As promised yesterday, GM has officially taken the wraps off of its warranty program for the Volt... and it's a doozy. The Volt will get what GM is calling "the most comprehensive vehicle warranty in the industry," including an 8 year/100,000 mile warranty on the Volt's 16 kWh battery pack.

In a blog post, Tony DiSalle, the Volt Marketing Director, said that GM is able to offer such a long period of coverage for the battery pack because they are "extremely confident" in its performance. Additionally, the words "battery warranty" don't do the coverage justice: it will cover all 161 battery components, the liquid thermal management system, charging system and electric drive components. It is also transferable to other vehicle owners at no cost.

The Volt's warranty program is also pretty groundbreaking when it comes to everything else too, and will also comprehensive coverage of the following:

• 100,000 mile/5-year transferable Engine Limited Warranty (for Range Extender)
• 100,000 mile/5-year 24/7 Roadside Assistance Program
• 100,000 mile/5-year 24/7 Courtesy Transportation Program
• 36,000 mile/ 3-year no deductible Bumper-to-Bumper transferable warranty
• 100,000 mile/6-year corrosion protection

Especially interesting are the length of the roadside assistance program and the addition of the "courtesy transportation program." These items make sense to help ease the minds of folks who envision being stranded in a plug-in car—although in the Volt it seems like a bit of overkill because the car can function just fine without a charge.

Given the inevitable comparison, Nissan has yet to announce the LEAF's warranty program, so GM claiming the "most comprehensive" or best battery warranty is a bit premature... although, to be fair, it is a truly remarkable warranty. However, in a way, GM's warranty hand was forced due to the fact that the EPA and California Air Resources Board consider the battery to be part of the car's emissions control system because it has an on-board combustion engine. Accordingly, it falls under the same regulations that require other emissions control equipment (e.g. catalytic converter) to have an eight year warranty.

You can ask all your question about the Volt's warranty in their live webchat this afternoon.