http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives...st_behind.html

 

I'm waiting for someone in the automotive press to wake up to the fact that June of 2008 is awfully late to be running around in a mule car for a MY2011 program. I'd expect that powertrain mules for a "typical" program might be up to a full year ahead of this, and that's not for anything nearly as risky as an all-new vehicle architecture.

One good thing that I picked up on in that post was a sense of pragmatism on the behalf of Lutz. He seemed to be more realistic about the coming challenges than I've seen in previous GM corporate communication.

 

I'm hoping that the rest of the car is being developed independantly of the drivetrain (a side from space requirements of the drivetrain). This would mean that not only could this come together quicker, but it would also be easier to impliment this drivetrain in another vehicle as well...

 

There are multiple teams working on the vehicle, and to the best of my knowledge, GM Powertrain still acts relatively independently of the platform engineering groups (at least on normal programs).

But that still doesn't put me at ease. Powertrain programs normally run far, far in advance of where this thing is at, and hopefully that's scaring the sh*t out of someone.

 

I won't be surprised if Volt shows up a year or two late. I am confident that GM will not deliver Volt until it's ready.