GM Says Toyota Will Likely Turn In First Commercial PHEV

GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has indicated in an interview with the Detroit News that the Volt will not likely beat the Prius plug-in to market. Toyota company president Katsuaki Watanabe said in an interview earlier this week that Toyota could be ready to release its Prius plug-in model as early as 2009. The plug-in Prius will have a shorter range than the Volt, due in part to design decisions made by Toyota to shorten the development cycle for the vehicle.

Lutz says that GM is on schedule to bring the Chevy Volt to market in 2010. The company is widely expected to debut the Volt at the 2008 Paris Motor Show in October. Two announcements by the company this week seem to support that claim.

Lutz also indicated that GM has selected a battery supplier for the Volt but will not reveal its choice until later this year. GM has been working with A123/Continental and CPI/LG Chem to fine tune each company's battery prototypes. Continental has said that it will build a battery production facility in the US if it is awarded the battery contract. LG Chem is located in South Korea.

Earlier this week, the City of Flint, MI gave tax concessions to GM for a new facility in that city, where the company will produce the 1.4L engine for the Volt and subsequent models that use the Volt's power train. Initially, the plant will employ about 300 workers