JOLIET, Ill. — General Motors Corp. has decided on a battery maker for the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric vehicle, but it’s not saying who it is, yet, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said today on the sidelines of a media event touting the automaker’s 2009 vehicle line.
Lutz said GM plans to announce the battery supplier by the end of the year and will show the production version of the much-anticipated electric-drive vehicle “fairly soon.”
GM is hoping to regain a solid reputation for technological leadership in the auto industry with the Volt, which is expected to drive 40 miles on an electric charge alone and about 400 using an onboard gasoline generator to recharge its lithium-ion battery.
Because the battery technology necessary to make the vehicle possible is yet unproven, GM has been working closely with two battery makers — Continental and LG Chem — to develop the power supply for the Volt, which the automaker has pledged to make available to the public by November 2010.
“The actual production of production vehicles may be earlier,” Lutz said.
Lutz said Thursday that the automaker expects to have a large number of production Volts operating in a test fleet by the end of 2009.
“The Volt is real … and test work is progressing nicely,” he said.
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