Clean Green Cars: Detroit 2010: First wave of Chevy Volts will come to Michigan

Detroit 2010: First wave of Chevy Volts will come to Michigan

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM, Detroit Auto Show, Green Daily

2011 Chevrolet Volt - Click above for high-res image gallery

Call it pandering to the home crowd, any home crowd. During the LA Auto Show last month, General Motors announced that California would be one of the first markets for the Chevrolet Volt, adding that there were “other lead markets to follow.” Now that the automotive world’s eyes are all focused on Detroit, GM has confirmed that Michigan will be one of those lead markets.

California makes tremendous sense for the Volt: the state has a small but growing recharging infrastructure, there are a lot of plug-in vehicle fans there and there is serious government support for grid-connected vehicles in the state. Michigan makes sense for different reasons: there’s no infrastructure here, but Michigan is the Volt’s home. The concept and production versions were first announced in Detroit, the vehicle was designed and tested here and the car and battery packs will be made in the state. Whether MIchiganders will take to the plug-in hybrid at the same rate as Californians remains to be seen, but this is a car that GM needed to sell in the Mitten State.

Gallery: Quick Spin: 2011 Chevrolet Volt pre-production prototype