Customers in the New York and in Austin, Texas, will be among the first to have a chance to own a Chevrolet Volt when General Motors begins delivering the electric vehicle with extended-range capability.
New York and Austin joins California, Michigan and Washington D.C. as the initial retail markets where Chevrolet will sell the Volt.
GM’s chairman and chief executive, Edward Whitacre Jr., is expected to announce those plans today at a speech at the Austin Chamber of Commerce, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The Chevrolet Volt is expected to go on sale in November in limited numbers. GM expects to sell about 10,000 to 11,000 Volts in the first year of production. The automaker expects to sell 50,000 to 60,000 annually afterward.
The Chevrolet Volt is an extended range electric vehicle with a gasoline engine. It is geared for drivers and commuters that travel 40 miles or less a day. If the battery becomes depleted, the gasoline engine kicks in to give the Volt an additional range of about 300 miles.
It can be recharged using a conventional household electrical outlet and is a cornerstone of GM’s efforts to recast itself.
The Chevrolet Volt is a key part of GM’s strategy to position itself publicly as producing state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly products.
