Articles from GM-Volt: Chevy Volt Concept Site

U.S. Government Invests 20 Million in 5 PHEV Lithium-Ion Battery Companies
2007-09-26 16:26:55
Lithium-ion battery powered plug-in electric cars like the Volt are the next phase in the history of automotive transportation. The cars are not really here yet, but on the very verge of widespread and massive production with the plug-in Saturn VUE and the Chevy Volt leading the way. The U.S. government supports this transition, and is eager to help the country move away from its oil addiction. To that end, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced it will award nearly 20 million dollars in funding to five companies capable of making automotive lithium-ion battery systems. Consider these five companies the cream of the crop, in descending order of grant size: 1. A123 (Watertown, MA) - $6.25 million to develop doped iron phosphate chemistry batteries for 10 and 40 mile range PHEVs 2. Compact Power (Troy, MI) - $4.45 million to develop Manganese-spinel batteries for a 10 mile PHEV 3. Johnson Controls/Saft ( Milwaukee, WI) - $4.1 million to develop nickelate/layered chemistry ...

GM/UAW Strike Over, Workers Want Volt Built in U.S.A
2007-09-26 09:52:34
As everyone by now knows, GM and the UAW reached a tentative contract agreement providing a 50 billion dollar healthcare trust, and assurances that GM will support future building and investments in the U.S.A. Just prior to the end of the strike, the Wall Street Journal reported that UAW representiatives specifically mentioned their desire to have the Chevy Volt be built in the U.S., and at the Lordstown, Ohio plant. Overall the workers have been fearful that GM could ship significant future production overseas to reduce costs. As per Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM, “The projected competitive improvements in this agreement will allow us to maintain a strong manufacturing presence in the United States along with significant future investments,” Congrats to all on a rapid resolution to the strike, now lets get back to building those Volts! ...

What Will the Chevy Volt Sound Like?
2007-09-25 05:35:32
This was a question I had posed early on after the car was first introduced. Engineers responded that it should be pretty quiet. Humans have been used to driving combustion engine powered vehicles for 100 years. Electric engines by nature do not make much of a sound. Hidden deep in the body of a high tech, well-insulated car, perhaps no noticeable sound at all to a driver in the cabin. Of course, the Volt also has an on-board ICE-generator which will kick-in after 40 miles of driving. This then presents a dilemma, which we’ve discussed before. Will the driver be shocked when the ICE kicks in? Will he/she be puzzled when the acceleraotr is depressed and the ICE continues to hum along at a constant RPM? We have reported that GM might be planning to artificially program the RPMs of the ICE to give it a more natural interaction with the accelerator pedal. Now, in an interview with Cars.com, Dave Lyon, GM’s executive director of interior design for North America, admits &ld ...

GM Autoworker Union Goes on Strike
2007-09-24 12:16:28
At 11AM today, GMs autoworkers union UAW went on strike, after a deadline to reach a new labor agreement had passed. There are 73,000 UAW members on strike, and it affects all GM plants nationwide. Reports are that neither side can handle a long strike, and indeed as of late a lot of progress in negotiations had been made. GM is officially “disappointed”, but negotiations shall continue. Could this delay the Volt? Will it hurt GMs bottom line? Only time will tell. ...

100 Silicon Valley Executives Pledge to Drive Plug-in Hybrids by 2008
2007-09-24 05:32:58
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group is a consortium of high-tech companies in Silicon Valley, California. The group is releasing a “Clean and Green” action plan about what these companies can do to help reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions. As a part of the initiative 100 executives from member companies have pledged to drive plug-in cars themselves by the start of 2008. According to CalCars.org, at the present time there are only 70 plug-in hybrids on U.S. roads. Remarkably small considering GM is planning to roll out 60,000 Volts between 2010 and 2011. The group is also about to release a 52 page report on what they believe needs to be done for the environment and recommendations. A123 will be the battery company (no doubt along with their newly acquired Hymotion) that converts the plug-ins. Source (Mercury News) ...

GM Determined to be Automotive Technology Leader
2007-09-22 10:37:10
The Chevy Volt has Toyota shaking in their boots, and making weak arguments why the parallel hybrid is better than the series hybrid design of the Volt. As well, GM has forced Toyota to feebly put out to test limited mileage plug-in Priuses, and to acknowledge that their lithium-ion battery supplier is not yet ready for primetime. Moving on this momentum Mr. Robert Lutz has another new quote that he gave to the L.A. Times, who also got to meet with him in L.A. (link) “Five years from now, there will be one technology leader in the world,” Lutz said, “and it will be GM.” Go get em’ Bob, we’re ready. ...

Chevy Volt in 2011?! - Bob Lutz Releases More Critical Volt Details
2007-09-20 20:21:56
New York Times columnist David Pogue had more discussion with Bob Lutz about the Chevy Volt than was able to be aired on the CBS Sunday Morning segment. So like any good reporter, he reported it in today’s New York Times (link). Bob let out some important new information for us to digest and ponder, here are his quotes, followed by comments of yours truly: 1. Volt performance: “Our performance targets for the Volt are 0 to 60 in around five or six seconds. Top speed of 120 miles an hour for a limited time. A hundred miles an hour is sustainable.” 0 to 60 in 5-6 seconds is faster than the 8-8.5 seconds chief engineer Nick Zielinksi told us. Now thats performance! Lets look for this surprise. [[[UPDATE: GM has advised me that unfortunately, Bob misspoke, the 0 to 60 time will actually be 8.5-9.0 seconds]]] 2. First public test drives: “I’m hoping that as early as spring of ‘08, we will have the first rough prototypes running, which will permi ...

Bob Lutz: Chevy Volt Mules Will Be Old Malibus
2007-09-20 10:56:45
Apparently GM invited a group of bloggers to a round-table sit down with GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz. Some of the interview is reported on Jalopnik (link) and includes some Volt-talk. I wasn’t invited, but since it took place on the West Coast and I’m on the East Coast, perhaps that is why? Maybe next time. Here’s what Jalopnik (who was represented there) quoted Mr. Lutz saying about the Volt: “The beginning of the next year, we’ll take some cut up old Malibus, slap the battery packs in…we’ll invite you people [auto journalists / bloggers / random people on the street] out there, so you’ll know when we’re testing them [the Volt], because we want the entire development process to be transparent.” I am particularly struck by this statement for two reasons. The first is that Mr. Lutz indicates his desire to keep the process of Volt development transparent. Indeed that is among the reasons for this website, to help keep the tra ...

Project Driveway Update
2007-09-19 10:44:58
For those of you who might not know, Project Driveway is the name GM is giving to a modestly-large scale hydrogen fuel cell vehicle test it is planning. For the event, GM will be giving out 100 hydrogen-powered Chevy Equinoxes to selected and fortunate parties in the U.S. located in L.A., N.Y.C., and Wash D.C. You can actually sign up as a volunteer on GM’s website. The volunteers will keep the cars for up to 2 years, and the test will be the largest fuel-cell test in history. The vehicles are modifed Equinoxes using GMs 4th generation fuel cells running compressed gaseous hydrogen. A similar car was recently demonstrated to drive uninterrupted for 300 miles in New York State. The reason the roll-out is being limited to these three big cities is, obviously, there must be a hydrogen fueling station nearby. The project has been promoted with a launch date this fall. By my calculations, fall begins in 2 days. Well, the update is, as per ABC news, the cars will not be rolled ou ...

EnerDel Gets GM Money to Develop Li-ion Batteries
2007-09-18 12:30:26
Trying to keep its eggs in more than a few baskets, GM is a member of the USABC, or United States Advanced Battery Consortium. Among this entities other members are Ford and Chrysler. The consortium is actually a subunit of the parent body known as the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) which was founded in 1992 to help promote the development of fuel cell, hybrid, and electric vehicles. It was announced today that USABC is giving a 6.5 million battery development contract to EnerDel, a subsidiary of Ener1 which is in turn an alternative energy company. EnerDel makes a lithium-ion battery using “patented lithium titanate and hard carbon technology and cell design technology” which is based on initial developments coming out of Argonne National Lab. From the press release… “Under the full three-phase program, EnerDel is working to develop a fully integrated battery system for use in hybrid vehicle applications. The USABC program aims to prod ...

Chevy Volt May be Built in Ohio
2007-09-17 11:22:57
An article surfaced in which the Mayor of Lordstown, Ohio indicated that there are rumors the Chevy Volt may be built at GMs Lordstown assembly plant. The facility currently employs 2800 autoworkers, and 5 years ago received a 500 million dollar facelift from GM. The plant is located 40 mile southeast of Cleveland (hey they can drive them there all-electric!) As of now, the plant produces Pontiac G5s and Chevy Cobalts. We already know that the Volt will be built on the Cobalt platform, so a facility geared to that car makes sense. This is more evidence of GMs relentless and definitive pursuit of Volt production. ...

Chevy Volt on CBS Sunday Morning: Lutz Says Priced “Nicely” Under $30,000
2007-09-16 12:25:48
First, welcome to anyone arriving to this site who just heard about the Volt on National TV this AM. Today, on national television CBS aired a segment about the future of cars and the fact they will be running on electricity and not gas. Featured was the Tesla Roadster, as the small silicon valley “scrappy” start-up. Also profiled was GM and the Chevy Volt. There are interviews with Bob Lutz, Denise Gray, and Rick Wagoner. Denise Gray, the battery director, is is described as having the whole load of success or failure on her shoulders because a working battery pack is the critical step. Mr. Lutz states the car will be priced “nicely” under 30,000..not just under $30,000. Also mentioned is that Chris Paine who made the film “Who Killed the Electric Car?” is making a new film called “Who Saved the Electric Car?”. The segment also touts the electric car movement as a grass roots approach..I agree and is the main reason for this very we ...

Chevy Volt TV Ad
2007-09-15 11:51:53
GM continues to advertise the as yet non-existent Volt heavily to help change its image from the maker of gas-guzzling trucks to the new lean green electric GM. This is truly unprecedented, marketing a product that doesn’t even exist in prototype and is 3 years away. Pundits say GM is taking a risk, I say they know its a sure thing! Here is the TV ad: (Either JavaScript is not active or you are using an old version of Adobe Flash Player. Please install the newest Flash Player.) ...

Clarification: Chevy Volt Electric Motor is A/C
2007-09-14 15:02:09
In our previous post, it sounded as though Mr. Tony Posawatz responded that the Volt will use a DC motor, which seemed surprising. Readers caught that and I questioned Mr. Posawatz again..he indicated that the Volt has an A/C motor. Sorry for any confusion. ...

Don’t Get Killed on Your Killacycle
2007-09-14 11:38:59
We’ve posted about the Killacycle, which does 0 to 60 under 1 second, and uses A123 lithium-ion cells making it the fastest electric vehicle on the planet (see previous post). Invertor Bill Dube was showing it off for reporters at the WIRED Nextfext, burning out, he got shot off, and he was well..almost killed (we hear he’s OK). See video: (Either JavaScript is not active or you are using an old version of Adobe Flash Player. Please install the newest Flash Player.) ...

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