Wally Edgar Chevrolet -- The NEW "One And Only" VOLT

Oct. 20, 2010 - PRLog -- Greetings from Detroit, Michigan!
GENERAL MOTORS has brought me out to drive the production version of the 2011 CHEVROLET VOLT. I go on quite a few of these press junkets, but the VOLT preview is turning out to be a bit of an emotional roller-coaster.

It all started when I got my first glimpse of the city through the airplane window, and an idle thought drifted through my mind: "Here I am in Detroit to drive the VOLT." And then out of nowhere I felt this sudden thrill -- I'm going to drive a PRODUCTION VOLT!

The elation came from the realization that the VOLT is really going to happen. This isn't some one-off experiment with a few hundred cars that will be leased and then pulled back, crushed, and erased from our roads. GM is building VOLTS in bulk -- small numbers at first, maybe 10,000, ramping up to more over time -- and they're selling them to the general public, not just a small group of enthusiasts. In a short time, VOLTS will arrive en masse to CHEVY dealerships. In two or three years they'll start showing up on used car lots. And ten or twelve years from now, we'll be seeing VOLTS advertised on Craigslist ("140k miles, runs good, new tires, dent in driver's door").

The VOLT is no longer a dream -- it's about to become a permanent part of the American auto scene, same as the CHEVROLET Impala, the Ford Mustang, and the Toyota Camry. And I find that absolutely thrilling.

Forget about the recent controversy over the VOLT. Call it an extended-range electric vehicle, call it a plug-in hybrid, call it whatever the hell you want -- the fact is that there has never been another vehicle quite like the VOLT. Not the GM EV-1, not the Toyota Prius, not the Honda FCX Clarity. The VOLT is something entirely new.

Tonight at dinner, Joel Ewanick, GM's VP of North American marketing, said that he's been driving a VOLT for the past few weeks. He has a 42 mile commute, and so far has put 700 miles on the car -- and in that time, he's used one gallon of gas. One.

The VOLT is a revolutionary car, and it's not coming from Toyota or Mercedes or Hyundai. It's coming from GENERAL MOTORS. Our General Motors. The bits that make the Volt go -- a gas engine, an electric motor, and a battery -- may be humble, but the way that GENERAL MOTORS has put them together could very well change the way America motors, if not the whole world.

I'll be honest: I generally don't find domestic automakers to be a source of pride. I came of driving age at a time when American cars were getting trounced by the Japanese, and for good reason: They were crap. (Sorry to say that, but it's true -- my first cars were low-mileage, well-cared-for domestics that couldn't hold a candle to my friends' Hondas, Nissans and Toyotas.) I've come to respect General Motors in recent years because they've produced some excellent products, but I'm used to them playing catch-up.

With the VOLT, all that changes. Now GENERAL MOTORS is the leader, and others will follow. I know a lot of you can remember when GM ruled the world, but for me the concept feels foreign and strange, like a new pair of shoes that doesn't quite fit right. But it makes me proud -- proud of GENERAL MOTORS, proud of DETROIT, and proud to be an automotive journalist reporting on this cutting-edge car.

-- Aaron Gold

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