In case you’re wondering what the typical 2011 Chevy Volt buyer is like we’ve got the stats on what these early adopters are like according to a report from General Motors.

Of the 2,184 Chevy Volt owners they are 90% male, 80% have a college degree and 45% have an advanced degree. They spend 2/3 of their driving time in electric mode and of those who traded in a vehicle for the Volt, 14% were GM vehicles. Fifty percent paid extra for the 240-volt high speed charger and 93% of the buyers were either satisfied or very satisfied with their Chevy Volt.

This blogger wasn’t shocked at the success of the Chevy Volt but it looks like General Motors was. A number of sources are now reporting that they are going to more than double the number of Chevy Volts they produce next year from 45,000 up to 120,000!

Additionally, it looks like GM may also try and boost Volt production for this year from 10,000 to 25,000. Wow, you can almost hear the exectives talking to themselves saying, “Holy crap, people really do like the Volt!”

GM North America President Mark Reuss stated late last year that Chevy Volt production levels would be bottle-necked by the limited number of battery packs that LG Chem could produce. There has been no announcement on how or if this hurdle has been addressed but presumably it has. Only time will tell how many Volts will hit the car lots over the next couple years.

Since I get all of my most crucial information from former Baywatch stars, my ears really perked up when I read that Alexandra Paul is now supporting GM.

Paul was a vocal critic of GM in the 2006 documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” The focus of her wrath of course being GM pulling the plug on EV1 production and then going that extra mile and physically destroying all of EV1s that they could get their hands on.

Paul’s change of heart towards GM is fueled, not surprisingly, by the Chevy Volt. She recently described the Volt as “an amazing piece of machinery,” and going on to state that it’s, “more advanced than what any other car company in the world is doing.”

Paul has been stating her case for the 2011 Chevy Volt through a series of videos called Ask Alexandra. All 12 of Paul’s video clips are up on Chevy’s Youtube channel.

With the Chevy Volt beginning production today, GM is already looking ahead for the technology that will power the next generation of their electric cars.

Their commitment to this comes in the form of investing in tech savvy personnel, 1,000 of them to be exact. These 1,000 new GM electric vehicle engineering and development positions will be in Michigan and will help GM bring in new powertrain options for its customers.

Dan Akerson, GM’s CEO, stated earlier today of the mass hiring that, “We want to give our customers energy choices other than petroleum and to make the automobile part of the solution when it comes to the environment.”

With GM set to begin selling the Chevy Volt later this year, there are undoubtedly tens of thousands of drivers ready to purchase one of these hotly anticipated electric cars. But wanting a Chevy Volt and getting a Chevy Volt are likely to be two very different things.

GM’s production plans for the Chevy Volt could be called conservative at best with only 10,000 Volts slated for production in 2011. Production is set to increase in 2012 up to 30,000 but even then demand is likely to be far from met unless the electric car is a total flop.

Currently GM has a list of potential buyers that is 53,000 names long. Despite the obvious interest and media attention, GM is playing it safe.

“We want to make sure, at the beginning, that everything is right, “GM spokesman Rob Peterson stated. Not only will GM be entering very different territory with the electric car, it also need to be sure that dealerships are properly prepared to service the Chevy Volt’s unique systems.

Not only is GM putting the brakes on the number of Volts it’s selling each year, it’s even restricting the places that it can be purchase with only six states seeing dealerships getting the Chevy Volt.

According to the New York Times, GM has agreed to sell Saab to the small Dutch company, Spyker Cars.

Spyker, known for it’s high-end sports cars, will breathe new life into Saab, which otherwise, would probably ceased to exist.

GM Saab facilities, based in Sweden, had already initiated shutting down at the start of 2010. The sale to Spyker will stop the scuttling of the Saab infrastructure and see the facilities start producing Saab vehicles again.

If GM has its way, America’s infatuation with the pickup truck won’t necessarily have to come with nearly as much eco-guilt. GM is currently investing big, in ways to significantly improve fuel efficiency on their newer lines of trucks.

The focus of the investment, which is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, will be on improving the mileage of the full size GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado (pictured above).

GM is coming at the improvements from all angles and going beyond typical engine adjustments with things like an upgraded grille that would include electronically adjusted openings that would boost aerodynamic efficiency while engine cooling is not required.

Harvard-Westlake middle school in L.A. will be getting a lesson in electric vehicles on November 30th, as GM will be doing a presentation on the inner workings of the 2011 Chevy Volt (pictured above).

The presentation, which will also be broadcast on the web, will examine the basic principles behind electric cars like the Volt, and how GM expects them to be the vehicle of the future. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer period which will hopefully involve an inquisitive student asking why GM dragged its feet on electric vehicles up until now.

The Chevy Volt will also be shown to the general public as it will be making an appearance at the Los Angeles Auto Show. In its press release GM stated that they wanted to do the presentation for the middle schoolers because, “Today’s middle schoolers are tomorrow’s leaders.”

Today, General Motors released two interior photos to coincide with the Chevy Cruze’s unveiling at the Paris Motor Show this week. And can we just say that the interior looks swank? With tweed-like fabric covers and slick colored panels along with a slick, centrally-located LCD screen, the Cruze definitely trumps the Colbalt in design.

Chief designer Taewan Kim says that the new Cruze’s design is meant to be “bold, not evolutionary. We wanted to take a big step forward, making a strong design statement for Chevrolet products around the world.”

The Chevy Cruze, which is speculated to be taking the place of the Colbalt, will hit the European market in March of 2009, with U.S. production at the Lordstown, Ohio, plant, where the Cobalt is currently made, beginning in June 2010. So US buyers won’t be getting the Cruze until April 2010 as a 2011 model.

On 2011 Cruze’s official site, GM says, “Cruze boasts ample interior space, surprising cargo capacity and comfortable seating for five. With exacting safety standards and quality build, Cruze delivers on Chevy’s promise to offer a smartly designed compact at an exceptional value.”

After three days of hearing a federal judge has approved a plan that allows General Motors to sell its best assets to a government-run company.

The three days saw 850 objections to the restructuring plan addressed. Ultimately the judge agreed with GM’s main point that the sale was mandatory to save the company.

This ruling is a significant victory for the Obama Administration as it has been putting enormous pressure on the American auto industry to restructure in a very short amount of time.

In June, Chrysler rose from bankruptcy after only 42 days despite seeing shcallenges from three state funds that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

By Friday, General Motors will likely have be a changed company, having taken the fast track to the bankruptcy courts and coming out the other end as a smaller car manufacturer with fewer brands and a greater focus on more fuel-efficient cars like the Chevy Volt (pictured above).