Click the Volt for a high-res gallery

Round and round we go... where we stop, nobody knows! That sounds like an apt description of the merry-go-round that is the Chevrolet Volt, especially when pricing and delivery date are concerned. Perhaps what we are witnessing in this case is the first truly transparent product launch in history. Do major shifts like this happen with all vehicles, or is the new technology needed to make the Volt a reality causing pricing headaches for GM management? Maybe it's all of the above. Whatever the case, GM CEO Jim Wagoner has been quoted on Forbes as suggesting that General Motors will be selling an electric car for less than $30,000 by the year 2010.

Another possible explanation for this pricing confusion could involve the upcoming plug-in Saturn Vue. How can we be sure that Wagoner was referring to the Volt when he cited the pricing and deadline of the electric vehicle? We can't. It's possible that GM could have a plug-in Vue ready for the market in 2010 with an electric-only mode, making it an electric car of sorts. We'll just need to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the Volt's, and the Vue's, debut.

[Source: Forbes]

It seems like GM is finding the middle ground. When the Chevy Volt was first announced, a price tag of $30,000 was bandied about. Then, more recently, we heard that $40,000 was a possibility. Now, according to Canada.com and confirmed by WIRED, GM is saying that the likely target is $35,000 (yes, that's U.S. dollars, not Canadian, even though the two are pretty even these days). Even though this is more than initially proposed, GM doesn't see it as a hurdle to bring out the first-gen models. GM spokesman Dee Allen told WIRED that, "We had set a target of $30,000, but if it comes in closer to $35,000 and it means meeting the 2010 deadline, that's the direction we're going to go."

According to GM, it's the power drain caused by things like the windshield wipers and audio system that's posing a problem. Without an alternator, the electricity needed by the stereo takes away power that could be going to turn the wheels. Allen said: "You really start taking away from the range when you're using 10-speaker audio systems, wipers. These systems need to be redone, and they are being redone." But not in time for 2010. First-gen Volts, GM says, will need to have "redundant systems," something that later models will probably not have.

Related:

• Bob Lutz: First-gen Volt might cost $40,000
• No surprises: GM's Wagoner tells dealers that E-Flex will spread beyond Chevy

[Source: WIRED]