Chevy's Volt Has the Juice

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Chevy Volt

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But he thinks the issues can be solved in time for GM to sell a plug-in hybrid Volt. Lutz says he wants to bring one to market in the typical amount of time it takes to design and engineer a conventional car—about three or four years.

There are doubters. James Hall, vice-president of automotive research firm AutoPacific, says cost, safety, and reliability issues all could take longer to solve than GM thinks. A lot more testing and development needs to be done.

"GM announced the car and they don't control the key technology," Hall says. "They could end up selling a hydrogen fuel cell before selling one of these."

Lutz admits that the batteries are a real challenge. So GM has hired Cobasys to develop one battery and Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls (JCI) to develop another. "We're taking a calculated gamble," Lutz says. "We're kicking off a full vehicle development program and betting that the batteries will be done in that time."

If plug-in hybrids make it to prime time, there are other issues for consumers. Will they really take to plugging their cars in?

Humbled by Tesla's Sports Car

While plug-in hybrids make great sense for city dwellers, there's a problem. Where will all those garageless urban dwellers plug in?

Imagine Seinfeld's George Costanza driving around the block a dozen times to find the perfect spot in front of his own place, and then needing an outdoor outlet to recharge the battery. If Jerry or George had an outdoor outlet, could they park in front of it? Or would Newman get the spot and charge his car's battery on Jerry's electric bill?

In any case, GM is forging ahead whether the batteries and the public are ready or not. And believe it or not, Lutz is behind the push.

The 74-year-old horsepower junkie was spurred to push plug-in hybrids and electric drive technology by Tesla Motors, a California startup that is selling a $100,000 electric sports car that stores energy by stringing together multiple lithium-ion laptop batteries.

Lutz says he figured that if some non-Detroit guys could cobble together their own battery system and build a $100,000, two-seat car that goes from zero to 60 mph in a tire-screeching four seconds and goes 250 miles without a charge, then GM should be able to make it work. "I have a great fondness for Dodge Vipers and Corvettes. Too much horsepower isn't enough," Lutz says. "What put me over the edge was the Tesla."

Now, Lutz needs to push GM over the edge and get the batteries and the Volt to market as quickly as promised.

Click here to see all the highlights of the 2007 North American International Auto Show.

Welch is BusinessWeek's Detroit bureau chief.