On the same day I was interviewing Nick Zielinksi, Chief Engineer for the Volt, our friend, Sam Abuelsamid of AutoblogGreen had the opportunity to interview Denise Gray in Traverse City. Ms. Gray is GM’s Chief of battery technology and is in charge of all battery development for hybrid and electric vehicles.
You can read a transcript of Sam’s exclusive interview with her here.
Essentially she explained the relationship between A123 and GM, and noted CPI/LG still has an “equal opportunity” to be in the Volt.
She also expanded on the development of the battery pack for the plug-in Saturn VUE, hopefully in 2009, but she wouldn’t say that for sure.
She re-iterated GM has “a lot of work” ahead to make both of these projects work.
She also commented about leasing the batteries separately.
Thanks Sam!
This entry was posted on Saturday, August 11th, 2007 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Battery, PHEV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Aug 11th, 2007 (4:39 pm)Swapping battery packs is a really pointless idea when dealing with 40 mile
battery packs, especially when there is a range extender – only for EVs that require long recharge times would it ever make any sense, and not a whole lot there.
Leasing makes some sense for those who couldn’t otherwise afford. My idea was to have two loans – one a five (or six) year for the car and a 15 year for the battery pack (since it should last that long). The batteries will pay for their mortgage
because of the savings over gasoline.
Aug 11th, 2007 (5:55 pm)I understand our American cultural desire for more, more, more but is 40 miles really not good enough EV-only range for some of the people here. Under almost all conditions, I would be using EV-only range if I had HE-40. In fact, if I owned a Volt, even with my current driving regimen (I make food delivery for Domino’s and Jason’s Deli in San Antonio, as well as go commute to college 45 miles away) a full tank of gas in a Volt would last me a month. Honestly, do those here who keep talking about more capacity actually need it? (By the way, not to badger, but I’m sincerely interested)
Aug 11th, 2007 (8:58 pm)My commute to work every day 70 miles round trip a larger battery would be nice. However I will take what I can get. I would have to fill up about once every two weeks considering I car pool about half time.
Aug 11th, 2007 (10:35 pm)I think for those of us with short commutes, we can think of the Volt as an EV with a range extender.
For those that commute more than 40 miles, you will have to think of it as a PHEV.
Aug 12th, 2007 (2:41 am)Thanks for your answers. That sucks to have to drive so far for commuting. And it’s sensible to use such an EV in those two ways. For me, I wouldn’t mind using some gas or ethanol, or hydrogen if we get around to putting the infrastructure in place. But everytime the issue of increasing battery storage comes up, I wonder about the impact on overall efficiency, available space in the car, weight and its effects on performance, as well as cost. What do you guys feel about those issues?
Aug 12th, 2007 (3:43 am)People are stupid. They consider short term up front costs only, thats why they get taken in by balloon mortgages and reverse amortisation.
If they had had to buy 15 years worth of gasoline together with their last new car purchase they would realise how much more expensive gasoline is than running a car on a 15 year supply of electrons in a battery.
So why not make it easy for even the morons to understand that the EV is a better buy: charge upfront for the car only (just like buying a gasoline car without a gas supply) and then charge a monthly fee for the use of the battery.
Then you’ll have the flexibility to improve, change and reduce battery prices as they enter the mass market, and you can get our Volts on the road before civilization collapses.
Aug 12th, 2007 (12:17 pm)Since electronic parking meters run off electrical lines run down under sidewalks, and since cars park nose in to the sidewalk, shouldn’t the plug be in the front near the socket?
An added benefit: psychologically, you would then “go get” your own electricity, rather than “take it in the butt”, like gasguzzlers…
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/08/12/autobloggreen-interview-with-daniel-kammen-on-phevs/
Aug 12th, 2007 (1:20 pm)Susan K
When you talk down to people like that all you are doing is hurting the green image. Stop being such a snob.
Aug 13th, 2007 (11:36 am)Let’s keep it on topic. One question I have is, will GM incorporate the option to recharge the battery from the internal generator, or just run the vehicle if the batteries are low? If I’m away from home or park on the street, can I park the car and have the generator power up the car? I’m assuming “no” since, logically, its cheaper to recharge the batteries with electricity, rather than whatever fuel you’re using, but you never know what circumstances will dictate. What sort of control will the driver have over the generator? I guess this ties into some of the questions about whether or not there will be an outlet to run other equipment off of the generator in the event of a power failure.
Aug 14th, 2007 (10:21 am)I think GM will try to keep the car as simple as possible and limit its use to just being a car (not an emergency generator). The learning curve for the general public should not be steep or the car will not get widely adopted.
I suspect the generator(ICE) will go on when the battery gets below a certain level, and only when the car is on.
Aug 15th, 2007 (11:26 pm)From the Volt specs I’ve seen, it looks like the generator can only make about one third of the power that the batteries can deliver to the electric motor. And it will certainly be possible to drive the Volt in a way that uses more power than what the generator can deliver.
This means (IMHO) that the generator will be used to charge the batteries (not run the motor), and the volt batteries (not the generator) will power the Volt electric motor. So the battery is just a big energy store with power going in (from the generator or wall plug) and out (to the motor). After driving 40 miles, both will automatically happen at the same time.
So GM has to consider a lot of special case scenarios. For example…
At what point of battery discharge does the generator turn on? It must turn on before the batteries are completely dead.
What happens if your batteries are very low and you drive the car in a way that uses power faster than the generator can provide it? Suddenly your car is one third as powerful as what you’re used to. Or maybe GM will gradually taper down the available power as your battery reaches a lower and lower state of charge.
Should the generator be able to charge the battery when the Volt is “off”? Sounds like a great feature, but it probably won’t be automatic. You wouldn’t want the generator ICE to start automatically while it’s in your garage. It might fill your house/garage with CO and CO2.
Where should GM draw the line between flexibility and simplicity? It won’t appeal to most people if it requires a degree in engineering. I have the degree, so it wouldn’t bother me though.
Where should GM draw the lines between features and safety? Automatic features are great, as long as they don’t poison you with CO in the middle of night.
GM has a ton of very interesting power management questions to resolve. As an engineer, I think it would be a great project to work on. I just hope they pick the right answers. If they do, I will be first in line to buy a Volt in three years.
Mar 25th, 2008 (4:55 pm)aper lobed thymocyte nonmaritime snooded pehlevi thermosynthesis velte
IMF – Kingdom of the Netherlands-Netherlands and the IMF
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