Production Volt Interior Further Refined: Center Screen, Center Stack Buttons, and Vents

I had some further discussions about the Chevy Volt’s interior with chief designer Bob Boniface. He advised me that the production interior design has undergone some further refinements. This images above reveal those. The older design is at the post bottom. You can download the high-res image here.
Are the interior interfaces finalized?
Stylistically it looks mainly final.
Are the things seen on the display completely finalized?
They’re not completely finalized, there is going to be more content than what you see here. These are just DVDs that are rolling on a loop.
One of the things we have changed I should tell you design-wise is this piece the middle touch screen frame. People kept trying to break this or pull it off. It doesn’t move. It looks like it should move. It (also) is not very manufacturable. It was one piece. It was die-locked. So now we’ve integrated it. It has more of a hood on it, its integrated around its edges, it actually looks quite a bit better. On all these buttons, we’ve added pill-shaped targets, tactile targets that you can navigate towards.
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t_bone - 11/17/2008 8:45:40 PM

-7 Boost

What's up with those floating dash panels? If I was a congressman I'd tell them to get rid of the fluff or no federal $$$.

DaHarder - 11/17/2008 8:59:03 PM

+9 Boost

And just so you'll know...

Pleasing aesthetics and solid ergonomics are not 'fluff'.

It cost essentially the same amount of money for automakers to pen unattractive designs as it does handsome ones.

Me, I'll take good looking design over the mundane, dowdiness of Toyota's Corolla et al, any day.

Hyundai - 11/17/2008 10:12:21 PM

+2 Boost

Cheap, ugly cars is what has been HURTING GM!



DUH!!!



Well said, Daharder.

t_bone - 11/18/2008 4:44:45 PM

+1 Boost

But seriously, you guys aren't actually LOOKING at the picture. You've got a couple slabs of plastic that DON'T MEET UP in the middle. It's a stupid design, derivative of Bangle crap.

Otherwise it looks quite good.

DaHarder - 11/17/2008 8:50:49 PM

+5 Boost

Looks very well done, and rather appropriately 'forward thinking' for a vehicle of this kind...

I Wish It Well.

inspirion7 - 11/17/2008 10:57:42 PM

+3 Boost

With all the attention with GM woes, many overlooked the award Autocar UK gave the Volt, Safety and Tech award:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/236037/

Very well done. The Prius isn't even close.

randy33 - 11/19/2008 2:37:57 AM

+2 Boost

An "Award"? LOL! And award for what? Nobody's even driven it yet! Scam.

WorldofLuxury - 11/18/2008 1:15:56 AM

+2 Boost

Great job GM...concerning this car, for now, of course (;

Hopefully, this is a sign that there will be better competitions from other companies...better and cheaper than the '08 Prius, hopefully.

Designer1 - 11/18/2008 4:53:19 AM

-2 Boost

I'm telling you now; this Volt design is and will be a failure from in and out. Talk about weight reduction to consume fuel, look how big the gear knob is, those extra plates on top of the dashboard, and when you put the car on park be careful not to hit and scratch the top of your hand by the center console. I think GM is doing this on purpose so another car would fail in their lineup so they get more $$ from the bailout, the more you fail the more money you get back.

uall - 11/18/2008 5:19:05 AM

+1 Boost

I hope it has more cupholders then those 2?!?!

holmstar - 11/18/2008 8:22:04 AM

+3 Boost

how many do you need? You are suppsed to be driving, not having a feast.

grover432 - 11/18/2008 7:10:26 AM

-1 Boost

GM is going broke. Who cares about this car? Someone else will buy the assets and build it (or not). Between the unions and management, a once mighty company has fallen (OK, the economy hasn't helped).

M53R - 11/18/2008 9:47:44 AM

+2 Boost

I actually love the interior of the volt. It looks like nothing else in this suposedly boring segment, and manages to look ahead of its time. Good luck GM.

randy33 - 11/19/2008 2:41:27 AM

+2 Boost

Jesus, 1UAW, with a "$50 Billion" payroll (says GM), you'd think ONE of those MILLIONS of people would be able to 'focus' on the OUTSIDE too.

This car is UGLY!