GM Will Unwrap Volt, Smart Churns Out Millionth ForTwo

Last week, the automotive press was atwitter about the Volt based upon shots of what was purported to be the Volt from the set of the Transformers 2 movie. GM was quick to throw cold water on that, saying that the car in the movie is a gasoline-powered Malibu bearing a faux-Volt body design. Instead, the company, which has been playing peek-a-boo with the plug-in wünderkar for about a year, will be taking the wraps off of the genuine article later this month, as part of the company's 100-year anniversary celebrations.

While GM and Toyota race ahead to release the first production plug-ins, VW is taking a more stately approach. V-dub says it won't have a plug-in in the haus until 2015. The company says it's working on a plug-in version of the Mark V Golf ‘Twin Drive’ concept it was showing earlier this year. The car features two distinct power-trains: an all-electric 82-hp motor, and a 122-hp turbodiesel engine.

VW had announced earlier that it is planning to put together a test fleet of 20 Twin Drives as part of some zero-emission research being paid for by the German government. At that time, VW had not committed to turning the vehicle into a production model.

The reluctance to move ahead with electric vehicles is more typical of European carmakers. Until recently, manufacturers had not pursued electric vehicle programs because the range of electric vehicles was not practical. With the advent of better battery technology and more efficient drives, the all-electric vehicle could be poised for a "comeback" of sorts.

While other European automakers have stepped back from electric vehicles, Smart has turned out the one millionth Smart Fortwo hybrid and used the occasion to introduce the all-electric Smart drive. This is the second go at an all-electric vehicle for Smart. The first all-electric drive debuted in 2006 and was equipped with a sodium-nickel chloride battery. The latest iteration of the electric drive is powered by a lithium-ion battery.