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GM Celebrates 100 Years, Looks Toward Future With Chevy Volt
Oct 08 2008 by Emily Hansen
This September, GM celebrated its centennial; the milestone anniversary made me think about how much has changed in the 100 years that GM has been around. Some of the simple automotive advances that I take for granted are an electric starter, which saves me from physically cranking my engine each morning, and the automatic transmission, which I appreciate every time I get into a little test car with a stick shift. From airbags to advanced electronics, there have been incredible advances in technology since GM came on the scene in 1908.
So what? Well, besides the sheer trivia involved (you’ll need that with family holiday gatherings coming up), this anniversary has given GM an opportunity to showcase arguably its most anticipated production car of my adult life: the Chevy Volt, a plug-in electric sedan. GM used bloggers and an interactive media platform GMNext to celebrate the live reveal of the Volt.
The Volt’s new look is a departure from its original super-sporty concept, but it’s still a sharp-looking sedan. GM says the Volt can free about 75 percent of daily commuters (those who travel fewer than 40 miles each day) from gasoline. A standard household plug will charge the battery each night and have the Volt ready for the commute in the morning. A backup gasoline or E85 engine is in place “just in case,” but the Volt’s target customer may never hear the gas engine start up. The Chevy Volt is expected to be in showrooms for the 2010 model year.
GMNext also features podcasts, videos and a “wiki” with customers’ personal stories about their GM cars and trucks. I was seriously tempted to write a story about the baby sitter who used to take me and my sister cruising (without my mother’s permission, of course) in my mom’s ’70s-era Pontiac, which scarred me for life. I loved reading the stories; it gave me a greater appreciation of both car enthusiasts and everyday drivers who’ve been touched by a GM car. It’s so American and apple pie, I just want to start waving the flag and singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
