Monthly Archives: January 2015

#NAIAS15 – The 2016 Chevrolet Volt – Fully Recharged

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2016 Chevrolet Volt

Eight years after the debut of of the original Chevrolet Volt concept at the 2007 North American International Auto Show and four years after the production launch, General Motors is ready to publicly debut the all-new second generation model.  I was part of a group that got an early look at the GEN2 Volt along with the leaders of the Volt team a few days before the big show.

Then vs Now

Eight years ago, the car we saw was a pure concept, powered by golf cart motor alongside a mockup of what the E-Flex propulsion system would look like if GM actually opted to build one.  The whole idea had only been thought up about nine months by former GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz and then-VP of program management Jon Laukner. Lutz and Laukner had been spitballing ideas for how to respond to the negative publicity around the film “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and the result was a extended-range electric vehicle (ER-EV). There were no firm plans at the time to actually produce the car.

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