GM has this big fuel cell program. That was their big bet for the car of the future. And what is that? A fuel cell. Takes hydrogen and uses a catalyst to convert it to electric power which runs the car. So what we've been talking about at GM all along is the electric car. We just haven't been telling people that's what we're talking about.
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.