This week Chevy unveiled the Volt officially. Also, the Senate is set to take up the renewables and drilling bill this week.

The Volt was revealed to much fanfare, but no new technical information has been released. Some new videos have surfaced of the Volt driving around a test track, presumably GM’s.

But now we can say the countdown officially begins - come fall of 2010 the Volt is due to be on showroom floors. Though with only 10,000 units to be made, not only will it be tough to get on the first year, the prospect of actually saving money compared to a gasoline vehicle will be tough due to the insane dealer markup I’m expecting. And I don’t expect it to subside until the end of the second production year (end of 2011). Hopefully by that time GM will have figured out what it’ll take to put out 100,000 units per year.

One of the interesting problems facing the Volt is that the price of gas will determine how quickly the buyer will make their money back. Or if they’ll make it back at all. I’ve done the math and for me, the breakeven point is about $4/gallon over the course of 7 years. This includes government tax rebates and total vehicle finance costs, compared to the vehicle I’d normally buy (an Escape). Seven years might sound like a long time, however the warranty on the powertrain on the Volt is 10 years, so it should have usable life that far (assuming GM doesn’t collapse).

The renewables and drilling bill passed in the house, mostly on party lines. It heads to the Senate. The bill includes a 3 year extension for wind power (until the end of 2012) and an 8 year extension for solar (until the end of the 2017). I’m hoping that this will be the last set of incentives - that by 2012 wind is at grid parity for areas with wind resources at grade 5 and above. There is positive economic impact with this bill too - a number of projects tied to renewable energy, both generation and transmission projects are depending on this bill to pass so they can move forward and begin construction. So those in the renewable energy sector as well as power transmission could be looking up at the increased amount of work coming their way. Lets hope it makes it through the senate and Bush decides that he wont break out that Veto pen.