First Chevy Volt And First Mercedes-Benz F-CELL Vehicles Go To Customers

The first Chevrolet Volt was purchased for $225,000 in an online auction that raised money for the Detroit Public Schools Foundation to benefit science, math, engineering, and technology education initiatives. The winning bid went to Rick Hendrick, Owner of Hendrick Motorsports and Chairman of Hendrick Automotive Group.

"This was an opportunity to own a piece of history while giving back to the community," said Hendrick, an avid car collector. "I have been a Chevrolet dealer for more than 30 years, and the Volt is one of the most exciting and important new cars since we opened our first dealership in 1976."

In other news, the first Mercedes-Benz F-CELL hydrogen-powered B-Class vehicle went to Vance Van Petten as part of a select group of people participating in a Mercedes-Benz lease program for the vehicle. As part of an initiative to further develop F-CELL vehicles and gain real-world experience in the United States, these vehicles will also be used to provide driving data to the Department of Energy (DOE) to support their Hydrogen to the Highways program.

"The introduction of the F-CELL in California marks the beginning of zero emission Fuel Cell technology in the U.S. for Mercedes-Benz," said Sascha Simon, Head of Advanced Product Planning at Mercedes-Benz USA. "With a range of 240 miles that never needs to be plugged in and more than 15 years of Mercedes-Benz research already committed to the technology, we believe this is a great addition to our fast growing portfolio of alternative fuel vehicles that customers can choose from to best suit their lifestyle."