The Challenges of GM's Car

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"It's got to be extremely aerodynamic because when you're working with electricity and you're trying to squeeze that 40th mile out of the battery, something as small as a side view mirror. It's not aerodynamic," he says. "The timeline is extremely ambitious. They've put so much emphasis now on late 2010 that if it slips everyone is going to know and they'll be ridiculed"

Jonathan Rauch, of the Brookings Institution and the Atlantic Monthly, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the evolution of the Chevy Volt, GM's planned electric car. Due to the transparency of GM's effort, Rauch was able to spend a great deal of time on site at GM writing a piece for the Atlantic Monthly on GM's plans and hopes. Rauch discusses the huge risks, GM's past failures, and GM's hopes that the Volt might change the company's culture. The conversation closes with a discussion of competitors and the implications for energy policy.