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By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE

I used to laugh at the folly that was General Motors. Time after time, GM would follow a familiar pattern with ground-breaking products.

- Some of GM’s best and brightest come up with a ground-breaking new product, something that truly could change the automotive industry.

- Bean counters force the designers and engineers to cobble the thing together with parts-bin pieces and then push them to get it on the road before it’s ready.

- Continue fine-tuning the vehicle after it has gone on sale, essentially turning customers into final development engineers.

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The driver of a UPS truck flashes a "Hey Good Looking" sign at the pre-production Chevrolet Volt during an engineering test drive along I-80 near Toledo, Ohio, Oc 13. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)

DETROIT — General Motors wants everyone to know the Chevy Volt won’t suffer any loss of performance when it switches from battery power to its gasoline engine.

GM expects the Volt to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 8.5 seconds. But Car and Driver magazine’s Tony Quiroga wrote in April that the Volt would not be as quick after its battey was depleted.

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2011 Chevrolet Volt

FLINT — Cynics all over the Web wonder if the Chevy Volt will be able to deliver on the incredible promises General Motors has made about the technology.

But company officials believe they are creating the technology that will power the vehicles of the future.
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