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Articles from GM-Volt: Chevy Volt Concept Site

Did GM CEO Rick Wagoner Really Change Anything about the Volt’s Release Date? 2008-01-07 05:00:23 Last week I asked Rick Wagoner, GM’s CEO if he was confident the Volt would be released in 2010. He responded that it would be great, but that he couldn’t guarantee it. That remark prompted a flurry of news reports suggesting GM might be balking on their original plans for release. Here are some of the stories that resulted: Autoblog (Volt might not come in 2010) Detroit News (2010 no sure thing) CNN (GM might miss target) CNBC (GM’s Volt not ready to electrify) Winding Road (Maybe not 2010) Daily Tech (GM adds wiggle room) Indianapolis Start (Volt might be delayed) Wall Street Journal (GM’s salvation stuff of science fiction) Now the first thing that’s interesting is did anyone quote GM-Volt as the source of the news, being that I asked the question…Nope. Second. Is there really any new information here? Recently Bob Lutz had stated he was 55% confident the Volt could be released in 2010 (post). What does the E-Flex team think of these ...

We’re Getting Closer…Introducing the 2-Mode Hybrid Saturn VUE 2008-01-06 13:55:05 GM has decided to release some details about a car they are showing at the Detroit Auto Show starting next weekend when press days begin (I will be there folks). It is their new 2-Mode Hybrid Saturn VUE. GM has previously built 2-mode hybrid Tahoes and Yukons, which are just becoming available at dealerships. They also announced production of a 2-mode hybrid Escalade. Now they are introducing a smaller vehicle which will use the advanced 2-mode hybrid powertrain. This technology uses 2 electric motors; one for low-speed driving, and the other for high speed driving. This is different than the current crop of hybrids (like the Prius) which have only one motor for low-speed. As a result, 2-mode’s get better mileage than standard versions both in city and highway driving. So, for the new 2-mode hybrid VUE, GM reports that we can expect a 50% increase in mpg compared to the current non-hybrid version, and will likely get about 29 miles per gallon combined, or about 35 mpg on th ... Hybrid

GM-Volt Bumper Sticker Contest - Final Round 2008-01-06 05:51:50 These are the two wining stickers form round one and two. Vote for the best below. The winner of this round will be made into bumper sticker magnets which will become available through the site. 1. 2. Choose the best bumper sticker: 1 (62%) 2 (38%) Total Votes: 443  Loading … Poll is now closed - winner above! ...

Production Chevy Volt to Have a Spacious Interior 2008-01-05 07:34:31 Ed Welburn, Chief of GM Design was asked for an update on the production Volt’s design. This took place during the GMnext online web chat session. His response: I am so excited about this car – both the technology and the design. We’ve seen as we are designing the vehicle, how important aerodynamics are in fuel efficiency of the vehicle. and I am thrilled with what the team is doing with the development of the interior – it’s creative, spacious… far better than the original concept vehicle. The Volt is our absolute highest priority. It’s got it’s own dedicated separate studio dedicated to its interior and exterior design. We’ve about completed work on the body shape and now we are working on the details…every single detail There are some interesting aerodynamic surprises throughout the vehicle. And you’ll just have to wait to see them. At the end of the day, it still is obviously the Chevy Volt. ...

GM CEO Rick Wagoner on the Chevy Volt 2008-01-03 23:00:27 Yesterday, GM hosted what it called GMnext to celebrate it’s 100 year anniversary as a company. For the event, myself and other journalists and bloggers were given the chance for a web chat with executives, including CEO Rick Wagoner. What did I ask Mr. Wagoner? Well about the Volt of course!: How important is the Chevy Volt E-Flex program to GM’s future, and how confident are you that the car will hit the road in 2010? The Chevy Volt, and the E-Flex system, are really important for GM’s, and I think the whole industry’s, future. With the growing demand for oil, we need to diversify the sources of power for autos, away from our traditional 98% reliance on oil. As to when the Volt will hit the road, we continue to put massive resources into production as soon as possible. 2010 would be great, but can’t guarantee that at this time. We’ll keep you posted regularly on our progress. [UPDATE: Mr. Wagoner’s response is spreading around the int ...

GM-Volt Interview: Compact Power VP of Engineering, Martin Klein, Part 2 2008-01-03 06:39:46 Can you expand on the concept of leasing battery backs, from your perspective (battery maker)? This does offer a solution, particularly for customers who may feel uncomfortable with the potential cost of a replacement battery pack. We and GM feel pretty confident that these packs will have the life that they expect, but you could imagine a customer driving it very, very hard, and what do you do there? Leasing could then become an option. I think one of the other bases for that concept is that when a pack, we have to size the pack to operate in the car for it’s expected life, say 10 years. As we mentioned earlier, the batteries start off with more capacity and capability than they do at the end of life. But at the end of life, it still has a tremendous amount of energy in it. Lets say not enough to go the full 40 miles, that’s what we would define as the end of life. But a battery pack of this size that can still deliver 39 miles is still a good pack. So that pack could sti ...

Oil Hits $100 per Barrel Today 2008-01-02 14:24:31 It finally happened. Source (Reuters) ...

GM-Volt Interview: Compact Power VP of Engineering, Martin Klein, Part 1 2008-01-02 05:32:54 We last spoke with Martin Klein Compact Power Inc., VP of Engineering in the summer when GM announced the battery contract with them and A123/LG Chem. Now that the first two battery packs have been delivered to GM, it seemed a good time for a follow-up interview. What has happened over the last 6 months since being awarded the Volt contract from GM, and how did you get to the point of delivery of the first packs? As you can imagine, its been busy. A lot of design work both within CPI and working with GM. On a program like this, where schedules are so tight, there’s not a lot of room to make assumptions, just try to make it and be corrected, so we work pretty closely with our counterpart GM to make sure every step of the way is in line with their expectations. That’s the only way to get to delivering an actual pack on time. So we did that and they were pretty pleased with that first pack as well as the second one. Did you guys have to develop a unique cell for the pac ...

Are the Volt Prototype Packs Running Too Hot? 2008-01-01 08:24:45 Recently a commenter here suggested he had inside information about thermal regulation problems with the Volt prototype battery packs. Here is his comment: My brother in law is an engineer for this product and said there’s NO WAY it will work as designed. The battery will never be perfected, gets way too hot (much like a laptop) and they have NO effective solution for this. Sorry, better have a back up plan. I tried to contact this person, but they were unavailable for comment. Statements like this are very concerning to us here; we don’t want to spread rumors, but on the other hand we do wish to reveal the truth. I reached out to GM for any comments on this matter. Here is the GM E-Flex team spokesperson’s official response: Thermal management is a challenge, but one the E-flex team is confident engineering solutions will overcome. That said, the team has been very pleased with the test results of both CPI batteries. In fact, I spoke with a member of the battery ...

Nanosolar’s Plan for Electric Cars 2007-12-30 23:00:55 A company frequently praised by the community here at GM-Volt is Nanosolar. They are a Silicon Valley start-up that has built what will soon be the world’s largest solar cell production facility. They have sizable private funding as well, including the likes of Google founders Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt. What’s so interesting about Nanosolar’s panels is that they do not use the conventional and expensive glass and silicon substrates. Rather, they use proprietary nano-photovoltaic ink which can is printed onto thin metal sheets. The resulting product is low-cost and goes for $1 per watt as opposed to the $3 per watt that conventional solar cells cost. Just days ago, their very first production panels were shipped out. Since some Volt enthusiasts dream of the possibility for free solar energy as the power source for their vehicles, it seemed fitting for me to ask Nanosolar’s CEO Martin Roscheisen how the company sees themselves fitting in to the electric ...

GM-Volt Bumper Sticker Contest - Round Two 2007-12-30 07:49:35 We have a winner from our first round of bumper stickers (see post). Now we have several more to choose from that our readers submitted. Thanks for your efforts! Vote for your favorite. The winner of this round will go against the winner of the first round to decide on the final design. There are 11 to choose from in round two - check them out and vote here: (LINK) And yes, we will be offering them as sticker magnets. ...

Will GM Use One or Both Battery Pack Teams for the Production Chevy Volt? 2007-12-29 09:03:21 Following on the heels of our last post in which we discussed exclusive right of E-REV cells for GM, there is another issue to discuss. Again we were told at the time of the battery contract announcements that the winner of the two teams (A123/Conti vs LG/CPi) would be chosen to make the Volt’s cells. We wonder, though, if both teams produce capable and robust packs, could GM then use both varieties among production Volts? I asked E-Flex team spokesperson Rob Peterson about that. He tells us the following: CPi and Conti advanced development contracts were signed in June 07. The contracts included a variety of development activities/deliverables scheduled to take place over a 12 month period. By the end of this period we expect to have enough data to select one, or both, approaches for the production vehicle. This also aligns with the necessary lead times for supplier(s) to prepare facilities and processes to meet the Volt’s production timing. So it seems the possible t ...

What are the Specifics of GM’s Volt Battery Contracts? 2007-12-28 05:00:37 Brilliantly, GM chose the best two battery pack teams from a field of 27 to award Volt development contracts. Those were A123/Conti and CPI/LG Chem. We were advised at the announcement of these contracts in June 07, that in one year hence (June 08) the winner of the two would be announced, and awarded a production contract. Covering their bases further, GM also has contracts with Johnson/Saft and A123 for the plug-in VUE’s lithium-ion pack. Questions have arisen about the exclusivity of these contracts. For example, could A123 still make cells for another carmaker if they make them for the Volt, or will GM possess proprietary ownership of those cells exclusively. For obvious reasons of corporate secrecy, I haven’t been able to get a confirmation of an exclusivity clause from GM directly. John Voelcker of IEEE Spectrum however, published a clue he received from an unnamed GM “high-ranked executive” with respect to the battery maker for the Volt: They can sell po ...

The Race is on: Toyota Now Admits it is Ramping up Lithium-ion Battery Production 2007-12-26 23:00:15 For the first time in 30 years, GM may have its world auto sales record (9.55 million in 1977) broken as Toyota projects it will sell 9.85 million vehicles in 2008. Toyota also reports they are nearly at the point where they could begin to mass produce lithium ion batteries. Paradoxically, just months ago they told us lithium-ion batteries were nowhere near ready for cars (see post). The AP reported that Toyota stated that lithium-ion batteries would appear in a plug-in hybrid car, different than the Prius , and that mass production would not start up until “after 2008″. The batteries will be made by Panasonic. Source (AP) ...

It’s OK to Drink the Kool-Aid: Is GM-Volt.com a Chevy Volt Cult? 2007-12-26 08:58:02 Today our site was featured in an article by the Detroit News, describing the online following of the Chevy Volt’s development as being cult-like.The report includes some quotes by me about the site and the car, and my reason for doing this. Also mentioned are some comments from GM spokespersons and an acknowledgment that GM was indeed hoping for internet buzz about the car- and they got it! If one looks at the definition of cult, there are two main constructs. The first gives it religious connotation (not us). The second describes it as a group showing great veneration towards something. As an analogy, would you describe a desire for freedom, that this countries forefather’s sought as a cult? Here we are people engaged in discussion and observation about a car that represents a profoundly fundamental paradigm shift in human transportation, representing the first step to a future without fossil fuel. There are many reasons why this is important. Does that make us cult-l ...