On Friday, we noted: http://www.calcars.org/­calcars-news/­723.htmlDetroit News: GM tries to unplug Volt hype (see our comments at http://www.calcars.org/­calcars-news/­723.html>)

Now GM Vice Chairman Lutz says the report isn't accurate. See comments on the blogs at both Green Car Congress http://www.greencarcongress.com/­2007/­03/­lutz_gm_chargin.html And at Lutz's blog:

GM Charging Ahead with Volt
By Bob Lutz GM Vice Chairman
March 24, 2007
http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/­archives/­2007/­03/­gm_charging_ahe_1.html

I knew it wouldn't be long before the naysayers came out.

We're not unplugging anything. We revealed the Chevrolet Volt, our electrically driven concept vehicle, to much praise at the Detroit show in January. We said we knew we had a tough challenge to see it through, but that we're committed to the program. We said, both then and recently here on FastLane, that we plan to keep everyone up to speed on our progress and to discuss openly and transparently the technological, engineering and design hurdles we face. Just a couple of weeks ago we had more than 100 journalists and interested parties join our team, including outside battery experts, to learn more about what is happening behind our lab doors.

I've said before that this is not a publicity stunt, but it's as if people don't want to believe it if we give them anything short of a guarantee of Volt delivery... with an exact date, time and sticker price.

I will say it here and I know I will have to say it again many times: We are 100 percent committed to making this happen. We are invigorated by the challenge. We are going to continue to be as transparent as we can in this process, knowing that there are some proprietary technology issues we will have to keep veiled. And we understand there are numerous obstacles ahead of us, but our team has set out on a clearly defined mission to develop technology that will transform the automobile. This is probably the toughest and most exciting effort GM has undertaken. There is no turning back.