Plug-In Forum

In an interview with Prabhakar Patil, the Chief Executive of Compact Power, a unit of LG Chem, said that his company is on track to providing lithium-ion batteries to power GM’s upcoming Volt plug-in vehicle.

Despite the financial troubles of the U.S. automaker, Patil claims that his company has not noticed any loss of commitment, claiming that “From GM’s side, it’s their highest priority program.”

This type of insight, coming from a close supplier with supposed knowledge of GM’s future goals, can only mean that the automaker’s credibility, and perhaps its future, is resting on the Volt.   Upper management will be pouring its resources and advertising dollars (courtesy of emergency governement loans) into the car, which should go into production at the end of 2010.

It is unclear how much success the P.U.M.A will bring GM.   However,  don’t be surprised to hear of further electric vehicle announcements  based on the design of the Volt.

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