GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Today Toyota Motor Corp. announced that they have developed a plug-in hybrid car based on the Prius. The car is called the Toyota Plug-in HV (name definitely not as cool as “the Volt”) and is slated for testing in the U.S. and Europe. The vehicle does not use lithium-ion batteries but rather relies on lower energy density Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries. Due to this limitation, the car can only go 8 miles on a full charge, despite a “trunk-full” of batteries.

Also, unlike the current Prius, the test car can drive electric-only at all speeds, and not just low velocities.

This news attests to the importance of the plug-in paradigm, the not-yet-ready nature of lithium-ion battery packs, and the staunch competition that GM and it’s Volt will face.

Source: Reuters

Reuter’s has just published an interview with Compact Power Inc. (CPI) CEO, Prabhakar Patil. In it he notes some interesting and novel points. For those who are not following the news that carefully, CPI is the competitor against A123 to design the Volt’s battery pack. CPI is working with Li-ion cells from LG Chem, whereas A123 cells are being worked with by Continental AG. GM-Volt.com has exclusive interviews and podcasts with both sides: CPI, A123.

In this new statement, Patil indicates that CPI has apparently chosen a liquid-cooled course for their battery packs.  This is new as Volt Chief Engineer Nick Zielinksi had previously said it wasn’t clear whether liquid or air-cooling would be chosen, when we met with him in June. Patil also acknowledged that selling battery packs to cars would rapidly grow to a billion dollar industry in the next 5 to 10 years.

It is clear that Li-ion automotive battery systems are the way to go, but right now they are quite expensive; the Tesla Roadsters $100,000 price tag attests to that fact. GM, clearly, as a mass-producer wants to bring the price point into the public’s reach. Indeed, Patil’s comments allude to the fact that this pricing problem may be part of the delay we are seeing in bringing the Volt to production
Patil, has also disclosed a novel idea. He is apparently marketing GM to consider the idea of separately leasing out the battery pack to consumers. This way, even if you bought the car for say $28,000, you might have a separate lease payment for your $10,000 battery pack (note these prices are solely for purposes of discussion, I do not have the actual GM figures).

I guess this idea might make sense if you really want to buy the car, but the cost was too high with the battery  But, if you were planning to lease the car anyway it wouldn’t be necessary.

For those who like photos, Ross Karchner posted some that he took of the Volt at the D.C. showing here:

http://rossnotes.com/archives/2007/07/21/chevy-volt-1-concept-car/

Anyone in D.C. today and tomorrow can still check the car out in the flesh. Locations here.

Yesterday the Electric Power Research Institute and the National Resources Defense Council released a comprehensive assessment which found that widespread use of plug-in electric vehicles (PHEV) could be expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve ambient air quality.

The 3 key findings:

1. By 2050, 450 million tons less greenhouse gas would be produced.
2. The power grid can handle it: assuming a 60% market share of these vehicles, they will only use 7 – 8% of the grid’s power
3. By 2050, 3-4 million barrels per day less oil will be consumed

Here is the official press release.

Comprehensive Greenhouse Gas report is here.

The event in Washington, was attended by Tony Pozawatz, GM Volt Vehicle Line Chief.  He confirmed GM’s commitment to building the Volt, but was still vague on release date and cost.

It is this author’s opinion that this study is extremely important, because of concerns that using cars like the Volt would simply shift CO2 generation from the car to the electric power plants, and simply shift the burning of fossil fuels form the point of he vehicle to those same power plants. The study however indicates that it will not simply be a shift, but an overall major net benefit.

Once again it is clear we are at a major inflection point in automotive history, and the history of humankind.

Special kudos to GM-Volt.com user ‘pwhiseheart’ who broke this story on our forum yesterday.

As we reported previously, the Volt concept made it to Capitol Hill Today. Courtesy of GM, below is a little clip of the car backing up on the street. You can read two GM employees accounts of it here (GM sanctioned) and here (unlikely GM sanctioned).

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVEUCOU_-yc]

The Detroit news reported today that Tory Clarke, GM’s head of North American operations will be meeting with several lawmakers today on Capitol Hill. He will be pushing GM’s interest that new laws on CAFE standards not be passed. To help persuade them that GM is still very serious about improving fuel economy through other means, he will be bring the Volt with him to show off GMs’ commitment to the issue.

GM is concerned about potentially over 40 billion in increased costs to them to achieve the proposed 4% annual increases in mpgs.
GM believes that through vehicular electrification and fuel diversity within their fleet the same overall improvements in fuel economy can be obtained rather than forcing all vehicles in the fleet to adhere to the same minimum standards.