GM Volt 2010 rollout will be a "stretch"

By Jui Chakravorty Das

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp's estimated 2010 timeline for production of its electric vehicle could prove challenging but remains the company's target, a top executive said on Monday.

"The end of 2010 is a big stretch," GM's vice chairman and product chief Bob Lutz told reporters at the North American International Auto Show.

"It means everything has to go right and so far everything has gone right," Lutz said. "Right now we are very confident of getting it but normally for a program this complex and with a technology the company has never executed before, you would like to give yourself more time."

As the race to bring a mass-market, rechargeable electric vehicle to the market heats up, GM executives have said the Volt is crucial to the largest U.S. automaker's efforts to snag the environmental technology crown from Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp.

Raising the stakes in the race, Toyota on Monday said it plans to market a test fleet of plug-in vehicles to companies or government agencies by the end of 2010 -- providing a timeline on production for the first time.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters the automaker has already begun preparations to build a factory that will produce the next-generation lithium-ion batteries needed for plug-ins and purely electric vehicles.

The comments marked the clearest statement yet from the Japanese automaker of its commitment to plug-in vehicle technology and amounted to a direct challenge to GM, which has won widespread attention for its announced plans.

Unlike earlier gasoline-electric hybrids, which run on a system that twins battery power and a combustion engine, plug-ins are designed for short trips powered entirely by an electric motor and a battery charged through a socket at home.