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Articles from GM-Volt: Chevy Volt Concept Site

New Details on Chevy Volt Management and Production 2007-11-07 23:00:39 Frank Weber A new detail-rich article has been published in Automotive Design and Production by senior editor Kevin Kelly in which the current the Chevy Volt management team and some production facts are summarized. Key to the report are quotes from Frank Weber who is the E-Flex global vehicle line executive and chief engineer, appointed as such in March and taking the position this August. Kelly writes “Weber’s responsibility is to make sure both the Volt and E-Flex become a reality under the tight timeframe GM product boss Bob Lutz has demanded—late 2010.” Weber’s team is also charged with developing global recharging infrastructure and he states that GM is “beginning to establish cooperation with utility suppliers in various regions of the world to support vehicle recharging at shopping malls, municipal parking facilities and office buildings.” Weber’s team is also developing the supply base for Volt parts and in a new fact tells us that Behr ...

Fuel Cell Chevy Volt for Production in 2011 2007-11-06 23:54:50 USA today recently published a piece including an interview with Larry Burns, GM’s VP of R&D.  Burns described GM’s push to develop fuel cell cars as a competitive race with other auto manufacturers, who he’s paranoid are up to the same thing. He is further quoted as saying that GM could deliver production fuel cell cars as early as 2011, and most likely to be in the form of the fuel cell Chevy Volt, the concept of which was first unveiled in Shanghai (see prior post) It is expected that fuel cell Volts could hit dealerships a year after the ICE-version arrives in 2010.  The cars would number only in the hundreds and obviously be limited to locations where hydrogen fueling centers are available (there are 16 in LA and 1 in NYC metro right now). Also it is reported that these hydrogen Volts would have to be leased as their cost will be quite high. This information seems consistent with recent discussions I’ve had with Nick Zielinksi and other GM fuel cell ...

Mitsubishi Chairman Yorihiko Kojima Drives an i-MiEV to Work Everyday 2007-11-06 12:07:33 We have previously discussed Mitsubishi’s prototype lithium-ion battery powered electric vehicle called the i-MiEV (prior post). The car was noted to be all-electric with no range extender but be able to drive 100 miles on electric charge and to have wireless recharge capability. Well here’s a shocker..Mitsubishi’s chairman Yorihiko Kojima reports that he is already driving one of these cars to work everyday. This certainly gives us pause for thought…Bob Lutz isn’t driving a Volt, because there isn’t one yet (although hopefully there will be a working prototype by year-end). This must mean Mitsubishi already has a safe working battery pack, and that their plan to introduce these in 2009 might not be so far-fetched. Source: (Autochannel) ...

Interview: V2Green CEO David Kaplan, Leading Vehicle-to-Grid Startup 2007-11-06 04:30:25 V2Green is a new start-up company based in Seattle who’s main focus is building software and hardware for electric vehicles to communicate with the grid and utilities companies. I had to opportunity to interview V2Green’s CEO David Kaplan. The full interview follows the post, can be heard here, downloaded, or retrieved as a podcast from iTunes. David has 30 years in computer business, and actually started SQL while working with Microsoft in the late 80’s. He is also working on V2Green with several technology expert co-founders. V2Green started one year ago after intensive research, with the motivation to start something in the cleantech/clean energy space that would have tremendous importance; in particular, a focus on the electrification of the automobile. They realized that these cars would have to communicate with the grid and there would have to be some communication technology between the two. They wanted to build a system that allows utility companies to maximi ...

GM Exec: The Volt Will be Ready by 2010 2007-11-04 23:00:15 We have heard before Bob Lutz’ intention to have the Chevy Volt in production by the end of 2010, presumably as a 2011 model-year car. The only possible stumbling block to reach that goal has been the lack of lithium-ion battery pack readiness. We also recently found out that the LG Chem/CPI delivered the first Chevy Volt experimental battery packs last week. In a discussion on Saturday about green cars at Jordan University, GM executive Richard Gunther, who works on alternative fuel accounts, put it all together with this statement: “We’ve got our first battery packs delivered to us. (The Chevy Volt) will be ready by 2010.” Granted, it’s not Bob Lutz saying this, but nonetheless it is the most hopefully definitive statement about Chevy Volt production we have heard from GM to date. Bravo. Thanks again to Kent Beuchert who found this story first. Source: (The Courier News) ...

Toyota President Claims “we must go beyond lithium-ion” to Develop Plug-in Hybrids 2007-11-04 00:00:15 Toyota 1/x 925 lb. concept The New York Times has just published an article about Toyota’s impending foray into the plug-in vehicle market. As we already know, GM appears to be ahead of Toyota in their quest to develop a plug-in electric car. GM already has their first pack, whereas Toyota has repeatedly said lithium-ion technology is not ready yet. Some suspect this has to do with Panasonic’s lagging in lithium-ion research (Toyota works with them), whereas GM has shored up partnerships with some of the world’s best lithium-ion battery makers. Toyota has created a few experimental plug-in hybrid Priuses, that can go 7 miles all-electric and achieve a top speed of 60 mph, using extra NiMh batteries in the trunk. The Times reporter got to drive one in Tokyo. Toyota has also tried to argue that the parallel hybrid design is superior to the Volt’s series design. The report notes that Toyota realized people didn’t like the specialized charging needs of th ... President

Bill H.R. 3776 in Support of Funding Advanced Battery Research Has Passed the House of Representatives 2007-11-03 07:09:26 We have previously reported on a bill that was introduced to House of Representatives on 10/16/07, called the Energy Storage Technology Advancement Act of 2007. The bill among other things included $150 million over 5 years for demonstration of vehicle energy storage systems, i.e advanced lithium-ion batteries for plug-in cars (prior post). The bill was actually rapidly passed by the Congress on 10/22/2007 and was presented to the Senate on 10/23/2007, specifically to the Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.(LINK) It isn’t clear from the Senate website when the bill will be voted on there, but I will reach out to them for clarification. ...

Audio Interview: Donald Hillebrand, Director of Center For Transportation Research, Argonne National Lab, Part I 2007-11-02 09:05:04 Dr. Donald Hillebrand is the director for transportation research at the Argonne National Lab, a pivotal government organization involved in testing and deployment of plug-in cars. He is also a very intelligent and highly insightful man. We had an extensive and interesting discussion which can be heard in the player below the post. The file also be downloaded here or found on iTunes as a podcast. Argonne lab grew out of the Manhattan Project, portions eventually looking at the peaceful uses of the atom. Then the mission became to look at things that are threats to competitiveness of the U.S. economy. The biggest threat right now is recognized as the importation of and dependence on petroleum, with the biggest use being transportation. So Dr. Hillebrand’s lab looks at technology that will enhance displacement of the use of petroleum, and this represents about 10% of Argonne’s overall activity. His lab is 80% funded by DOE, and 20% through contracts with individual com ...

WIRED Magazine Expires the Volt 2007-11-01 09:53:26 I admit it, I am an avid reader of WIRED magazine, more or less since it’s inception. For those not familiar with it, every issue has a segment called “Expired-Tired-Wired”; a concise commentary about tech trends. In this month’s issue, the Volt got shoved into the expired box, with the ?Prius a step higher in the tired box (graphic shown, LINK) Who writes this stuff?! Good news is anyway, GM-Volt.com got linked from the WIRED blog today..we are the place where “legions of people” are hanging out eagerly waiting for their Volts. True. ...

Massive Breaking News: GM Receives First Chevy Volt Lithium-ion Battery Packs From LG Chem and Expects to Make up to 100,000 Cars in First Year 2007-10-31 08:18:26   Bob Lutz was interviewed by the Detroit Press and the article was published today.  In it he gave us some very important new details. He told them that GM received the first experimental battery packs from LG Chem/CPI Tuesday, October 30th (cooling system not included).  He also said that A123 packs would arrive in Decemeber. He also tells us that indeed late model Malibus will serve as the mules and be up and running in the first quarter of 2008. Furthermore, he goes on to say the production model Volt will have a “more traditional” front end, definitely be called the Chevrolet Volt, and that he hopes for 60,000 to 100,000 vehicles to be produced in the first model year. My hearts pumping, how about you?! Source (Detroit Free Press) Thanks to Kent Beuchert who picked this up first. Digg this post here: (DIGG) ...

New Interview with Chevy Volt Chief Engineer Nick Zielinksi: Part II 2007-10-31 00:00:34 This is the second part of my recent interview with Chevy Volt Chief Engineer Nick Zielinksi. (Either JavaScript is not active or you are using an old version of Adobe Flash Player. Please install the newest Flash Player.) Topics on the video: -Charging issues -Hydrogen -Mules -Efficiency -Future product plans -Certainty of production ...

“Project Better Place” Electric Car Charging Company Launches with $200 Million in Funding 2007-10-30 00:00:44 A new start-up company announced its launch yesterday. This company is called “Project Better Place. Their idea is to create a subscription-based charging system for plug-in electric cars. This system would operate like a cell phone network, driver’s could roam anywhere, plug-in and charge their cars where it is convenient. They would be billed from the Project Better Place network who would have arrangements with multiple local utilities. The company hopes to set up charging centers where one can drive in and fill up with electricity automatically, or for longer drives, battery exchange depots. In another twist, they see an opportunity aligning themselves with electric carmakers (apparently they are in talks with five) Just like you can get a cheap cell phone when you sign up with one of the wireless carriers, you could get a less expensive lease for electric cars that have signed up with Project Better Place. The company is headed by Shai Agassi, former SAP software ...

EnerDel Publicly Reveals Their HEV Lithium-ion Battery Specs 2007-10-29 15:15:52 First of all, to be clear, EnerDel has not been selected to make the Volt’s battery pack. They are on our site because the government selected them as one of 5 companies to receive research funding (some of those dollars come from GM). Today they made public the specs on the HEV (not PHEV) lithium-ion pack they recently revealed. This allows us some insight into what is needed for the Volt project. The technical presentation is here: (LINK) ...

Chevy Volt in Motion 2007-10-29 11:41:46 Better quality, less content, see our favorite concept car actually move: (Either JavaScript is not active or you are using an old version of Adobe Flash Player. Please install the newest Flash Player.) ...

New Interview with Chevy Volt Chief Engineer Nick Zielinksi: Part I 2007-10-28 20:00:57 I just had the chance to speak with Nick Zielinksi about the most recent Chevy Volt developments including among other topics, the rationale for recent executive restructuring and a discussion about highway driving range. See video below: (Either JavaScript is not active or you are using an old version of Adobe Flash Player. Please install the newest Flash Player.) ...