GM Builds First Volt Lithium-Ion Battery

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It’s not a finished vehicle sitting in a driveway, but GM took an important step toward realizing the production of the Chevrolet Volt when the first advanced lithium-ion battery pack rolled off the assembly line this week.

Built specifically for a mass-marketed plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the battery pack also makes GM the first major automaker to build a Li-ion battery pack in the U.S. The Detroit automaker made a $43 million investment in the Brownstown Battery Pack Assembly Plant. Five months ago, the Michigan facility was sitting vacant.

Beginning this spring, GM will send the batteries to its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, where the Volt is assembled. Regular production at Brownstown and Detroit-Hamtramck is still scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but this seems to indicate that we’ll see the Volt on dealership lots before the end of 2010.