt bring humiliation or redemption for GM? Film in 2011, more or less.

GM tries to unplug Volt hype, GM Charging Ahead with Volt [Detroit News, GM]