Bob Lutz Talks Chevy Volt on Letterman

David Letterman had General Motor’s Bob Lutz on his show to talk about the new 2010 Chevy Volt. The electric hybrid is believed to soon become the first practical electric car available for consumers.

2010 Chevy Volt

Bob Lutz is one of the designers for GM and is the main brain behind the conception of the Chevy Volt. The problem he pointed out to Letterman was that electric cars are just too expensive for mainstream consumer use. The Saturn EV was the first fully electric car, but it’s production halted after government pressure and high maintenance costs. I should point out that regardless of what Bob Lutz says, the EV was never sold outright to consumers. Even those willing to pay their $100,000 price tag were banned from purchasing the EV. Watch “Who Killed The Electric Car” for more information on this.

Anyways, back to the Chevy Volt. Basically, what makes or breaks a EV’s success or failure, according to Bob, is the battery. Telsa for example claims that their EV’s can travel a distance of 200 miles before needing to be recharged. The Volt on the other hand will only be able to travel 40 miles. GM said that they needing to opt for a lesser advanced battery to help keep their costs low. To help appease consumers, GM has added a small quiet engine that will run on gas and charge the battery when power is drained to about 30%. This means that you will get the full benefit of an electric vehicle but if you happen to go over the 40 mile radius, no worries cause it will be able to charge itself. This is a great compromise and will be a good transitional vehicle for those wanting to go electric but are still unsure about their traveling distance needs.

Image: Kevin.Ward & respawn17k