Hybrid Car Review

GM outlined their costs associated with updating the Detroit-Hamtramck plant to build the E-REV Chevy Volt. So far, the general is spending $336 million to re-shape the plant.

GM went on to note they've now invested $700 million in Michigan for the Volt. The Volt will be assembled using tools from Grand Blanc, lithium-ion batteries from GM's Brownstown Township battery pack manufacturing facility, camshafts and connecting rods from Bay City, and stampings and the Volt's 1.4L engine-generator from Flint. All that will be brought together at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

The other investments made by GM include:

• $37 million in Bay City, Mich. to produce cam shafts and connecting rods for the Volt’s engine generator. You know, that generator that will allow the Volt to travel more than 300 miles in addition to the initial 40-mile, all-electric range when the Volt won’t use any gasoline or produce any tailpipe emissions.
• $23 million in our Flint, Mich. Tool and Die facility to build the dies to stamp metal parts for the Volt.
• $202 million at our Flint Engine South plant — this is where we’ll build the 1.4-liter engine generator that provides Volt an extended-range capability of more than 300 miles.
• $1.7 million at the Flint Metal Center, in presses to stamp parts.
• $30 million in the Weld Tool Center, in Grand Blac, Mich., to produce the robotic weld tool cells that were installed at our Detroit/Hamtramck plant.
• $27 million in the Alternative Energy Center at the GM Tech Center in Warren, home of our new, state-of-the-art battery lab where we test and refine the Volt battery pack.
• $43 million in Brownstown Township, Mich., to open the world’s first OEM-owned, high-volume, lithium-ion battery pack plant. We expect battery-pack production to begin there early next month.

"We expect the Detroit-Hamtramck plant will be the first facility in the U.S. owned by a major automaker to produce an electric car. It is the hub for the wheel that we began rolling in 2007 when the Volt debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit," said Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of global product planning in a statement. "Since then, the field of challengers and partners has grown significantly. This competition will expedite the development of electric vehicle technology and infrastructure."

Some equipment for the Volt is being recycled from other GM facilities. Also, the existing track at the plant will be used for assembly. Prototypes will begin production in the spring, with regular production set to commence in late 2010.