DETROIT — General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner unveiled the automaker's long-awaited electric car Tuesday and said the turmoil in U.S. financial markets should not affect government loan guarantees that would help the auto industry develop high-tech vehicles.

Speaking to reporters at GM's 100th anniversary celebration, Wagoner said the $25 billion in loans were approved last year as part of an energy bill and should now be funded to help the industry build next-generation automobiles and meet government fuel economy standards.

"Really a relatively small fraction of the investment the industry will have to make to achieve these improvements was to be provided for by direct loans," Wagoner said. "We're just asking that those loans now be funded and that the rules and procedures to be able to draw against those loans be finalized promptly."

GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have been working to get Congress to fund the loans after months of tight credit markets, tepid sales and high gasoline prices.

If the government loans don't come through and the U.S. auto market doesn't recover, GM may have to make further cuts, Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson told reporters.

The company may also have to cut more costs if the credit markets remain tight, Henderson said. GM's liquidity plan calls for $10 billion in internal cuts and another $5 billion through asset sales and borrowing.

Henderson said he is confident that GM will be able to hit those numbers, but said he could not predict what will happen in the credit markets, which affect consumer as well as corporate borrowing.

Wagoner showed off the production version of the Chevrolet Volt, which will be able to go 40 miles on a single charge from a home outlet. He said GM has been testing the car's new lithium-ion battery packs and is confident in their performance.

"General Motors' second century starts right now," he said as Vice Chairman Bob Lutz drove the four-passenger sedan onto a stage at the automaker's world headquarters.

GM said the Volt will cost about 80 cents to fully charge at a rate of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is about the national average. After that, the batteries will be recharged by a small gasoline engine.

"It's proof that the century-old General Motors is alive and well and that it intends to lead in reinventing the automobile," Wagoner said.

The Volt is due in U.S. showrooms by November 2010. Lutz said in an interview that the car won't be ready sooner because of the complexity in building an entirely new powertrain.

VOLT AT A GLANCE
• Lithium-ion batteries, which are still under development, are expected to propel the car up to 40 miles on a single charge from a home outlet.
• As it approaches 40 miles, a small internal combustion engine kicks in to recharge the batteries, extending the car's range to hundreds of miles. The engine can run on gasoline or E85 ethanol.
• Design is among the most aerodynamic in GM history, although the company won't reveal its drag coefficient.
• Interior has a liquid-crystal instrument display that the driver can configure to his or her needs, as well as touch-screen climate, information and entertainment controls.

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