Members of the new Chevy Volt Customer Advisory Board will get 3-month test drives then offer their feedback on the battery car.
It’s common for automakers to start fielding fleets of new models in the months before launch and ask company employees for feedback that might uncover problems or improve marketing efforts. But with the launch of one of its most critical new products in decades, General Motors is turning to a panel of 15 consumers to test-drive the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.
The 15 electric vehicle “advocates” and “enthusiasts” on the new “Customer Advisory Board” will each get a Volt to drive, starting next month. The 3-month tests will continue through December, about when the first of Chevy’s extended-range electric vehicles begin to roll into dealers in a select group of initial launch markets.
“We are eager to learn as much as we can from potential customers about their experience with the Volt. We want to know their thoughts, impressions, and perceptions,” said the Volt’s marketing director, Tony DiSalle, in a release.
The auto industry is making a massive foray into uncharted territory with what is known, in industry parlance, as electrification. Going beyond the basic but increasingly familiar hybrids, such as Toyota’s Prius, Nissan will later this year launch the Leaf battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, which will provide roughly 100 miles range on a charge.
GM’s approach, with Volt, is to avoid so-called “range anxiety.” The vehicle can also be plugged in to recharge its 16 kilowatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries, but when they run down the vehicle will be able to keep going, an onboard gasoline engine automatically firing up and serving as a generator to power Volt’s drive motor.
But how consumers will use these vehicles – indeed, if they will be comfortable using them at all – remains uncertain and a key reason for the creation of the Volt’s new advisory board, the company says.
While GM ultimately hopes to attract everyday motorists to Volt, the 15 test drivers are a select group likely to be comfortable and familiar with such technology.
Among the members are environmentlists like Andy Lipkis, who serves as president of the Los Angeles-based group TreePeople. At the other end of the EV sectrum is Tom Kuhn, president of the industry trade group, the Edison Electric Institute. Bill Nye is a well-known science and EV enthusiast and broadcaster.
There’s also a former contestant from the popular cable show, “Top Chef,” the appropriately-named Bryan Voltaggio, who runs the serendipitously-named Volt restaurant, in Frederick, Maryland.
Sales of the Chevy Volt will be limited, initially, to Michigan, California, metro New York/New Jersey, Texas and Washington, D.C. A full, nationwide roll-out could take up to 18 months, the maker says.
GM, which has taken a fair share of hits for its decision to accept a federal bail-out, last year, hopes the green-minded Volt will help improve its overall image. But Volt has been alternately praised and dismissed, the sharpest criticism focused on its $41,000 price tag.
Customers will likely pay significantly less, however, thanks to a $7,500 federal tax credit. And more than a dozen states, including several in the initial Volt roll-out targets, are offering additional cash assistance. GM also plans to offer a $350, 36-month lease on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the same price as Nissan’s new Leaf.