Its radiator is slightly thicker than normal because of the cooling needs of the 400-pound, 5-foot long lithium-ion battery pack. The Volt won't have a traditional grill, a move designed to reduce drag and make it more aerodynamic; and the electrical system has been completely redesigned as have many of the systems, such as the radio and wipers, that draw power from the battery. GM insists it will begin assembling the Volt in Hamtramck in late 2010 and has been pushing hard to make it happen, according to four key Volt executives who sat down with The News recently. 'You cannot stop this train,' says Frank Weber, GM's vehicle line executive for the Volt. While the Volt has captured the imagination of thousands like no other GM vehicle in recent years after the concept was introduced at the 2007 North American International Auto Show, it hasn't been without its challenges. They company is dealing with engineering hurdles that exist and the pressure to deliver. To that end, engineers began testing Volt systems in older model Malibus, dubbed Mali-Volts, and more recently have been driving around the actual 'guts' of the Volt carried in the production body of a Chevrolet Cruze at GM's Milford Proving Grounds. By year's end, GM will have a fleet of 50 new test vehicles with a production-intent underbody, battery, powertrain and hardware. By next summer, GM expects to be rolling off production versions for testing. 'I bet this whole program on this next build in many ways,' said Andrew Farah, the chief engineer on the Volt. 'We're certainly doing this car faster than we've done any other car.' If successful, the rechargeable Volt, which has an electric motor for its main power and a four-cylinder, 1.4-liter engine, could mark a milestone in the gradual conversion of the nation's fleet of 300 million vehicles from oil to electricity and could help the company regain the mantle of technological leader it dropped after scuttling its all-electric vehicle, the EV1. GM says the Volt will travel up to 40 miles on electric power. The project has many skeptics, and competitors note that GM has overpromised on other technologies in the past. GM is planning to produce 10,000 Volts in 2010 and 60,000 annually after that -- with many of those being exported to other markets -- though the company says those figures could change based on consumer demand. It took Toyota Motor Corp. 11 years to sell 1 million hybrid Prius vehicles. Car generates hypeThe Volt is also an electric-powered hype machine. CBS' '60 Minutes' and other high-profile news programs around the world got an early look at the latest version of the Volt in August after signing written agreements promising not to run stories ahead of time. The company has also run full-page ads in national publications and on TV. 'It's gotten to be bigger than life for us,' the company's chairman and CEO, Rick Wagoner, said in a recent interview with PBS. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who was a key force in proposing the Volt, said last month that his confidence that the Volt team will meet the 2010 deadline has increased to 99 percent from 90 percent. 'My confidence in Volt grows as we accumulate more and more miles with more and more mules and production-intent hardware, all of which is performing with only the most trivial problems,' Lutz told The Detroit News. That's significant given the advanced technology involved. The Volt's lithium-ion battery pack is fully rechargeable in eight hours in a standard 110-volt socket, but that time could be cut to under three hours with a 220-volt dedicated circuit. The Volt will have an eight-gallon gas tank to generate electricity to recharge the battery if a driver goes beyond the 40 mile range. And, owners will be able to get a report from OnStar to find out how much fuel they've saved from driving in electric mode. The price of the Volt has not yet been released. GM doesn't expect to get a significant reduction in battery costs before it launches, though it has settled on an unnamed battery producer. The battery has been estimated to cost around $10,000. But Denise Gray, GM's battery director, says the costs will change when the market broadens. Politicians heap on praiseThe vehicle has won adoration from politicians of every stripe. Republican presidential candidate John McCain toured GM's design center in July and said: 'The eyes of the world are now on the Volt,' he said. 'It's the future of America and the world.'' And that's one reason many on the Volt team are committed to seeing the car through production. The Volt, Weber says, has 'all the design elements of fun and go and drive and you don't have to give up anything. This inspired people. If this is the world of electric driving, I want to be part of it.' You can reach David Shepardson at (202) 662-8735 or [email protected].