GM (NYSE: GM) announced today that it is stepping up the national rollout of the Chevrolet Volt, and that the electric vehicle will be available in all 50 U.S. states by the end of the year.
Chevrolet Volts have been delivered to customers in the Washington D.C. area, as well as California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Texas. Customer deliveries in Michigan begin this spring.
Rick Scheidt, U.S. vice president for Chevrolet Marketing, said the accelerated schedule is in response to customer interest. "This is the right thing to do for our customers and our dealers who are seeing increased traffic onto their showroom floors," he said.
Customers nationwide will be able to order Volts with participating dealers beginning in 2Q11. Deliveries will begin in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii in 3Q11. During 4Q11, Chevrolet expects to deliver Volts in all 50 states.
"The Volt is clearly bringing new customers to Chevrolet," said Harry E. Criswell III, president and owner of Criswell Chevrolet "We are seeing 10 to 15 customers a week who are seriously considering buying a Volt. Many of them own competitive brands and now have a Chevy on their shopping list because of the Volt."
The Volt has won several industry awards recently, including 2011 North American Car of the Year and Motor Trend 2011 Car of the Year.
Earlier this month GM licensed advanced lithium-ion battery technology that the company says will speed the development of stronger, low-cost batteries for electric vehicles.
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I was eagerly awaiting the Chevy Volt for some time, but have really been turned off (probably won’t go back) by all the price gouging at the dealerships with prices well above MSRP.. on the order of 5K to 10K. Probably wait until another manufacturer comes out with a better car that does gouge the consumer. Still waiting 🙂