RICK WAGONER, chairman of General Motors, unwrapped the production version of the series hybrid Chevrolet Volt as part of the company's 100th anniversary celebration on Tuesday. The Volt, whose small gas engine does not drive the wheels but keeps the 16 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack charged, will look nothing like the concept car that G.M. carted around to auto shows for years.
Executives from General Motors and the Ford Motor Company pressed their case on Tuesday for $25 billion in federal loans in a series of high-level meetings with lawmakers in Washington. The appearances by G.M.'s chairman, Rick Wagoner, and Ford's executive chairman, William C. Ford Jr., underscored how vital the industry considers the loans as it tries to meet tougher fuel-efficiency regulations.
The much-promoted Chevrolet Volt is intended to provide a jump-start for General Motors’ second century.
A proposed $25 billion federal loan program to help retool the auto industry would speed the development of alternative-fuel vehicles, a Chrysler executive said Wednesday.
Hybrid models of Detroit’s 5,500-pound S.U.V.’s get better mileage, but consumers have been slow to embrace them.
Some hybrid owners fear the magnetic fields inside their cars, but evidence is lacking.