A day after the US government's auto task force told GM that the Volt was "too expensive to be commercially successfully in the short term," and that the Volt was too little, too late, GM has asked the federal government for $2.6 billion in low interest loans to finish developing the Volt along with 2 other variants of the Volt PHEV.  This $2.6 billion request raises to $10.3 billion the amount in aid GM has requested under a Department of Energy program designed to support the development of fuel-efficient vehicles.