Is GM's latest foray into the electric car field going to be a splash or a dud? Sure, General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) and others -- like Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) and Honda Motor Company (NYSE: HMC) -- have revealed electric vehicles before to some success or complete failure. It seems like the "total solution" still has not arrived. That is, the right combination of price, convenience, style and other amenities that would make a new concept extremely popular.After reading about GM's new electric Volt vehicle (very unemotional and unsexy name, by the way), the 640-mile range and small combustion engine meant to recharge batteries that are built into the car sounds like a great first step for a feature list. The external style looks great (very Cadillac-esque) and the range looks just as good.
Since only electricity powers the vehicle (not an engine), Chevy is calling this an actual "Electric Vehicle," or EV. The Volt is still in concept, so if GM waits three years to get this to market and charges a 30% premium for it, it will crash and burn, as always. But if the company can release it in late 2008 and at a price that represents a small premium to standard gasoline-powered cars of the same class, maybe GM will have a winner -- finally -- on its hands.
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