The Risks of a New Electric Car

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The risks here are enormous. What if they put this car out there and it burns up? What do you do about the warranty? The version you'll see in production doesn't look all that much like the one, like the show car. GM actually, it's deep in their DNA from the beginning, may have been a company that has liked to take big gamble,. only rarely, however, have they pulled one off.

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.