Bikes & Cars...

Recently, a dozen of us automotive journalist types in the Pacific Northwest had lunch with Bob Lutz, GM's vice chairman of product development and chairman of GM North America. He's on a tour of sorts to get the word out about GM's commitment to quality and alternative fuels, which I will now dutifully pass on to RiverWired readers.

First, the car of the hour, the Chevy Volt. This car has been all over the blogosphere as it has moved from concept car to production status. Lutz pointed out that the typical American 40-mile (or shorter) commute can be completed using the Volt's electric motor only, before the engine, which can run on gasoline, E85, ethanol, or hydrogen, kicks in. The car that hits the streets in limited numbers next summer will look decidedly different from the concept pictured here; Lutz admitted that the prototype looked great, but its aerodynamics have turned out to be terrible in the real world.

Batteries in the Volt will last 10 years or 150,000 miles. The source of these batteries has kept Volt mavens on pins and needles, as GM has yet to announce the supplier it will use. Here is our not-so-illuminating conversation on the topic at lunch:

Me: Have you decided on a battery supplier?

Lutz: Yes. (Sips lemonade)

Lutz spoke briefly about his Vectrix electric scooter, which he called "the equivalent of the Chevy Volt in motorcycles." He also said that electric vehicles were the only viable solution to the need for family- and highway-ready transportation in a post-oil America. If the last 100 years were about gasoline, according to Lutz, the next 100 are about electric.

But GM isn't putting all its eggs in one propulsion basket. There's Project Driveway, which is putting hydrogen-fueled Chevy Equinoxes in the hands of real people -- who happen to live near the few hydrogen fueling stations in the country (L.A., D.C., and NYC). It's also building small, efficient gasoline-powered cars like the Spark.

GM is also looking at any and all options regarding its Hummer division -- including selling it off. There's one more behemoth already coming down the pipeline, the H3T, a pickup-truck version. It seems likely that this will be the last model in the line of pseudo-military SUVs produced by the company. But if you're in a country with low emissions and economy standards and you have a little extra pocket change, give GM a ring.

Lest you think the man who called global warming a "crock of sh1t" is growing dreadlocks and joining a drum circle, he spoke with the most passion and interest when discussing the latest Cadillac CTS-V and Corvette ZR1 models. Both are supposed to be incredibly fast, but neither is anywhere near eco-friendly -- they're both powered by V8 combustion engines.

"High-performance can be electrified," Lutz said, "but it will be different." He seemed resigned to, rather than excited about, that fact.