Tuesday, Sept. 16, is the day General Motors marks its 100th anniversary--and the day it rolls out a vehicle that is key to its future.

The production version of the Chevrolet Volt--a plug-in series hybrid that is designed to travel 40 miles before it burns any gasoline--gets its formal debut as part of the celebration. To watch the events live, go to www.autoweek.com/gm100.

The styling of the production Volt is somewhat less exciting--in our opinion--than the concept car from 2007. But changes were made to cut down on the Volt's aerodynamic drag, which is important for the car to hit its 40-miles-on-no-gas goal.

GM aims to put the Volt into production in late 2010.

Come back here on Tuesday morning to watch all the events live.