Chevy Volt confirmed: 40 miles, all-electric

Skepticism still surrounds GM's promise of the Chevrolet Volt. Test versions of the car, which, the company claims will go 40 miles on all-electric power before a backup generator recharges the batteries, are currently being tested in various conditions.

Now GM has officially announced that, even with a less-aerodynamic body (a Chevy Malibu), a suboptimal drive unit and "rough calibration" it is consistently going more than 40 miles on all-electric power with its current batteries.

GM's VP of product development Bob Lutz has said “I can almost say the battery is the least of our problems.”

In general, this is good news. But there are reasons to remain skeptical. First, the initial announcement of a $30,000 price point has already been raised to $35k, and it's been hinted that it could be "closer to 40."

Second, there is still nothing extremely firm about their November 2010 release date.

But the fact that the batteries work, and work as planned, is a big deal. I'm waiting patiently to get my "ecogeek" vanity plates along with my Volt in November of 2010.

Via GM-Volt.com