Beth Lowery addresses the audience
By Beth Lowery
Vice President, GM Environment and Energy
In January, GM caused great excitement when we revealed the Chevrolet Volt, our plug-in electric hybrid concept vehicle. Since that time, we have received many questions about the car, particularly relating to the challenges of battery technology.
Today, I led a discussion before 100 members of the media and bloggers who joined in person and by webcast. The battery briefing: (1) introduced GM’s new battery team and summarized where we’ve been — GM learned from its past work with the EV1 and lead acid batteries; (2) where we are — GM has evolved to nickel metal hydride batteries in vehicles like the current Saturn Vue Green Line; and (3) where we’re going — to make a production-worthy car, the vehicle must meet a potential car buyer’s expectations in terms of performance, cost, safety and reliability — and the battery is an integral part of that process.