Autos Task Force Sees Chrysler, GM Electric Cars

United Auto Workers members leave the first shift at Chrysler's Warren Truck Assembly in Warren,...

United Auto Workers members leave the first shift at Chrysler's Warren Truck Assembly in Warren, Mich., Monday, March 9, 2009. Members of the Obama administration's auto task force visited the plant that builds the Dodge Ram truck. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

(AP)

Four members of President Barack Obama's autos task force spent much of their Monday driving General Motors Corp. electric vehicles and touring a Chrysler LLC pickup truck factory.

The members, led by Wall Street financier Steven Rattner and Steelworkers union official Ron Bloom, traveled first to GM's tech center in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Mich., and then drove to Chrysler's Warren Truck plant.

GM and Chrysler are living on a total of $17.4 billion in government loans, and the task force is trying to determine if they will get more money. The companies have requested a total of $39 billion as they try to survive the worst U.S. auto sales downturn in 27 years.

Task force members first visited the sprawling GM tech center, where they were greeted by Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and test-drove white and silver Chevrolet Volt electric cars, according to shots taken from television news helicopters.

Then it was off to the Chrysler plant in a 2009 silver Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo driven by Bloom, where they met with top Chrysler executives, including CEO Bob Nardelli, Vice Chairmen Jim Press and Tom LaSorda and Chief Financial Officer Ron Kolka.

They entered the plant near an auditorium in which the company had placed several of its future products, including electric and hybrid vehicles. The plant employs about 2,600 workers.

Both companies are working on rechargeable electric vehicles like the Volt that can go around 40 miles on a single charge from a household outlet. After 40 miles, small internal combustion engines kick in to generate electricity and power the car farther. Chrysler and GM have pledged to bring the electric vehicles to market sometime next year.

The automakers were eager to show off new products in an effort to prove they can become viable despite billions of dollars in losses. Chrysler lost $8 billion last year, while GM lost $30.9 billion.

Without government help, both companies would have run out of money early this year.