40 Miles. No Gas.

If you have been living under a rock for the past few years you may not have heard of The General's (a.k.a. GM) revolutionary new Electric Vehicle - the Chevy Volt. There are some undeniable facts about the Volt I'd like to share:
1. The first generation Volt will be able to travel up to 40 miles using no gas, just power from it's battery system.
2. This vehicle is more advanced than any other manufacturer's Plug-In Hybrid. GM may have been late to the game on Gas / Electric vehicles but they lead the pack in plug in technology.
3. The Volt is actually ahead of schedule to be in showrooms before the end of 2010.

But there were some additional announcements around the Volt I also found interesting.
1. The goal of future generations of the Volt is NOT to extend the 40 mile battery only range. Since over 70% of Americans can commute in that distance there is not as much to gain by extending that range. The goal of 2nd and 3rd generation Volts will be to make smaller, lighter, and less expensive batteries that perform as well as the originals.
2. Bose and GM jointly announced that the Bose sound system to be installed in the Volt will be 30 percent smaller, 40 percent lighter, and use 50 percent less energy than conventional Bose sound systems. This might not sound like much but it translates into removing about 50 lbs. of mass from the Volt.
3. The folks over at Goodyear have developed a new tire that is expected to increase the Volt's fuel economy even further.

Any way you slice it GM is betting big on the Volt. I'm proud our dealerships will be among the first to offer this new technology for sale.

Stay tuned for more product updates as they are announced.

Also - if you can't wait for the Volt - remember that GM offers 17 models that will get you over 30 MPG today.