The Chevy Volt is turning out to be a very interesting case, deserving all the attention it’s getting — or rather, the attention is part of what makes it so interesting. It’s unusual for a major auto company to be so open about product development, especially for such an important and risky project. Judging by Electro-Shock Therapy in the latest Atlantic Monthly, folks at GM are really trying hard to believe in this thing. They have little choice… in fact (keep in mind this is largely subject to whatever biases may be in the Atlantic article), I can’t help noticing a sense of desperation… GM may not be taking the right kind of risks here: they might just be resigning to openness and uncertainty, rather than actually embracing and understanding how those work in the new/future economy… And then it’s especially interesting to consider that the Volt’s positioning maybe isn’t so much “green” as it is “red, white & blue” — as in “stop supporting foreign economies by buying their oil,” not to mention their innovative vehicles. GM might do well to leave the message open to interpretation either way. Too bad for GM the Volt won’t be on the road for the US election: it could electrify political sympathies (if it succeeds…).
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