The General Motors Corporation is floating on a rough current. Even before the present credit crisis, GM was suffering from a fading share of the national car market and annual losses, despite award-winning and competitive new vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu and the Cadillac CTS. GM’s loss, to Detroit’s dismay, has served to add to import gains.

GM executives are aware of the bad image the corporation has received, with unflattering documentaries and frequently critical articles in business media. GM’s recent termination of the troubled EV1 electric car didn’t help the PR machine, especially since GM was devoting much of its resources on full-size V-8 trucks for its sales.

Though it can be hard to fathom, GM management has been vocal over the past two years about the permanent shift in course for the car market. Full-size pickups and SUVs are out; smaller cars and alternative fuels are in. Leading that charge (with no pun intended) is the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

The Volt first appeared as an unusual, boxy concept in Detroit back in January of 2007. The Volt displayed GM’s E-Flex hybrid power system that combined a small single-liter engine with an electrical generator capable of running on gasoline or E85 ethanol.

Much has changed since then. The Volt’s production form has been unveiled, appearing very different from the 2007 display. The Volt shares a similar profile to the Prius–not a bad thing, really, since the Prius design is meant to cut drag to a minimum, while offering a spacious and versatile passenger compartment.

The key behind the Volt is the often-mentioned plug-in technology–something that has yet to be executed on a wide scale. The Volt’s drive system uses an enlarged lithium-ion battery unit that can power the vehicle for up to forty miles solely on electric energy. Once stopped, the Volt can be linked to any outlet and have its electric unit recharged, effectively eliminating gasoline use for local trips. If additional power is needed for longer distances, the system’s fuel reserve (gasoline or ethanol) will kick in to provide added energy.

The Volt’s complex engine will be built at a new factory in Flint, Michigan. The gasoline motor will be a 1.4 liter inline four-cylinder engine. The gas engine, however, will be only a support unit to the primary electric generator. This is different from traditional gas-electric systems in which electricity and gasoline interchange to propel the vehicle depending on the required power. This is only a preliminary overview, however. It will be at least another year before a fully operational example will be available to analyze in detail for possible consumers.

General Motors is facing a key obstacle ahead of the planned 2010 release date: Price. GM management has aimed at a $30,000 base price for the Volt, but the advanced hybrid energy storage system is expensive apart from the rest of vehicle platform. GM engineers are dedicating a massive amount of time to improve efficiency, reduce weight, and insure dependability. Management has been looking into receiving a federal tax credit to reduce the required expense and preserve the promised $30,000 price tag.

GM will need to: the company is bleeding dollars from a long series of business losses, a recessionary economy, and negative perceptions. GM has been able to prove it can still build world-class and fashionable cars in recent years, from the Saturn Sky roadster to the Pontiac G8 sport sedan. But it will take a big leap for GM to recapture consumer interest and orders the way it did during its glory years in the 1950s.

Time will tell if the Volt can make that leap.