Chevy Volt sparks interest on 3rd Street

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The atmosphere was electric when the Chevrolet Volt came to Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Well, maybe not electric, but many interested parties were charging up to the people who brought the car along, asking a battery of questions, like: ‘Is this on sale now?’ ‘Where can I buy one?’ and ‘How much does it cost?’

Sadly, the answers were: ‘No,’ ‘You can’t get one right now’ and ‘Prices haven’t been set yet.’ But judging by the level of interest from various cities around the nation, this plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle has the potential to be a big success.

Clearly, General Motors sees it as much more than a design exercise. The company has been doing wind-tunnel testing for a production version, because a slippery shape is essential for efficiency; aerodynamic drag takes away as much as 20% of a car’s energy. The Volt program has already seen a 30% improvement over the lines of the original concept car.

So the Volt is already on the road to reality, with a 2010 launch date not beyond the realm of possibility. It might even become the joule in GM’s crown.

-- Colin Ryan