GM CEO orders electric car sales tripled

General Motors' new boss is putting out orders to at least triple its electric-car sales by mid-decade, Bloomberg News reports.

CEO Dan Akerson wants to vastly expand the market for GM's $41,000 chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car, which just went on sale by adding new models with similar technology, Bloomberg says based in interviews with three people, none of whom are named. Drive On just reported that GM is looking to put its electric technology in a Cadillac.

GM plans to sell 10,000 Volts next year and 45,000 in 2012, and will be capable of building even more. By making more electric-drive models, GM can spread its development costs over a larger base.

For the moment, buyers of the Volt can knock thousands off the sales price through government tax credits. But those will disappear, forcing GM to lower its cost-base for making every car:

Levering its technology costs over a larger base could help. "Once the government sales incentives are gone, GM has to mature the cost of the technology to get prices down and make sure they're not losing money," Bloomberg quotes Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics as saying.

The Volt is a breakthrough for GM, a car that can trump Toyota's expertise at hybrids. The car can be plugged in to run for 40 miles or more on electric power. Then a gasoline engine takes over for unlimited range. It also stands in stark contrast to the electric-only powerplants of competitors like Nissan, which have to be plugged in again when they run out of juice.