GM Says Volt Won’t Carry 2015 CAFE Requirements

GM is cautioning Federal regulators that the Volt and similar vehicles planned by other automakers will not have a profound impact on average fleet mileage by the NHTSA-established deadline of 2015. Citing high production costs and complex manufacturing requirements, GM says it will not be able to produce the Volt in numbers large enough to impact CAFE standards.

GM estimates that in the best case, fewer than 500,000 Volts will have been sold by 2015. Further, it remains to be seen whether the Volt will be a commercial success, given that the vehicle will carry a price tag between $30,000 and $40,000. Other manufacturers of hybrid and electric vehicles are facing the same challenges: high production costs push the sticker price of each vehicle upward, making it less attractive to entry-level consumers. In addition, several manufacturers, including GM and Toyota, are contending with serious battery supply and reliability problems, which have significantly reduced the number of vehicles each company can produce in relation to its maximum production potential.

GM's comments follow earlier statements made by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which recently asked the Federal government to ease tougher proposed CAFE standards scheduled to take effect in the 2010 model year, which the group labeled as technologically unfeasible and that would come only at the cost of more than 80,000 auto industry jobs. Members of Congress have already indicated that they would like to see even tougher fuel economy and emissions standards put into place in the near future.