Chevrolet Volt

When General Motors management approved its 2011 E-REV for production, the batteries-and other technologies-did not exist.

Since its 2007 debut as a concept car, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt has been the world's most anticipated and scrutinized passenger vehicle program. As the resurrected General Motors prepares its return to private control, the stakes in the car's production launch are as high as they've been for any new GM product in perhaps the last 50 years.

“To say we've been working under the auto industry's biggest microscope is a vast understatement,” the program's Chief Engineer, Andrew Farah, told AEI. “But that's somewhat by design. From the beginning it was GM's intent to be highly transparent throughout this [Volt's] development.”