The car that everybody paid for, nobody wanted and even fewer people bought is getting a make-over. Lots of features will change, and the price will be cut, but what won’t change is the U.S. taxpayer being on the hook for $7,500 in tax credit for each Volt sold.
Green Car Reports says that, “Based on published articles and a host of private conversations with industry analysts, electric-car advocates, and — yes — a few General Motors employees, here’s what we know so far about the next Volt.”
The car will likely debut at the 2015 Detroit Auto show. The primary aim of the redesign will be “to get the cost down. Way down.”
Former GM CEO Dan Akerson has expressed that “the goal for the next model was to take $10,000 in cost out of the Volt.”
Akerson admitted in 2013 that GM loses money on each Volt it produces.
Despite winning acclaim as a feat of engineering, the Volt stumbled due to general negative perception as a bailout-conceived “Obamamobile,” and more practical and cheaper hybrid options on the market like Toyota’s Prius.