In an important milestone for GM's much-hyped Chevy Volt project, on Wednesday, March 3, the first pre-production Volt rolled off the assembly line at the firm's Detroit Hamtramck Assembly Plant. The previous examples of the Volt had been built by hand.
These pre-production models will not be sold at GM's dealerships, but will be used to assess and fix any problems in the production system as well as to train the workers in order meet the quality targets set by the engineering team.
"We have a very experienced workforce at this plant and through all of their preparation and training workers here have been given the privilege to take GM into the future with this car," said Detroit-Hamtramck plant manager Teri Quigley.
Expected to go on sale by the end of fall, the Chevy Volt offers up to 40 miles of pure electric
driving before a small-displacement gasoline engine/generator kicks in to charge the car's lithium-ion batteries extending the range to about 300 additional miles.
GM's happy-moment with the first pre-production Volt coincides with Nissan's announcement on the pricing for the all-electric Leaf that will sell for $25,280 ($32,780 minus a $7,500 tax credit).
The General has not released official pricing for the Volt, but unofficially, word has it that the car will be priced somewhere in the mid-$30,000 range with the federal tax credit.
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