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Articles from GM-Volt: Chevy Volt Concept Site

A123’s Chevy Volt Battery Pack Won’t be Home for Christmas (or for New Year’s for that matter) 2007-12-14 07:05:12 There were initial reports after GM received the first CPI/LG Chem Chevy Volt battery pack that they would be receiving the first from A123/Continental in December. The other day, GM spokesperson Rob Peterson was quoted as saying the pack would not arrive until 2008. I was able to verify that fact with Mr. Peterson. His official statement to me: There’s no concerns on our part. A123/Conti pack is expected to be delivered in early 2008. It is interesting that the LG Chem/CPI camp has a very large battery maker paired with a small pack company, whereas the A123/Continental camp has a small battery-maker (relative) paired with a large component manufacturer. Does this mean the A123 pack is delayed, or was the pack never intended for December? Your guess is as good as mine. ...

A Word About the Volt with Fritz Henderson, CFO of General Motors 2007-12-13 06:54:37 It’s not every day I get to talk with someone who handles billions of dollars, so I guess I got a little nervous. GM graciously invited me to their annual NYC holiday party for journalists, at which Fritz Henderson, the CFO of GM was a distinguished guest. I couldn’t resist the chance to ask a couple of Volt questions of the General’s head money man. I asked him whether he thought the Volt would be a money loser for the company. He explained that the car was a new technology, he likened it to the first version of the iPod as an example. He expects the costs of production to be considerable at first, but that over the long run, in generations 2 and 3 and beyond, it should be profitable for the company, as costs come down. Specifically, he declined to comment whether he thought the first version of the Volt would lose money for GM, but that “it wouldn’t surprise him”. He cautioned though that GM is in business to make money and that (building the Volt ...

Tour of Volt Design Lab and More Production Volt Details 2007-12-12 09:58:58 Sam Abuelsamid of Autobloggreen, out in Detroit, had the chance to tour the GM wind tunnel and E-Flex Design studio the othe day and heard from Frank Weber, E-Flex vehicle line executive. Sam has written a post about it: (LINK) He talks about why aerodynamics are so important in this car, more so than mass. He also goes through a bit of the styling changes that have to and are taking place. Well worth a read.  Thanks Sam. ... Design

Bob Lutz Wants to Retire After the Volt is Launched 2007-12-12 06:33:13 We have grown very used to “hearing it like it is” from “maximum” Bob Lutz, GM’s Vice-Chairman.  He is in charge of product development and has been the lead instigator and driving force behind our beloved Chevy Volt.  Most fortunately, I recently had the chance to meet him (post).   It has been said that the Chevy Volt will likely be the 75 year-old Mr. Lutz’ legacy. On Tuesday he actually told reporters that he plans on retiring in 2010, right after the Chevy Volt begins mass production. He said I’d like to see the Volt launched because I think that is an absolutely critical product How fitting it would be to have this icon of automotive the automotive industry, whose career has spanned 4 decades, bow out at the inflection point of an automotive revolution that he spearheaded. Thanks Bob for pushing this along, and certainly the production Volt would make a very fitting retirement present. Source (CNN Money) ...

GM’s Brand New E-Flex Design Center 2007-12-11 09:05:58 (Either JavaScript is not active or you are using an old version of Adobe Flash Player. Please install the newest Flash Player.) Back in early October when I interviewed Bob Boniface (post), the Volt’s Chief designer, he told us about GM’s new E-Flex design center, which he happened to be moving into that day. He described it as a grand and extensive facility. Now GM has opened its doors to a few members of the press, as the video above illustrates. The facility is under the direction of Mr. Boniface and he will lead a team of approximately 45 creative designers, sculptors, design engineers, scientists and administrative staff. It will be their charge to produce the future portfolio of E-Flex extended-range electric vehicles. Bob says: We handpicked a team of both young and experienced designers who are enthusiastic, eager and believe in the cause as I do They want to find a better way, a solution to our dependency on petroleum, and that’s what this car is about. As we&r ... Design

Get Blown Away: First Peek at Production Chevy Volt! 2007-12-10 13:59:49 GM has just revealed a teaser photo of the production version of the Chevy Volt, and there it is! You will remember how Bob Lutz previously told us that the concept Volt did not do so well in the wind tunnel. We also heard from vehicle line director Tony Posawatz that it turns out aerodynamics is more important than mass or electricals for getting the Volt to make it 40 miles on a charge. Frank Weber, E-Flex vehicle line executive states: “The electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is most sensitive to improvements in aero, which is in contrast to a traditional vehicle program in which mass typically plays a larger role.” GM now tells us through aggressive work in their state of the art wind tunnel, and through the efforts of a team of designers headed by Bob Boniface, they have made significant progress getting the Volt more aerodynamic; hence the new design above. Aerodynamics apparently accounts for about 20% of any vehicle’s efficiency. Ed Welburn, GM VP Global Design s ...

Slightly Better Picture of Chevy Volt CPI/LG Chem Prototype Battery Pack 2007-12-09 10:31:02 Here is a slightly higher resolution picture of the first Chevy Volt Battery pack (thanks to Matt Kelly - and Dave G’s processing). Remember the pack is 16 kwh, T-shaped, and roughly 6 feet long, 3 feet wide at the bar of the “T” (closest to screen) and 1-1/2 feet tall: Don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to take our Driving Poll (last on page). ...

Chevy Volt on Display in Los Angeles until Dec.11th: GM-Volt.com Meetup tomorrow 2007-12-08 15:19:15 The Chevy Volt will be on display in Southern California for the next few days at free-of-charge events. I know many of you live in that area, so this is a great opportunity to see the car in the flesh and ask the GM folks questions. Given how much we at GM-Volt.com read and think about the Volt, I’m sure we would be able to answer a lot of basic questions from passers-by as well.I’ll be going this Sunday to Torrance if anyone wants to meet up. Times & Dates {GUEST POST FROM AES} ...

Tesla Denies Rumors that Whitestar or Darkstar are DOA 2007-12-08 13:08:27 Darryl Siry In our last post, we noted that Jalopnik published “inside information” that Tesla’s upcoming electric sedan, the Whitestar might not make it to production. Of course this information is anonymous and unverified. GM-Volt.com has been notified by Tesla VP of marketing Darryl Siry, that these rumors are not true. He said: It is simply not the case that Whitestar (and clearly darkstar) are doa ...

Is Tesla Pulling the Plug on the WhiteStar? 2007-12-08 10:11:05 No sooner did we just discuss how Tesla VP of finance appreciates the Volt’s design, and heard directly from Darryl Siry, Telsa VP of marketing, that Tesla has the capability of building an E-REV (though he called it an RE-EV), that Jalopnik has reported a bombshell for the company. It is no secret that the scrappy Silicon Valley start-up has had a shake-up at the top, with CEO Martin Eberhardt stepping down and being replaced by Ze’ev Drori . It is also no secret that they have had trouble getting the $100,000 2-seat Roadster into production, despite having working prototypes. Now, its no longer secret that the company may be scrapping plans to build a sub-$50,000 electric sedan called the WhiteStar, which they had been planning to release in 2010. As per Jalopniks’ tipster: Tesla’s Whitestar and Darkstar programs are DOA. The Detroit office is in trouble. it’s all hands on deck to get the roadster to work Source (Jalopnik) ...

Is Tesla Planning to Build an E-REV Too? 2007-12-07 14:08:03 As you may be aware, Tesla Motors is a Silicon Valley start-up company that has produced an electric car called the Tesla Roadster. It is not available for sale yet, but that is imminent, and the sporty two-seater will set you back about 100K. In time, they hope to build a sub-50K sedan called the White Star. GM’s E-Flex design has certainly evoked awe in many people, including other carmakers. The brilliance of a lower-range and therefore lower-cost lithium-ion battery, with an emergency generator, and a range that suits most is hard to ignore. Since GM announced the Volt concept, other automakers have followed suit with similar concepts of their own. Examples include the Volvo Re-Charge concept and the Chinese automaker BYD’s concept. Now as per Michael Kanellos of CNET, possibly Tesla is considering this design. He reports Tesla VP of Finance Mike Taylor said that the Volt is ” ‘a really good way’, of extending the range on electric sedans in a cos ...

Picture of CPI/LG Chem First Prototype Chevy Volt Lithium-ion Battery Pack 2007-12-07 07:00:09 Thanks to a video by Matt Kelly taken at EVS23, we have the first public view of the LG Chem/CPI first prototype Chevy Volt battery pack: Thanks to Lyle L. for the tip. See the whole video here. ...

How Did GM determine that 78% of Commuters Drive Less Than 40 miles per day? 2007-12-06 07:03:58 A central factor in the Chevy Volt’s engineering design is that it can be driven for up to 40 miles on electric power only. A lot of electric car enthusiasts and manufacturers have come up with varying ranges for their vehicles. An example of this is the fact that the Tesla Roadster is designed to get about 250 miles on electric range. Obviously GM wants to keep the Volt affordable and so arrived at a sweet spot figure of 40 miles. This distance was determined be achievable with a battery of 16 kWH weighing about 400 pounds in car similar in weight, size, and performance of the Chevy Cobalt. GM cites the statistic that 78% of commuters drive less than 40 miles per day. The graphic above is the official GM slide referring to that data.I was able to locate the original study from which the information was gleaned. Published by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Omnibus Household Survey, or OmniStats data, were based on a household surve ...

Compact Power CEO Describes How Their New Chevy Volt Cells are Better 2007-12-05 08:51:01 In our previous post, we told you that GM had received the second prototype Chevy Volt battery pack. The packs give a full 16 kWh of power which GM engineers feel is sufficient to propel the car for 40 miles without gasoline. Jon Lauckner also mentioned that the second pack offers an improvement over the first. Compact Power CEO Prabhakar Patil has publicly stated what it is about their cells that they’ve had to improve to meet GM specs. He notes that “CPI is adjusting the mix of the cathode material with the intention of strongly increasing the energy density of its cells”, “while retaining the safety aspects of its chemistry, packaging and management.” Remember that energy density has to do with how much energy (usually expressed in watt-hours/kilogram) the lithium ion battery can hold. More energy dense batteries allow for longer driving ranges while at the same time adding less weight to the vehicle. It is indeed increased energy (and power) densit ...

GM Takes Delivery of Second LG Chem/Compact Power Chevy Volt Battery Pack, and it’s Better Than the First 2007-12-03 23:00:21 Jon Lauckner Yesterday, in remarks made at the EVS23 conference, GM Vice President of Global Program Management, Jon Lauckner, announced that the automaker received the second prototype lithium-ion battery pack from LG Chem/Compact Power. He said: “A second battery pack, incorporating improvements from the first one, is being delivered to our battery lab today for similar testing. Now, it’s far too early to declare victory, but the results of cell and pack testing to date are very encouraging.” He also mentioned that the first pack, which GM received on October 31st, has already undergone extensive testing. He said: “This prototype battery pack, shown here in a test stand in our battery lab in Warren, has already run a number of test schedules, (including some pretty severe ones) that showed both the individual cells, and the pack, performed according to our math-based expectations. These tests are an important first step to assess the performance of the batter ...