Okay, so, using the 20% 30% numbers in the last video, we can roughly estimate that the 40 mile electric range of the car could, in theory, be extended to 48 miles if they could completely eliminate drag. (which isn't possible.) They reduced drag by 30%, which implies that the potential 8 mile difference is really about a 2.4 mile difference. Would you give up those 2.4 miles to have something that looked more like the previous body-style?

If they kept the original design, they wouldn't be able to fit us overweight Americans into the vehicle, consequently meaning no sales. Get over it. Its here, they did something different, and it'll be a rather successful car even if it doesn't sell in high volume. The reason being, it just put them on the map for something DIFFERENT.

-Josh

No matter what... its way more stylish and better looking than that hideous piece of pooh prius.

No it's not as "cool" looking as the concept, but a great looking car nonetheless, especially for GM. Problem is -- too much hype about the car which is nowhere near production. Late 2010 is not yet final. Batteries are not yet ready. Tesla Motors will likely have its White Star sedan by the time Volt is out, in the same price range, with far superior specs. Good luck to GM. I hope it works out for them.

acura TL/TSX

@jetto

What? It looks like an Acura?

It didn't remind me of a can opener, so I'm giving GM the benefit of the doubt here.

"The Volt's electric drive unit delivers the equivalent of 150 horsepower, 273 lb-ft."

Sounds pretty fun to drive to me. With that much torque you'd probably give even a 350z a nice run to 50ish. Although I'm sure you'd drain the batter pretty quickly mashing the pedal down.

I'm wondering how long it will be before aftermarket companies start releasing solar recharge panels? If people really get 40 miles out of the thing, this could be a a big seller for GM. I just hope they don't count the gas savings as a reason to charge more for it.

The design screams "American Car". Which is why no one is going to buy a $40K Chevy impala.

I'll build my own lead acid battery based car with a forty mile range before giving GM a penny - costs about US$10K on top of cost of vehicle.

Unless gas goes to $10 a gallon in five years - then GM will look smart.

Not a bad looking car but nobody is going to pay 40K for it. And nobody is going to go all electric for a long time, if at all. Nobody has went electric in countries that have been already paying 5 bucks a gallon for years.
And only 48 miles??? I couldn't even get to work for one day, much less get home.

Oh look, its a Chevy TL - how original

I love all the negative comments .

GM made a leap with this car and all most of you people can do is hack it apart. Obviously they put a lot of research into the vehicle, which they should be commended for.

I bet my income for a year that all the idiots bashing this car in the comments above have no idea what this car is about. First of all, this is the first attempt by an American maker to have an electric powered decent sized sedan. Prius is a POS, this one doesn't make you blush when you get out of it in the parking lot. And another thing about that POS Prius: There are 2l Turbo diesel engines on family sedans that get better mileage than this toyota POS
It works for 48miles as electric. That should be enough for a decent comute. For the ones that comute from west coast to east coast we have another company to look at: Boeing.
The car looks nice and the shape of the headlights/taillights were probably dictated by the shape of the car. Yes, it has some Acura TSX resemblance, so what? It's not a carbon-copy, they took the design and improved it/adapt it to what they needed.
True, the interior is has too much plastic for my taste, but I'm sure there will be another version of that car in a few years that will look different. Or this will go down on scale and price to about 20-23k , then I'll buy one for the daily comute for sure. At 40k, the price is too high for start. A lot of people that would otherwise buy this car will be kept away by the price.

PS: sry for typo ...

Eh, sorry Bear, but i'd rather blush leaving my car because of its looks than risk driving a car with a chevy badge on it - POS = GM

I'm not sure what to think of this car. It looks to me like the front end of a Civic welded to the rear of a Prius. I like the monitors in the interior, and the technology behind the center console, however, the iPod copycat white plastic makes it look too much like a toy.

@TT

If you're that sure GM sucks, perhaps you should teach the Chinese something. They buy more GM's than us, and GM has one of the best reliability ratings out there now. Get out of the old days and catch up to whats happened with Ford and GM lately. While they still have UAW holding them back they are making leaps and bounds in quality.

For those complaining about the range: something like 50% of all Americans drive less than 20 miles one way to work, so you are a minority that no corporate exec really cares about.

China probably buys GM because if they don't their economy will collapse. It is cheaper for them to buy GM than to let it fail, jobs die, and hence no more ability to import their products. Apparently GM is one of our last material exports...sad. We're doomed when we run out of cropland.

I can get a work commute for 3 days before having to charge the battery. I would buy that car for $35K.

I would buy it over a Toyota any day. What kind of moron lives more than 40 miles for work?

I can get a work commute for 3 days before having to charge the battery. I would buy that car for $35K.

I would buy it over a Toyota any day. What kind of moron lives more than 40 miles from work?

@Gary: I have a problem with how they do their reliability ratings. Do they actually look at the cars that are 5-10 years old? No. At most they collect data on cars that are 1-2 years old.

Sorry. If a company can't build a car that can pass that "reliability" test, they don't even deserve to be in the market. 5-10 years is where the tests should be ran - and they "new" generation big 3 cars haven't even been out that long.

From experience, I know that the Honda/Toyota I buy will last 10 years, problem-free in most cases. Until the big 3 can show the same kind of long-term record they won't even get my consideration. Yeah, its a chicken-egg type of clause, but the big-3 painted themselves into the corner so I don't feel a lot of sympathy for them.

(sorry for the double)

All that being said, I fully support and applaud GM for production of the Volt. I think its a great idea and the 40 mile range will satisfy most people's requirements. You can't fault GM for the lack of battery capacity - they are doing the best they can with what they've got.

I think the Volt is a great looking car with a lot of promise. I just hope its reliability holds up and then you could certainly count me in.

@Icester:

How is Ford or GM supposed to show you the 10 year reliability of a car that just came out 3-5 years ago? Initial quality is usually a fairly close representation of total reliability.

This car sure has lost a lot of its original spark and impact. The whole front end of the car needs more work. The simulated grille isn't very convincing and the recesses for the fog lights are overly busy. There's so much potential here for aftermarket improvements.

It seems like the design team is concerned with making the car palatable to the average buyer. It now looks pretty ordinary and should easily blend in with existing cars. But I was hoping for something that had more excitement and made more of a statement. The concept Volt was great.

This revised design also bears a striking resemblance to the new Honda Insight. The Honda's front end is definitely edgier and more stylish, but I prefer the Volt's rear.

Still, I'd probably buy the Volt (or something like it), because I can't afford my first choices: the Fisker Karma or the Tesla roadster. Or maybe GM will drop the Volt drive train into the new Camaro body. An electric Camaro would be a good thing to have since it's getting to the party so late. It completely missed the Muscle Car Revival, but maybe it can have a new life as an EV.