Larry Burns, the driving force behind General Motors' future
product development, visited Melbourne last week. Ian Porter caught
up with him.
The lessons of the Iraq war - that securing guaranteed supplies
of oil can be more expensive than expected - and the possibility
that oil supplies may have peaked have prompted the company not to
pick a single winner but to place a bet on every number on the
roulette wheel.
However, electric cars are still the main target. Some will be
pure plug-ins and others will have onboard generators, including
fuel cells.
The Volt marks a big change in GM's approach. The Autonomy was
expected to rival a current petrol-powered car in terms of range,
practicality, speed and price. The generation-one Volt, due in
2010, will be a more realistic starting point.
clipped from www.theage.com.au
