GM CEO: Cadillac To Take On Tesla, One Day--With Plug-In Hybrid Sedan, Perhaps?

It looks like the success of the Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sedan may be starting to get under GM's skin.

CEO Dan Akerson told the Detroit News that General Motors will compete with Tesla Motors--"ultimately"--through its Cadillac luxury brand.

But, Akerson said, he remained unconvinced that battery-electric vehicles were "the panacea that I think the American public wants."

2013 Tesla Model S P85 service loaner vehicle [photo: David Noland]

That may indicate that GM believes a plug-inhybrid version of its future large Cadillac LTS sedan will be its Tesla Model S competitor.

$30,000 electric Chevrolet?

On Monday, Douglas Parks, the company's vice president of global product programs, told The Wall Street Journal that GM is developing a $30,000 electric car with 200 miles of range.

This past March, Akerson confirmed that GM was working on such a car, suggesting breakthroughs in battery technology were "on the horizon" that would make it possible.

At that price, such a car would more likely be a Chevrolet than a Cadillac. The least expensive compact 2014 Cadillac ATS today starts at about $34,000.

Range anxiety remains

Nonetheless, Akerson suggested that a 200-mile range would not "satisfy the range anxiety that persists," which he called "still a major issue" with buyers.

The solution, he said, remained an onboard generator to provide essentially unlimited range on a mixture of grid electricity and gasoline.

2013 Chevrolet Volt, Catskill Mountains, Oct 2012

That's the system used by the current Chevrolet Volt, which is likely to be replaced with a new, less expensive model for 2016 or 2017.

GM said last year it planned to downplay conventional hybrids to concentrate on plug-in cars, presumably its Voltec range-extended electric technology as well as battery-electric vehicles.

Moving up past ELR

The upcoming 2014 Cadillac ELR electric coupe will be a low-volume model using the Voltec range-extended electric platform pioneered by the Volt.

Akerson said the ELR is "certainly in the same postal code" as Tesla--a Tesla Model S carries a base price of $69,900 before incentives--but that "now we're going to move up."

That could indicate that GM wants to compete not only with Tesla's upcoming Model E $35,000 car, but also with the higher-end Model S as well.

Cadillac wil offer a new rear-wheel-drive sedan to compete with the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, thought to be called the LTS and scheduled to launch for 2016.

2014 Cadillac ELR winter testing

Battery electric vs plug-in hybrid

But the Tesla Model S remains the sole high-end battery-electric sedan in the sector.

Plug-in rivals to the Tesla Model S, including the Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid and theplug-in hybrid S-Class just launched, are all plug-in hybrids.

With Cadillac working to compete globally, a plug-in hybrid model of the LTS seems far more likely than a fully electric version.

The Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept, which became the 2013 Cadillac XTS large sedan, was shown as a plug-in hybrid at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.

Today's XTS, however, uses only gasoline V-6 powertrains; Cadillac's Two-Mode Plug-In Hybrid system never went into production, largely due to its very high cost.

Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept

Electric-car experience

In the interview, Akerson claimed that GM would lose less money selling Volts--even at a reduced 2014 price of $35,000--than Tesla would selling Model S cars.

And he sneered at the defunct Fisker Automotive, asking, "Does anyone even remember Fisker?"

With more than 20 years of electric-car development under its belt, it seems General Motors may view Tesla as a genuine competitive threat.

The takeaway would seem to be that GM plans to offer plug-in electric cars that compete on a variety of fronts.

If so, it looks like the first generation of plug-in electric cars--the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, and Tesla Model S--will be followed by a very interesting second generation, starting in 2016 or so.

Source: Green Car Reports

GM CEO: We’re Working On 200 Mile EV

What is the magic number when it comes to EV driving range? The initial wave of Nissan Leafs received a 73 mile rating, though plenty of owners have achieved more or less range, depending on a wide variety of factors. Yet EV sales are not what Nissan hoped for, and other automakers have taken note. GM’s CEO Dan Akerson said the General is working on an EV with 200 miles of real world range.

Akerson told Bloomberg News that his company is developing two separate technologies side-by-side, to see which works out better. One of these technologies will result in a 100-mile EV, while the other will supposedly give GM an EV with 200 miles of range. Such a car is probably a long ways out though, and in the interim the Chevy Spark EV will fill the gap with 75 to 80 miles of range.

Of course, if we address the elephant in the room, GM produced a vehicle capable of 140 to 160 miles range over 13 years ago in the form of the EV1. How hard could it be to produce a 100 mile range EV and how easy would it be to re-create an EV with Lithium batteries and a 200 mile range?

The key here will be price; Tesla already sells a Model S sedan that can comfortably go 200 miles on a charge, but it costs around $80,000 (before the tax credit). If GM could sell an EV with 200 miles of range at half that price, it could give EV sales the kick in the ass they need. Nissan has managed to sell 50,000 Leaf EVs across the world since going on sale in December of 2010; respectable, but not nearly as many as Nissan had hoped to sell.

But Akerson’s comments about battery “breakthroughs” that are “just on the horizon” aren’t exactly encouraging. That’s the same story we’ve been hearing for years. His call for Obama to form a 30-year energy commission also isn’t much help right now, considering the whole sequester situation. How much longer before one of these battery “breakthroughs” actually comes to market?

Source: Bloomberg

China Volt sales too low to divulge; GM hopes battery will give 200 mile range

In China they’re running a special deal on the Chevy Volt. For the price of two Volts in the U.S., you can get just one in China.

Any takers for the top Chevy at just shy of $80,000 unsubsidized dollars?

There may be some in China, but if so, this is not the stuff of bragging rights, and GM actually declined to share when recently asked just how many of its plug-in electric cars it has sold since officially launching the Volt for sale in January.

Just unloaded Volts in January at HaiTong Port in Shanghai.

But the Volt has been a halo in the U.S. and it would appear it’s even more OK to make it one in China. In the U.S., politicized attacks, overblown controversy about its battery, and a $40,000 starting price – minus potential subsidies – has thus far prevented the Volt from regularly selling more than 2,000 units per month, though word is spreading, and things are improving.

As a tech halo in China, the General hopes the Volt will create credibility for the world’s largest automaker in the world’s largest auto market all in good time, according to a Reuters’ interview with Ray Bierzynski, head of GM’s electric vehicle strategy in China.

GM also intends to introduce the pending Volt-based Cadillac ELR and is looking into an all-electric version of the Chevy Sail.

“There’s no silver bullet,” Bierzynski said. “All of these may have applicability at any given point in time.”

At this early stage, China is subsidizing electric vehicles heavily, but only if they are domestically produced, and regarding Voltec, GM has chosen for now to pass on that offer which also means sharing profits, technological know-how, manufacturing processes and the like that China so dearly wants in exchange for fair access to its markets.

Not quite matching President Obama’s high hopes of one million EVs and PHEVs on the road by 2015, China has set a target of just half that many, but hopes to go to 10 times this many on the road by just 2020.

The lowest hanging advanced-tech sales fruit for now, as is true also in the U.S., is with bottom-line conscious fleet buyers who – unlike sometimes not-fully informed mainstream consumers – can crunch the numbers and see a positive value proposition for going EV.

As such, the commercial sector accounts for around 84 percent of new energy vehicle sales now in China.

Perhaps they can sell some $79,000 Volts to these folks.

And perhaps after dipping its toes in, and feeling the water cold, GM might eventually decide to manufacture for-now-imported electric vehicles, at which point China will make the waters feel far more accommodating, coaxing already tempted GM to jump right in.

But for now, Bierzynski repeated prior GM statements that there are no plans to build Volts in China, but did divulge GM is developing a local supply base that could one day be used for this, and is testing Chinese-made batteries as well.

Things are just as up in the air as to when the even more pricey ELR would be introduced, or the electric Sail which thus far has been a concept on show only.

“There’s work going on toward it, but we have not made any decision direction on production, volume, timing, any of that,” Bierzynski said.

GM is also keeping its options open for small low-speed EVs, Bierzynski said.

At present the Volt is imported from Detroit, and available through 13 dealers in areas around Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Being partially locked out of a market whose central planners intend to expand to five million total electric vehicles on the road by 2020 must be quite a goad to GM which would otherwise surely want to get a larger piece of such a major pie – as long as the necessary concession of domestic manufacture with a joint venture partner is deemed worth the tradeoff.

Or, GM can keep going as is, and see if it can generate significant volume for the Volt against less expensive alternatives now and coming that that are eligible for subsidization as well.

‘A game changer’

And maybe by the time GM does give in to the carrot on a stick that is China’s growing EV market, it will have an upgraded Volt in the U.S., so it will not be such a sacrificial lamb after all.

Like everything else, it’s anyone’s guess, but GM CEO Dan Akerson said last week GM Ventures is backing battery startup Envia Systems with a $7 million investment in hopes that within 2-4 years an electric GM could have 100-200 miles range.

At that point would a Volt so equipped need a range extender? Or would all this hope for improved li-ion batteries just lead to better EVs, like the Spark and others?

For his part, Akerson only said GM is sure a 100-mile range EV is do-able in a couple years, and with luck, this could become up to 200 miles with batteries made by Newark, Calif.-based Envia.

“I think we’ve got better than a 50-50 chance to develop a car that will go to 200 miles on a charge,” he said. “That would be a game changer.”

GM Ventures placed a bet on this pony because it has reason to believe statements by Envia earlier this year saying its next-generation lithium-ion cell has already achieved record energy density. Envia said the new battery could slash EV prices by cutting the battery cost in half.

“These little companies come out of nowhere, and they surprise you,” Akerson said in response to a question about GM’s strategy on gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

But just to add more kinks in the future road, Akerson said GM is not only considering hybrids and EVs, but hydrogen fuel cells, natural gas, and simply more efficient petroleum-powered engines are all on the table – and which will rise in ascendancy in coming years, GM cannot say.

“We can’t put all of our chips on one bet,” said GM’s CEO. “We’ve got to look at them all.”

Source: GM-Volt.com

GM CEO Akerson Assures All the Volt is Still on Course Despite Five Week Production Halt

If the Chevy Volt is a sales failure, you'd never know it from the guy who runs General Motors.

At a meeting of Volt owners in San Francisco yesterday, GM's CEO Dan Akerson said unequivocally that the company was standing behind its halo plug-in electric car.

"We are not backing away from this product," he told the assembled Volt owners.

Akerson had earlier said, both during a Congressional hearing and on GM's VoltAge blog, that the Volt was designed as a safe, state-of-the-art car, not a "political punching bag."

"Although we loaded the Volt with state-of-the-art safety features, we did not engineer the Volt to be a political punching bag," Akerson told Congress in January. "Sadly, that is what it's become."

In San Francisco, the CEO met with about 30 Volt owners to answer questions, assure them that the five-week production stoppage was just temporary, and reaffirm the company's commitment to the range-extended electric car.

Volt owner Fred Ehnow attended the lunch and posted his thoughts in the Volt Owners Group on Facebook. Some excerpts (slightly edited for clarity):

GM CEO Dan Akerson speaks to Chevy Volt owners, San Francisco, Mar 2012 (photo: Shad Balch, GM)

Akerson assured us that the five-week Volt production shutdown was nothing more than a matter of keeping inventories in line with demand.

He pointed out that the best-selling car in the U.S. last year, the Chevrolet Cruze, also had a two-week production shutdown in November, and nobody made a fuss over it.

But because the Volt has been under such heavy scrutiny, the media has pointed to the shutdown as yet another indication that the Volt is doomed.

He said that in the old days, GM would not have shut down production, but rather would have tried to bend the demand curve by incentivizing dealers and offloading Volts to fleet sales.

That's what got them (and other American auto manufacturers) into the troubles they were in several years ago.

Akerson spoke and answered questions for over an hour. I was impressed with how genuine and unguarded he was.

To add a note of Machiavellian reality, it may be worth remembering that CEOs are paid to say the right thing.

There's another scenario in which Akerson publicly supports the Volt...right up until the time when he doesn't.

But we think it's far too early for GM to make that decision. The car's barely been on sale for a year, and one year is a very short time in the life of a vehicle program.

Our best guess: GM continues to hammer away at Volt sales through 2012 and 2013, and launches the 2014 Cadillac ELR luxury coupe--based on Voltec mechanicals--next year.

But will there be a Volt 2.0? That's the big question to us.

And it seems far too early to answer--despite what you read in the media.

Source: Green Car Reports

Akerson: GM wants to build 60,000 Chevy Volts in 2012

Yes, yes, yes. We know. There are a lot of questions out there about just how popular the Chevy Volt really is, and whether it's restricted supply or soft demand that's holding sales back. According to GM CEO Dan Akerson, though, supply won't be a problem come 2012.

In the past, we're heard all sorts of possible Volt production numbers for 2012 – everything from 35,000 to 120,000 – but now that the new year is less than two weeks away, you'd think GM would know how many halo cars it wants to build, right? Right. And that number is, apparently, 60,000. In an interview with the AP recently, Akerson said:

We want to ramp Volt production to roughly 60,000 in 2012. I think Prius in its second year did a lot less than that, half. By this summer we will (be in) what I call the second generation, where we will achieve certain scale, and we should see an appreciable drop in the cost of the production of the Volt.

The AP also asked what Akerson would do to GM if he had a magic wand. He answered, half-jokingly, "I want a miracle solution on Volt in the next week. That's not going to happen." Fire safety questions aside – and with sales trending upwards – perhaps the solution is just to make a lot of Volts and get them into customer hands.



Source: Autoblog Green

GM Reports First Quarter Profits of $3.2 Billion

General Motors today posted net income of $3.2 billion for the first quarter, its fifth straight quarterly profit since emerging from bankruptcy.

Stripping out one-time charges and gains, including $1.6 billion in income from the March sale of GM's ownership in Delphi Automotive, GM earned $2 billion before interest and taxes. GM's net income for the January-through-March period a year earlier was $865 million.

Revenue grew 15 percent, to $36.2 billion, according to the GM report issued today.

"Our first quarter results can best be described as on plan," GM CEO Dan Akerson said during a conference call with analysts. "We have a lot of work to do to leverage our scale and realize the full potential of our brands."

Strong demand in North America led the way. Earnings in the region more than doubled to $2.9 billion, compared with $1.2 billion during the same quarter last year.

But Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said GM's profit margin in North America was disappointing. Excluding one-time items, GM's profit in the region of $1.3 billion fell short of his expectation of $1.9 billion.

"North American auto profit was the biggest disappointment of the quarter, offset partially by a break-even [operating] result in Europe" and stronger-than-expected profits in the international division, Jonas wrote.

GM shares fell $1.02, or 3.09 percent, to close at $32.02 in New York Stock Exchange trading today.

GM said it expects North American profits to improve over the rest of the year, thanks to better pricing and cost cuts, which should offset continued increases in commodity costs and a shift from trucks to less-profitable cars.

No major earthquake damage

In a statement, GM reiterated that it "continues to expect no material impact on full-year results from the Japan crisis."

CFO Dan Ammann credited the strength in North America to climbing U.S. market share and increased sales volumes overall. GM's U.S. market share grew to 19.6 percent through the end of April, from 18.7 percent in the first-quarter of 2010, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Higher volumes in the first quarter more than offset weaker prices, higher costs and the shift in product mix.

The trend toward sales of compact cars, and away from trucks, reduced profits by $100 million from the previous year, Ammann said. Costs rose $400 million for the quarter, mostly related to higher engineering and marketing expenses.

While prices rose during the quarter, Ammann said heavy discounts offered in January and February hurt net pricing, reducing GM's profit by $300 million vs. the prior year, Amman said.

Prices have risen 0.8 percent across-the-board since December (excluding incentives), including a 0.4 percent increase that GM announced last month to offset climbing raw-materials costs.

Ammann said the effect on profit margins from a shift away from more-profitable pickups and SUVs is blunted by GM's more-competitive car offerings.

"We're obviously putting the right vehicle portfolio forward for this kind of fuel environment," Ammann told reporters at GM's headquarters today. For example, Akerson said the Cruze compact's price is $3,000 higher than the Cobalt, which the Cruze replaced.

Europe is break-even

GM in Europe lost $390 million before interest and taxes, compared with a $490 million loss a year earlier. But it broke even on an operating basis in the latest quarter. GM is targeting break-even for the year in Europe.

GM's profits declined elsewhere in the world. Its international division, which includes China, had profits before interest and taxes drop from $908 million in the first quarter of 2010 to $480 million for the quarter this year. Ammann said the difference was because of an "unusually strong" performance in 2010.

In South America, earnings before interest and taxes fell from $265 million to $90 million. Ammann said GM is investing in the region to improve its product lineup, which pinched profits. "It's really a story about reinvesting in that portfolio and that region," he said.

GM Financial, the former AmeriCredit that GM acquired last year, chipped in $130 million in earnings, before interest and taxes.

Other one-time events

In addition to the gain on its Delphi sale, GM saw the following special items in the latest quarter:

• A $300 million gain on its sale of Ally preferred stock.
• A $400 million loss due to goodwill impairment at GM-Europe. GM also said it could experience future goodwill impairments in Europe, where it has $1.3 billion in good will still on the books as of March 31.
• A $100 million loss on an Indian joint-venture impairment and related charges.

In contrast, it had only one special item a year earlier: a $100 million gain on its sale of Saab.

UBS Securities analyst Colin Langan said in a research note this week that things should get better for GM as the year unfolds. Langan said GM stands to pick up 1.1 percentage points of market share at the expense of Japanese automakers, which face production shortages stemming from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Langan wrote: "GM will be the biggest beneficiary of the upcoming Japan-related inventory shortages."

Source: Automotive News

Chevy Plans to Double Volt Output to 120,000 Next Year

Dan Akerson, CEO General Motors










General Motors, Inc., plans to double the 2012 production capacity for the Chevrolet Volt to 120,000 as the automaker works to boost the plug-in hybrid's sales, said two people familiar with the matter.

Volt output this year may increase to 25,000 from an original plan of 10,000, GM CEO Dan Akerson said earlier this month. GM now is working with suppliers to raise 2012 capacity from an earlier target of 60,000. It may not build that many if parts aren't available or demand isn't strong enough, said the people, who didn't want to be named because the plans are private.

Akerson, who became CEO in September, wants to sell more of the $41,000 Volt and is pushing to use its Voltec gasoline- electric drive system for models sold by other GM brands. Akerson has said he wants GM to have more fuel-efficient models ready for a possible increase in oil prices to $120 a barrel.

“We want to stay sharply focused on technology,” Akerson told analysts at Deutsche Bank's Auto Industry Conference in Detroit on Jan. 11. “We don't want to be caught flat-footed as we were in 2008.”

Crude oil that year climbed to more than $140 a barrel and average gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon. Sales of trucks and cars with large engines plummeted, contributing to GM's $30.9 billion loss that year.

Randy Fox, a GM spokesman, declined to comment on production plans. He said he didn't know how many people have ordered a Volt or how long they will have to wait.

Volt goals

Akerson told his executive team in early December that he wanted to boost Volt production and explore adding its drive system to several models with a goal of at least tripling sales of vehicles with that technology by mid-decade from the 2012 target, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

After exploring its options, the team settled on doubling capacity for the Volt next year, they said. GM is still evaluating the Volt's technology for other models.

Higher output will allow GM to reduce the cost of the Volt's drive and battery systems, helping it lower the car's cost in future years, said Jim Hall, principal of 2953 Analytics Inc., an automotive consulting firm in Birmingham, Mich. GM

GM should be able to sell all of its Volt production as long as the government's $7,500 tax incentive is in place, Hall said. The incentive expires after GM sells 200,000 units of the car.

“The only way they will get cost down is with more production,” Hall said. “They are in a race to get costs down concurrent with selling 200,000 Volts.”

GM may announce the production increase at the Washington auto show next week, one of the people said.

The Volt can travel about 35 miles on a fully charged battery before the gasoline engine kicks in, giving the vehicle an additional 340 miles of range on a full tank of gas, GM said on its website.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated the Volt's energy use as the equivalent of 93 mpg in electric-only mode. In combined gasoline-electric driving, the EPA estimated the Volt would average 60 mpg, GM said. In gasoline-only mode, when the battery was drained, the car would get 37 mpg, GM said.

Source: Automotive News

GM Developing All-Electric Vehicle - Urban or City Use

General Motors Co. is developing an all-electric vehicle for the U.S. market, as it seeks to expand its lineup of battery-powered vehicles beyond the extended-range Chevrolet Volt that went on sale in December.

At the North American International Auto Show on Monday, GM CEO Daniel Akerson said an all-electric car would fill a niche separate from the Volt, which is an electric car with a back-up gasoline engine.

The all-electric car, he said, will be aimed primarily at drivers in big cities.

"It's more of a metro car or an urban car, where the extended-range electric vehicle, the Volt technology," offers much more flexibility, Akerson said.

The Detroit-based automaker debuted its 2012 Sonic subcompact Monday, as well as the new Buick compact called the Verano — two vehicles GM believes will better position the automaker to take on the challenges of rising gas prices and tougher federal fuel economy standards.

GM's North American president, Mark Reuss, made it clear what's driving the move.

"Forget about gas prices. The regulatory environment through 2016 is going to dictate what we do," he said.

"You got to plan your portfolio to be there from a CO2 greenhouse gas standpoint."

The Verano, the smallest car in Buick's line, gets about 22 mpg city and 31 mpg highway. GM has yet to release gas mileage figures for the Sonic, but GM officials say they expect it to achieve more than 40 mpg.

The Sonic, along with the Verano, start production later this year at Orion Assembly, and will go on sale shortly after.

Reuss touted the Sonic as the only small car built in the United States.

"Ford, Toyota and all the others build their small cars somewhere else," he said.

As GM seeks to improve fuel efficiency at home, it also is working to expand its electric car selection globally.

It plans to put pure-electric cars on the market in China, through its Chinese partner, SAIC, over the next two years -- a move spurred by the Chinese government's strong support for battery-powered vehicles, said Tim Lee, GM's president of international operations.

Those electric cars — subcompacts or smaller — eventually could come to the United States, he added.

The automaker also plans to export the Volt to China next year, Lee said.

Source: Detroit News

GM preparing to launch 2 more EREVs and a PHEV

GM CEO, Dan Akerson











General Motors is preparing to launch two more extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), CEO Dan Akerson told reporters on the sidelines of the 2011 Automotive News World Congress.

GM plans to launch a new hatchback and a multi-purpose vehicle—essentially a small minivan—likely in 2012 and 2013, Akerson told reporters...The automaker also will likely launch a plug-in hybrid version of the Cadillac SRX crossover, he said.

Akerson anticipates rising gas prices and wants to continue GM’s reputation for being on the leading-edge of electric-vehicle development. So the automaker is hiring 1,000 new electric-vehicle engineers and is ramping up product development spending to create a suite of electric cars.

GM will build more than 25,000 Volts this year, Akerson said; he hopes to see electric vehicles make up 10% of GM’s production in 10 to 15 years.

GM Planning to Triple or Quadruple Electric Car Volumes by 2015

General Motors Company Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson is looking to at least triple the company’s target for electric-car sales by expanding the market for the Chevrolet Volt and adding models that would share similar technology, said three people familiar with his plan.

Akerson, who took over on Sept. 1, told his executive team in early December to find ways to sell three to four times as many electric cars as planned for 2012 by mid-decade, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. GM has said it expects to sell 10,000 Volts in 2011 and 45,000 the following year, when capacity may reach 60,000.

Increasing Volt sales and developing other models with electric drive will spread out the cost of developing the technology across more vehicles. It also carries risk because hybrid and electric cars have tended to sell in low volume and be unprofitable, said Jim Hall, principal of 2953 Analytics Inc., a consulting firm in Birmingham, Michigan.

“That makes sense in the long term, but they have to get costs down,” Hall said. “Once the government sales incentives are gone, GM has to mature the cost of the technology to get prices down and make sure they’re not losing money.”

Akerson’s plan for more cars with electric drive underscores his strategy to differentiate GM and make it a technology leader, following an initial public offering that raised more than $20 billion in November, 16 months after the carmaker emerged from bankruptcy. Akerson, 62, has told top executives that he wants Detroit-based GM to seek new markets and prepare for higher fuel prices, according to the people.

Europe, China

The Volt went on sale this month in the U.S. at a price of $41,000. The car, which can travel as much as 50 miles (80 kilometers) using batteries, will be sold in China during the second half of 2011. GM last month began taking reservations for the electric-drive Opel Ampera, which will sell in Europe next year. The models include a gasoline engine that extends the driving range to more than 370 miles.

Dave Darovitz, a GM spokesman, said GM will look at other models for the Volt system. He declined to comment on Akerson’s volume goals for the technology.

Sales to companies and governments that want EVs for their fleets would help support increased production for GM and other carmakers could, Hall said. Last month, General Electric Co. said it would buy 25,000 electric cars by 2015, of which 12,000 will be Chevrolet Volts.

The federal government is offering consumers a $7,500 tax credit to buy the Volt, plug-in hybrids and electric cars. The credit begins to phase out after a manufacturer produces 200,000 eligible plug-in electric vehicles, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

GM Stock

Akerson, a former managing director of private-equity firm Carlyle Group, succeeded Ed Whitacre as CEO in September and assumes the role of chairman at the end of the year. Akerson told his executive team to come back to him with a way to meet the higher sales numbers for the Volt and other electric-drive models, or with reasons why it can’t be done, one of the people familiar with the plan said.

GM rose 44 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $34.29 at 12:29 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares have gained 2.6 percent since the IPO before today.

GM is considering adding electric-gasoline Volt technology to several models under multiple brands, most of them larger than the Volt, including SUVs, according to the three people familiar with the plan. In April at the Beijing Motor Show, Chevrolet showed a five-passenger SUV that could drive in all- electric mode for 32 miles using the Volt’s powertrain system. That kind of vehicle is one possibility, the people said.

Larger Cars

Making larger models using the same system is difficult and may be more expensive because adding features and passenger space will make the car heavier and less aerodynamic, according to two of the people. GM stopped work on a plan hatched by now- retired Vice Chairman Bob Lutz to make a two-door Cadillac sports car called the Converj that used the Volt’s drive system, two executives with knowledge of the decision said in March.

The Volt runs using only electric drive for the first 25 miles to 50 miles. After that, a four-cylinder gasoline engine turns on and recharges the lithium-ion battery.

The EPA rated the Volt’s fuel economy at the equivalent of 93 miles per gallon in electric-only mode and 37 mpg if the car runs on gas after the battery is drained.

Source: Bloomberg