Goodbye MaliVolt, hello Volt-Cruzer!

[DGthe3]

By Bob Lutz
volt_the_next_phase

It’s been a historic week for us, and I don’t mean in Washington. And let me just say upfront that I know there is a lot of talk online about that subject. But I am not going to comment here about any government loans or hearings or GM’s financial situation — just like I wouldn’t engage you in conversation about it if I ran into you in the produce aisle. We have other places online for that conversation, such as gmfactsandfiction.com. I would like to give you a brief update, however, on the progress we’re making on the Chevrolet Volt, and I would characterize it as great progress.

We have moved on to the next phase of engineering development for the vehicle. That means that we’ve moved from the Volt test mules using previous-generation Malibu bodies (affectionately known as “MaliVolts”) to test vehicles using vehicles from our next-generation global compact car architecture.

That architecture will not only spawn vehicles like the Volt, but also the Chevrolet Cruze and others like it. And I have to say, after driving it with the Volt system placed within, I feel terrific about the driving dynamics of that architecture. It instantly feels several price classes higher than what it actually is, due to the level of refinement.
The relative quiet and absence of vibration stand out, among other things. The chassis integrity felt outstanding to me… the steering response was good, the brakes were good, the turn-in was good and so on. I think it needs very little in terms of additional tuning. So I have very high hopes for when we get some test vehicles running with the actual Volt production body aboard.

As for the powertrain and propulsion system, I couldn’t be more pleased. It was 30 degrees and windy and flurrying. We started with about a 60-percent charge on the battery pack, to see how it would perform and when the engine would kick on.
To my delight, we went about 19 silent, electrically powered miles before that engine engaged. And when it did, it was so quiet and non-jarring that they had to tell me it had come on, because I wasn’t looking at the tach. Granted, many years in airplane cockpits have taken their toll on my hearing, but still, I can say with impunity that the engine was quiet and not at all intrusive in terms of noise.

Right now, the engine is tuned rather aggressively so that once it did kick on, it tended to cut in and out quite a bit at low speeds. But we will find the right balance to address that — that’s why we’re doing all this development work! I know there were concerns about what it would be like when the engine kicks on, whether it would excite the structure and cause all kinds of vibrations and such, but I have to say it wasn’t an issue. It was wonderfully masked, and will continue to improve as testing continues.
I ended up putting in about 30 miles behind the wheel, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the vehicle, the development, or the team behind it. And they will continue to work round the clock to further refine the Volt and get it on the road — and in your hands — year after next.


Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman of Global Product Development recently took a drive and checked on the progress of the Chevrolet Volt at the company’s Milford (Michigan) Proving Grounds. The electric propulsion system is now installed in GM’s future global compact car architecture for development and testing. (Left to right, Bob Lutz; Bob Kruse, executive director, Global Vehicle Systems and Integration; Jon Lauckner, vice president North America Product Development; and Andrew Farah, Volt vehicle chief engineer.