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G.M. Plans to Accelerate Production of Electric Cars

The automaker announced two new contracts designed to speed up the production of electric batteries for its Chevy Volt, and its CEO said alternative fuel vehicles were a high priority for the company.

The automaker announced two new contracts designed to speed up the production of electric batteries for its Chevy Volt, and its CEO said alternative fuel vehicles were a high priority for the company.

The announcement came at the G.M.'s annual shareholder's meeting here, and was part of a plan to reduce the amount of gasoline the company uses across its product line.

"Energy diversity means that we'll continue to improve the efficiency of the internal combustion engine, as we have for decades," said Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors. "But importantly, we're also dramatically intensifying our efforts to displace traditional petroleum-based fuels by building a lot more vehicles that run on alternatives, such as E-85 ethanol."

Wagoner said G.M. is significantly expanding its commitment to alternative-fuel vehicles, not only the Chevy Volt concept car, introduced at the Detroit Auto Show in January, but also to a wide variety of hybrid gas-electric vehicles.

The two contracts awarded by G.M. went to Compact Power and Continental Automotive Systems, both Michigan-based companies that will design and test lithium-ion batteries for the Volt.

"Given the huge potential that the Volt and its E-flex system offers to lower oil consumption, lower oil imports and reduce carbon gas emissions, this is for sure a top priority program for G.M.," Wagoner said.

In addition to the Volt, G.M. has built or has plans to introduce several other hybrid cars, including a diesel hybrid electric system for large city buses, hybrid models of the Saturn Vue and Aura, new hybrid versions of the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs, which feature the 2-Mode hybrid system that improves fuel efficiency by an estimated 25 percent.

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