GM hiring to push electric effort beyond Volt

[IDemo]

As 1st Volt rolls off assembly line, GM says it will hire 1,000 battery engineers

Reuters
updated 2 hours 25 minutes ago 2010-11-30T17:11:54

General Motors Co. said on Tuesday it would hire 1,000 engineers and researchers in Michigan over the next two years to develop more electric cars and hybrids as it launched its battery-powered Chevrolet Volt.

"Volt clearly demonstrates that we are well on our way and it is especially true when it comes to the electrification of the automobile," GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson said at a ceremony marking the start of production of the plug-in hybrid.

The Volt, which tops the Toyota Prius for fuel economy, is a first-of-its-kind vehicle that GM has touted as a symbol of its commitment to pushing for gains in fuel efficiency and developing new technology.

Akerson drove on stage in the first commercially made Volt at the ceremony to mark the start of the car's production, three years after the automaker announced the closely watched project.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40435145/ns/business-autos/

[toddwv]

1. Is it just me or did GM get a breath of new life from it's near collapses?

Personally, I think it would be worth the money to have an American company that actively breaks from the oil regime and pursues innovation, something that is not commonly considered a trait of today's American car companies.

[Kennah]

2. More like a small sip

I continue to hope, perhaps even to the point of blind and foolhardy wishing, that GM execs woke up. Hybrids, advanced hybrids, and EVs are the future. The Volt is their first step on this road. Maybe they get it.

Before I'm accused of being a GM hater, only two new vehicle purchases the wife and I have made are Saturns--GM's red-headed bitch-slapped stepchild.

Full disclosure: Next cars I want are a Nissan Leaf followed by a Ford Escape PHEV.