"Some media outlets pounced on the news. "GM Lied," said a headline on a blog published by the car website Edmunds.com."



By SHARON TERLEP
General Motors Co. for the first time said its battery-powered Chevrolet Volt car isn't entirely driven by its electric motor but that its gasoline engine in some circumstances assists in powering the wheels through gears.

The admission may mean little to coming owners of the much-hyped vehicle, due out in December. But it seems to be at variance with what GM has been saying for several years about how the Volt operates. GM calls the Volt an "all electrically-driven vehicle" in press materials.

The new information means the Volt is a bit more like a conventional hybrid gas-electric car such as Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius than previously believed. (The current Prius, however, can't be plugged in to recharge.)

The Chevrolet Volt, seen at the Paris auto show last week, is designed to go up to 50 miles on battery power.
The Volt, like other coming electric cars, has a big battery pack. That allows it to travel 25 to 50 miles purely on battery power, GM says. After the batteries are drawn down, the Volt has a gasoline engine that kicks in to power a generator, which creates electricity to keep the car's electric motor turning. That fact has long been known.

But it turns out the gas engine also can help drive the wheels through a gear system, working in conjunction with the electric motor, in situations such as high-speed driving. GM never before said there was a mechanical link between the gasoline engine and the drive train.

GM said in a release Monday that "we did not share all the details until now because the information was competitive and we awaited patent approvals."

Some media outlets pounced on the news. "GM Lied," said a headline on a blog published by the car website Edmunds.com.

The distinction has little practical impact, but it created a controversy at an inopportune time for a vehicle that so far has generated much positive publicity. The news came just weeks before GM plans to start a "road show" to promote its initial public stock offering, due before Thanksgiving.

The IPO is designed to allow the U.S. to begin offloading the 61% stake it owns in GM after last year's $50 billion bailout.

On Tuesday, GM Chief Executive Daniel Akerson met for the first time with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in what people familiar with the matter called an introductory meeting. Mr. Akerson took the CEO job Sept. 1, succeeding Edward E. Whitacre Jr., who was recruited by the Obama administration to help lead GM's restructuring.

Separately, GM has rolled out a program to let U.S. and Canadian employees, retirees and dealers buy shares in the IPO. The program, administered by IPO underwriter Morgan Stanley, allows participants to buy stock at the opening share price, which has yet to be determined.

A website outlining the program says the minimum investment will likely be $1,000 and the minimum and maximum number of shares that can be purchased is being determined.

Write to Sharon Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com

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