Chevrolet Volt

[Mr. Wyndham]

GM confident in Volt launch after battery tests

DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - General Motors is confident it will be able to deliver the all-electric Chevrolet Volt as planned and is close to naming a supplier for the vehicle's crucial battery, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said on Monday.

"I would say there's almost no reasonable doubt in our minds anymore that this is going to work," said Lutz, who heads vehicle development for GM.

GM is designing the Volt to run on battery power alone for 40 miles, but some industry rivals and even some of the automaker's executives have questioned whether next-generation lithium-ion batteries could be ready for production of the highly anticipated vehicle in 2010.

Lutz, who was speaking to Reuters after an address to a Detroit-area business group, said GM engineers had shown the battery packs now being tested could power vehicles to the company's target mileage and beyond.

"They've routinely had it to the high 30s, low 40s and they go up hills with it and everything," said Lutz.

GM's Volt is on track to become the first mass-market rechargeable car, a step that would put the embattled U.S. automaker ahead of rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp in a key fuel saving technology at a time when sales of its mainstream trucks and SUVs have hit the skids.

GM, which has been unusually open in its effort to develop the Volt, has previously shown modified Chevy Malibu sedans it is using at its Michigan test track to check the real-world performance of batteries designed for the Volt.

"They're still in the old Malibu bodies so they still look wretched, but the beauty of that car is in the driving," said Lutz.

"It never shifts and you just scream along in total silence," he said, in describing his Monday test drive.

A unit of South Korea's LG Chem has said it is ready to supply batteries for the Volt after making a third- generation battery prototype for the car.

German auto parts supplier Continental, adapting battery technology used by privately held A123 Systems, is also competing for the Volt battery contract.

GM is designing the Volt to be recharged at a standard electric outlet overnight. It will also capture energy from braking like a traditional hybrid and feature an on-board engine as a backup generator to send power to the battery on trips over 40 miles.

Environmental advocates have pushed for the development of such "plug-in" vehicles to cut oil consumption and vehicle emissions. The technology could also help GM meet higher federal fuel economy standards, representatives have said.

Lutz said GM engineers were working on how to smooth the power handoff from the Volt's battery to the on-board engine, something designed to kick in as the battery is depleted.

"It all works real well, it's just that the transition from battery power to the internal combustion," Lutz said. "They said it's still noisy and it's a little rough. But heck, we've got a little more than a year and a half to work on that."

The contract to build a power source for the Volt has also emerged as a crucial, early test of efforts to adapt the batteries widely used in consumer electronics to drive cars.

Lutz said he had driven a test vehicle equipped with a Volt battery pack 15 miles on Monday morning as part of a regular review of the Volt development effort with GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson.

When asked, Lutz said GM was near naming a supplier for the closely watched contract, but declined to comment further.

Toyota has said it will start producing lithium ion batteries through a joint venture with Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co in 2009. The automaker, which has eclipsed GM as the world's largest by sales volume, plans to roll out a plug-in hybrid for fleet customers in 2010.

But Lutz said Toyota deserved more scrutiny for its earlier, apparent dismissal of lithium-ion battery technology at the time GM announced the Volt a year and a half ago.

"They told the world that GM was taking a huge risk, that lithium ion batteries were prone to explode and that we were putting our customers at risk and that they would stay with the tried and true," he said. "When it comes to Toyota, let me tell you, the press has a short memory."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/motori...dChannel=10171

Great news, and great quotes by Lutz...as usual.

[boxmonkeyracing]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Thanks for the show of support, but uh, umm, I never said that GM killed the EV1. In fact, I generally blame California. And I also consider the Volt to be the 'EV2'

the line of thought that was reached with your post and the one before it meant GM killed the EV-1. Sorry for reaching that conclusion.

I love the Volt and honestly if I can afford it and a new camaro I will be buying both around the same time. yes I have my truck and I plan to keep it. . .got to tow the race car (98 z28) around right? lol.

[theholycow]

It will also capture energy from braking like a traditional hybrid and feature an on-board engine as a backup generator to send power to the battery on trips over 40 miles.

Are we already at a point where we can talk about a "traditional" hybrid?

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Great news, and great quotes by Lutz...as usual.

like these:

Originally Posted by Maximum Bob

They're still in the old Malibu bodies so they still look wretched

Originally Posted by Maximum Bob

They said it's still noisy and it's a little rough. But heck, we've got a little more than a year and a half to work on that

I think its closer to that "and a half" based on what we know about the Camaro's development cycle. Still makes a good quote though.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Well, not exactly new info. But certainly a new find.
Make sure you read the entire article, and watch the entire video. 100% worth the 10 minutes to do so, I promise.

http://gm-volt.com/2008/06/06/big-ne...f-development/

Sam Abuelsamid of AutoBlogGreen and Green Fuels Forecast had the awesome opportunity to interview GM vice chairman and Volt leader Bob Lutz after his Chevy Volt Prototype test drive. The video appears below.

Mr. Lutz described rapid and great acceleration getting the car up to 75-80 mph. He marveled at the eerie silence of the car off the gun, and mentioned how it handles well due to the low century of gravity of the battery pack.

He confirmed that there are 3 or four prototype vehicles now running with the battery packs installed and he said “that (number is) going to increase very quickly.”

He also said the prototypes are running not only on the test track but the public roads as well.

He said the first cars to look like the “real Volt” will appear at the end of this year, and that by spring and summer of 2009 there will be “several hundred” of these and thats when the final integration vehicles will appear.

Those will be used for crash and safety, and he notes public early drives and media events will commence.

In a bombshell, Lutz stated that there are only one of the two suppliers packs in the current mules, and that they are now concentrating on only one of the suppliers but he refrained from saying which one. He says at this point GM is very close to one of the two suppliers because of a lower risk with that one. Any guesses?

He also said at their most recent E-Flex senior leadership meeting, they reviewed the HMI or human-machine interface and noted the interior of the car will be “super-cool” and apparently quite customizable.

He confirms supreme confidence that “we’re good for November 2010″ and that there are “zero problems” with the batteries and that in fact “they are exceeding their expectations”, although they have had some minor inner-cell mechanical welding issues, there have been no electrochemical ones.

He declined to comment of the cars cost but admits the first version will be more expensive than GM would like it be.

Lutz never got to experience the ICE coming on, because him and his team only drove it for 20 miles.
Very Cool Sam!

[GTAHVIT]

More Volt News

Shock You In September
GM may unveil 2010 Chevrolet Volt This Summer

http://blogs.automobilemag.com/62639...mer/index.html

[AirGoya]

Great Video, thanks dragon.
I'm really glad everything is going smoothly. I'm not surprised that the volt will cost more than expected but like any technology, it will get cheaper with time.

[Nickdago]

You know with all of this tecnology they are working with it seems they could also just build a car that does not need to be charged but just uses the little engine to run the electric motors all of the time. This would still get well over 100 mpg's and would be a lot easier and cheaper to produce. They could still have the Volt but this would be a great secondary system to have in cars and trucks at the lower end of the price range.

[theholycow]

Nickdago: Batteries are what make the car efficient. It gets to run the gas engine at its most efficient speed/load, store that energy, then use it when necessary; and it gets to recover wasted energy through regenerative braking.

If you just hooked the gas engine generator to the electric motor with no batteries, it would be far less efficient than hooking the gas engine directly to the transmission. There's a lot of waste introduced when you make rotational energy, convert it to electricity, then just convert it back to rotational energy again.

[Nickdago]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Nickdago: Batteries are what make the car efficient. It gets to run the gas engine at its most efficient speed/load, store that energy, then use it when necessary; and it gets to recover wasted energy through regenerative braking.

If you just hooked the gas engine generator to the electric motor with no batteries, it would be far less efficient than hooking the gas engine directly to the transmission. There's a lot of waste introduced when you make rotational energy, convert it to electricity, then just convert it back to rotational energy again.

Right, but if they could take all this knowledge and technology and build a better Prius type product at the same time that would really put them ahead of the game, Toyota to be specific. I mean nothing wrong with building a better mousetrap. It would be like the Camaro competing against the Mustang.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Nickdago

Right, but if they could take all this knowledge and technology and build a better Prius type product at the same time that would really put them ahead of the game, Toyota to be specific. I mean nothing wrong with building a better mousetrap. It would be like the Camaro competing against the Mustang.

But this is more like putting the Vette against the mustang. While similar, there are some important differences that have a significant impact.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

But this is more like putting the Vette against the mustang. While similar, there are some important differences that have a significant impact.

Sounds like an apt description of the Camaro vs. the Mustang.

[Nickdago]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

But this is more like putting the Vette against the mustang. While similar, there are some important differences that have a significant impact.

A car developed using technology used from the knowledge gained from the volt and applied to a car similar to the Prius but better to me would be like the Camaro vs Mustang, but hey just an opinion.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Nickdago

A car developed using technology used from the knowledge gained from the volt and applied to a car similar to the Prius but better to me would be like the Camaro vs Mustang, but hey just an opinion.

No, you're right. And the Volt won't be one of a kind. GM intends to put this platform out there among other vehicles once the Volt takes off, and prices come down.

Remember, this isn't just about the "Volt". It's the E-Flex platform. Capable of powering itself via hydrogen, deisel (or substitues), and gasoline (or substitutes). coupes, sedans, and I'd wager even small wagons/CUVs could be built on this platform.

I would expect to see Volt-derived technology leaking down onto other 'lesser' models within a decade, too. Same as performance goodies leak down from Corvette.

But DGthe3 still has a very good point, GM intends not just to beat Toyota at its own game; but to completely surpass them with a brand-new type of vehicle. And if revolutionizing the industry doesn't qualify......I don't think anything does.