General Motors continues to press for the appearance of its E-Flex Chevrolet Volt by 2010 after initiatives introduced by Toyota at the Detroit Motor Show on Sunday, January 13 further heated up the already growing hybrid wars.

GM insists it will have lithium ion-powered vehicles for demonstration purposes by June and the company's engineers continue to focus their developmental energy's on the Volt's E-Flex powertrain.

As conceived, the Volt would have the ability to travel 40 miles daily at regular highway speeds on battery power only after a six hour charge. When those batteries drain, a gasoline engine would engage and both power the vehicle and charge the batteries.

The Volt could also be plugged into a normal wall socket for battery charging when parked overnight. Alternate versions of the E-Flex powertrain, according to GM, can be used with diesel engines or hydrogen fuel cells.

For its part, Toyota announced it will have a plug-in hybrid ready by 2010, powered by lithium ion batteries and initially made available to government agencies and commercial customers.

A modified version of Toyota's signature hybrid, the Prius, the plug-in will reputedly get 99.9 miles per gallon when operating in EV mode although the vehicle can travel only seven miles on battery power alone.