Back in May, Wired.com held a contest asking people to shoot a video telling them how they were using technology to minimize their carbon footprint. The prize? A trip to Detroit to drive the Chevrolet Volt.

Four winners (Simon Metcalf, Guy Marsden, Patrick Wang and Rob Focia) were selected and this week, they made their trip to Detroit. It was an action-packed couple of days. They met with Vehicle Chief Engineer Andrew Farah and other Volt leaders, toured the GM Global Battery Systems Lab, met some of the Volt's designers, visited the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant where the Volt will be put together and even checked out the OnStar Command Center. The highlight for all was a trip to the Milford Proving Grounds to drive a Victory Red-colored Volt.

Check out our Posterous page for a gallery of photos highlighting their trip and listen to a quick audio clip of Andrew Farah explaining how the Volt's windshield has changed in development to reduce wind noise. It's just one example of the little tweaks the team is making before the start of production.

You can read the winners' reviews of the Volt and their trip on the Autopia section of Wired.com in the coming weeks.

You may have read in the news today that we made a significant announcement regarding the Chevrolet Volt’s battery warranty.  In short, we’re standing confidently behind the Volt giving owners the industry’s best warranty of any electric vehicle – an 8-year, 100,000-mile battery warranty standard.

Our highest priority is our customers, and we want to be your car company.  This warranty provides tremendous value and peace of mind.  Not only does the battery warranty cover all 161 battery components, the liquid thermal management system, charging system and electric drive components for 8 years or 100,000 miles, it is transferrable at no cost to other vehicle owners.

Tomorrow, Chevrolet is announcing a major consumer initiative at our Brownstown, Mich. battery manufacturing plant.  Details on the validation and testing of the Chevrolet Volt’s lithium-ion battery and the start of regular battery production will also be provided.  After the announcement, we'll host a webchat at 4 p.m. EDT with global electric vehicle executive Doug Parks and Volt marketing director Tony DiSalle to answer your questions.