• MSNBC/AP, Tuesday, December 11, 2007 11:30 AM

General Motors has opened a new studio in a former management-training center where work is being done exclusively on its next generation of electric vehicles. The studio has clay and vinyl models of the Chevrolet Volt, which is to be powered by an electric motor run from lithium-ion batteries. The 45 designers and sculptors working on the Volt already have cut 30% percent from the wind drag of the original concept, says Ed Welburn, vice president of global design.

The Volt, unveiled at the 2007 auto show in Detroit, will be designed to be plugged in to a home outlet to recharge the battery pack, giving the electric motor a range of about 40 miles. GM has a target of bringing the Volt to market sometime in 2010 and is now testing the first of two competing versions of batteries made by outside companies.

Designers working on the prototypes are trying to make the car look different so it makes a statement, "but it can't look like a science project. It's got to be something that people want to buy, says Bob Boniface, design director for GM's flexible electric vehicles."

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