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The Chevrolet Volt will cost $40,000, General Motor’s product supremo Bob Lutz has announced.

GM will lose money on each one when they go on sale in 2010, because the hybrid drive behind the revolutionary Volt has cost so much to research, develop and engineer.

Lutz is convinced that developing cars like the Volt is the way forward and that future generations of these cars will become popular. "We believe profoundly in the electrification of the automobile," he said.

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I really, really like the idea of the Volt but $40K is roughly twice the price of a Prius in the US, which has got to marginalise it as a product however much stronger its green credentials are.

It’s a bit early to decide the fate of the Volt; the car is not even in production yet. Everybody wants a firm price on something that is still in development and that is a bit unreasonable. Battery technology/manufacturing will ramp up eventually lowering the cost so some patience might be in order. The amount of Volts that will go on sale in 2010 will be limited and I bet they will not have a problem selling everyone they make.