DETROIT—
General Motors
The battery warranty for the Chevrolet Volt electric car is 8 years or 100,000 miles to inspire confidence in the new technology.
This guarantee is better than the guarantee of GM's five-year or 100,000-mile traditional car engine and transmission.
The charging voltage will be launched in the showroom on November.
Before a small gasoline engine takes over power generation, the car can drive 40 miles with battery power so the car can travel longer distances.
The price of Volt is expected to be around $35,000, but may be lower after the federal tax credit.
Longer warranty period will help when GM tries to convince people to adopt new lithium
Ion battery technology
Tom Stephens, GM's vice chairman of product planning, said the automaker believes the battery problem will not exceed the warranty period, although their ability to hold fees will decline slightly over time.
"Initially, when we looked at this, we wanted to make sure the battery was good for 10 years," he said . ".
The chemical composition of the battery is similar to that of the mobile phone and computer.
These batteries often wear out after a few years and are relatively expensive to replace.
In the early days of GM, 400 of the cost has been determined.
About $10,000 pound volt battery, the most expensive single component in the car.
As GM sales increase, costs should fall and should fall sharply in eight years, Stephens said.
Old batteries can be shipped to GM for reconstruction to extend their life, he said.
Customers can also choose to deal with these problems, he said.
Mickey bleli, executive director of General Motors electrical systems, said battery costs have fallen sharply as GM's knowledge of new technologies has grown and government funding has reduced development costs.
He declined to say how much the cost had fallen.
The Volt warranty also includes battery cooling and heating systems, charging systems and electrical drive components, GM said.
Volt will be listed first in Texas, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, California, and Washington DC. C.
The automaker plans to produce 10,000 vehicles by the end of 2011 and 30,000 in 2012.
Other automakers are launching electric vehicles.
Soon after the Volt went public, Nissan Motor Co.
Leaf, which will start selling, says it will charge 100 miles at a time.
There will be no gasoline engine for the leaves, but it will be cheaper than Volt.
Nissan has not announced the battery warranty for the Leaf.