GM seems to be successfully walking a thin line here. The first folks who buy Volts will be the early adopters — the super-green, super-geek people who want to be surrounded by evidence of the electric drivetrain and battery power, electronic gauges, display screens, lights and so on.

The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle to be produced by General Motors, expected to be launched by end of 2010 model. Sales to begin later on and in spite of GM bankruptcy filing, the automaker announced it remained committed to keeping the Volt on schedule. The Volt’s propulsion system will be based on GM’s new Voltec  platform, which differs significantly from GM’s earlier BAS Hybrid and Two-Mode Hybrid systems.

The electric power for the vehicle is sourced from its onboard lithium-ion batteries which are charged by an electrical power outlet and/or the gasoline engine. The Volt’s 16 kWh lithium-ion battery pack can be fully charged  by plugging the car into a 120-240VAC residential electrical outlet using the provided SAE J1772 compliant charging cord. No external charging station will be required.

With fully charged batteries, enough stored electrical energy will power the Volt for 40 miles (64 km), a distance capable of satisfying the daily commute of 75% of Americans, which averages around 33 miles (53 km).  After 40 miles (64 km), a small 4-cylinder gasoline internal combustion engine drives a 53 kW generator effectively extending the Volt’s potential range to as much as 640 miles (1,030 km) on a single tank of gasoline.

Chevy Volt is designed to move more than 75 percent of America’s daily commuters without a single drop of gas. In the U.S market, the price of the Chevy Volt is expected to be approx US$40k. Chevy Volt will use zero gasoline and produce zero emissions. Americans want something better, so we do !