In a Frankfurt interview with the Wall Street Journal (subscribers only), Bob Lutz noted that GM will have lithium-ion technology ahead of Toyota on the order of several months to a year. He went on to note that eventually all the carmakers will catch up.
He also indicated that he’s 100% confident that overheating will not plague his lithium-ion packs as it has Toyota.
“Toyota will get this technology, too. … Everybody will. … If this stuff is going to work, everybody’s going to have it.” said Lutz.
This interview illustrates the point we have made previously about how Toyota has fallen in to catch-up position due to GMs ingenious battery moves. Only now we hear is straight from Bob Lutz himself.
This entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 8:31 pm and is filed under Battery, Competitors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Sep 10th, 2007 (9:09 pm)“Lutz admits his company has an advantage over Toyota”
Odd header, considering GM hasn’t built a single Volt yet and there are hundreds of thousands of Prius owners out there. I really want to buy a Volt, and sooner rather than later. But Lutz is just a cheerleader so far, I want to hear from the people that have driven this car, or a functioning prototype.
Sep 10th, 2007 (9:56 pm)The statement only refers to coming use of lithium-ion batteries. Nothing else. Hopefully Toyota doesn’t make GM look bad and come out li-ion HSD long before expected. I’ve grown to really like GM since January and hope they don’t get embarrassed. Hopefully Toyota and Honda’s successes with hybrids has awoken a ‘sleeping giant’ in the American car companies and the Big 3 will soon surge forward with advanced vehicle tech. But it seems Ford and Chrysler are still sleeping.
Sep 10th, 2007 (9:59 pm)I have to admit that I was very angry with GM after they killed the EV1 and went on their infamous SUV-building binge. Having said this, however, if it were not for GM, PHEV technology would be, in my opinion, more than a decade from the showrooms. Even though GM strayed, I feel they are now back in track and are leading the world in the next-generation of vehicular technology. Good for them. I hope they keep their eye on the goal.
Ziv- read up on the Volt man- it’s going to happen. It’s a reality, not just a concept. GM is gone into overdrive to regain the #1 spot from Toyota. They have been beaten and bloodied and are now awakened from their slumber. We are about to see some amazing things over the next decade. I can’t wait.
Sep 10th, 2007 (10:06 pm)Steven- You must have posted right before I started on my post so I didn’t see your comment. I predict that Ford and GM will merge within the next 15 years or so. There will only be one major American car company. Ford is so far behind that they can no catch up. They lease their hybrid (not even PHEV) technology from other companies and do not seem to care about new technology. It is more of a marketing thing for Ford than a desire to embrace the future. They will not last.
Concerning GM being beaten by Toyota- I really don’t care who ends up on top. My only care is for the technology. This generational leap that will change the world as we know it. If Toyota can make a better PHEV then sobeit. I will buy it. My first PHEV will be the Volt because GM is on track to beat Toyota, but my second PHEV may be a Prius- who knows. Again, I don’t really care. Whoever makes the better mouse trap will win my dollars.
Sep 10th, 2007 (10:19 pm)Drake – I agree about Toyota and GM. I’m not much into brand loyalties. If you are predictable, then you are easily manipulated. Besides, if GM becomes #2, maybe they’ll try harder.
Sep 10th, 2007 (11:34 pm)I for one would rather see an American company gain an edge in PHEV technology. I’m not saying you’re a traitor if you don’t care, but is there any reason to not support an American company over a Japanese company if you are an American citizen?
Sep 11th, 2007 (12:54 am)I know one day in the near future I will visit this site like I have been doing almost every day and I will read one of your posts. One declaring that the re-Volt-lution has begun. The heartbreak will be that all the Volts in my area are out, sold out. Thus, the next post will read that there is a dealer in New Jersey that still has a few Volts. I will stop doing all that I am doing and I will find myself heading toward the G. Washington Bridge. Wow, imagine driving one day…Gas free in an American car. Wow, that is freedom man, and in a day like today I will remember that We will never forget.
Sep 11th, 2007 (7:05 am)Brian – Yes I agree. I would rather see an American company making the best PHEVs. But if someone else comes along and builds a better one, I would but it.
Let’s put it this way, if loyalty to American car companies allows them to build inferior products, who is this helping in the long run?
Sep 11th, 2007 (7:22 am)Regardless of the brand, where do you’all think those components are built anyway…I’ll bet somewhere in Asia or the Pacific.
Regardless, GM needs this car. I’m ready to buy whoever hits the market first. Next maybe an all electric EV with a range of 100 miles? That shouldn’t be too tricky.
Sep 11th, 2007 (7:34 am)I will have a hard time buying a GM product. Have owned many of them and they just fell apart. The Japanese engineers are just better than GM’s, plus the vehicle builders seem to have more pride in their product. I am willing to pay thousands more for a Toyota than a GM product and it will take a lot to prove that GM is producing quality product rather than a through away machine.
Sep 11th, 2007 (8:13 am)Dale, I understand what you are saying. I have owned two GM cars in my life. The first was a 1974 Chevy Nova. The Nova was a great car. In 1986, fresh out of college, I bought my first brand new car. A 1986 Pontiac Sunbird. That car was such a piece of junk, I never bought another American car again. But I will buy the Volt. No doubt about it.
Sep 11th, 2007 (9:05 am)Perhaps it is time to start living in the present instead of the past. GM builds quality products and have for quite a few years. My car is an example; 181,000 miles and purring like a kitten!
Sep 11th, 2007 (9:37 am)My first car was a Chevy, my second car was a 1957 Chevy Belair sport coupe with 4 barrel carb and dual exhaust. Best Car I ever owned. My next car was my first new car, a 1967 Olds Cutless, with chronic overheating problems. My next was a 1978 Chevy Malibu, and was my worst car, a true lemon. My next car was a 1986 Buick and it got 36 MPH highway, my most fuel efficient car. My next was a 1993 Olds, and it still got 30 MPH highway, a very nice car. In between, I bought a 1991 Chevy pickup and it was my second lemon from Chevy, so my last new car was a 2004 Toyota. While the mileage is not as good as the 1993 Olds, it is very nice and has given me no trouble.
My son’s 2000 Olds fell apart after about 130,000 miles.
The last car I bought was a used 1996 Toyota, and it is still purring like a kitten with 105,000 miles. And I expect to get another 50,000 trouble free miles, something GM never delivered.
But the Volt, with its revolutionary design just might bust the behavior of all of my past GM cars. It sure would be nice to drive a really great Chevy again.
Sep 11th, 2007 (10:33 pm)And here we see what the Volt represents to GM. A significant segment of American consumers have been turned off of buying American brand cars. And not without cause. Reports of resurgent quality alone won’t pull them back as they’ve been quite satisfied with the quality they’ve been getting with their Toyotas and Hondas.
Getting a PHEV to market first at a mass market price point will pull us back.
Sep 12th, 2007 (12:14 am)Personally, I don’t see how you can judge a company or its products today based on a product they made 15-20 years ago.
My 1989 Chevy car was very unreliable.
My 1994 Chevy car was nearly perfect.
My 2000 Subaru SUW was good.
My 2003 GM SUV was/is good.
Sep 12th, 2007 (7:02 am)It is not a matter of living in the past.
I think it is more of a “Once Bitten, Twice Shy ” kind of thing. Toyota consistently gets better reliable ratings than GM. But I want the Americans to win. No question the Volt is my next car. Besides, I really think that parallel hybrid was a bad idea from the start. The Volt really is the right way to go, in my opinion.
Sep 12th, 2007 (7:08 am)[quote comment="7093"]I have to admit that I was very angry with GM after they killed the EV1 and went on their infamous SUV-building binge. Having said this, however, if it were not for GM, PHEV technology would be, in my opinion, more than a decade from the showrooms. Even though GM strayed, I feel they are now back in track and are leading the world in the next-generation of vehicular technology. Good for them. I hope they keep their eye on the goal.
Ziv- read up on the Volt man- it’s going to happen. It’s a reality, not just a concept. GM is gone into overdrive to regain the #1 spot from Toyota. They have been beaten and bloodied and are now awakened from their slumber. We are about to see some amazing things over the next decade. I can’t wait.[/quote]
YOU killed the EV1–not GM.
I’d be willing to bet you didn’t even own one–so you have no right to be mad at GM for it.
I am yet to meet a leftist who understands the market economy properly (had to say it).
Sep 12th, 2007 (7:10 am)[quote comment="7096"]Steven- You must have posted right before I started on my post so I didn’t see your comment. I predict that Ford and GM will merge within the next 15 years or so. There will only be one major American car company. Ford is so far behind that they can no catch up. They lease their hybrid (not even PHEV) technology from other companies and do not seem to care about new technology. It is more of a marketing thing for Ford than a desire to embrace the future. They will not last.
Concerning GM being beaten by Toyota- I really don’t care who ends up on top. My only care is for the technology. This generational leap that will change the world as we know it. If Toyota can make a better PHEV then sobeit. I will buy it. My first PHEV will be the Volt because GM is on track to beat Toyota, but my second PHEV may be a Prius- who knows. Again, I don’t really care. Whoever makes the better mouse trap will win my dollars.[/quote]
–Ford and GM will NOT merge in 15 years.
–Ford DOES care about new technology, as almost anyone who has a proper knowledge of the car industry will tell you.
Sep 12th, 2007 (7:12 am)[quote comment="7102"]I for one would rather see an American company gain an edge in PHEV technology. I’m not saying you’re a traitor if you don’t care, but is there any reason to not support an American company over a Japanese company if you are an American citizen?[/quote]
Some people drive foreign cars, because it is more prestigious in their circle of friends.
Sep 12th, 2007 (7:23 am)[quote comment="7155"]I will have a hard time buying a GM product. Have owned many of them and they just fell apart.[/quote]
That is almost certainly a gross exaggeration.
How many have you owned for real?
What do you mean by “just fell apart”?
90% of longevity in cars is maintenance; and with a statement like the following, I question whether you knew enough about cars to maintain them properly in the first place:
[quote comment="7155"]The Japanese engineers are just better than GM’s, plus the vehicle builders seem to have more pride in their product.[/quote]
What basis do you have for both of these statements?
Interviews with Japanese car builders?
Statistical analysis of the qualifications of American and Japanese engineers?
What does “better than” mean?
Better looking?
This statement is unquantifiable and thus as good as untrue.
American, Japanese and German engineers are about as good as one another (so much so, that BMW and Mercedes-Benz bought into GM’s hybrid system and NOT Toyota’s.
You will see it in the upcoming BMW X6, Mercedes-Benz ML Hybrid and the Dodge Durango.
And that is just the start of it.
[quote comment="7155"]I am willing to pay thousands more for a Toyota than a GM product[/quote]
Toyota for one would be overjoyed at your duplicity, though your knowledge of cars doesn’t seem to be serving your pocket well.
Remember:
“…and his money are soon parted.”
[quote comment="7155"]…and it will take a lot to prove that GM is producing quality product rather than a through away machine.[/quote]
GM is already producing quality machines and has been for quite some time now–as attested to by the automotive press.
Nothing needs to be “proven”–except, perhaps, that “feelings” are not “reality”.
One would hope that you’ll be more prudent in the future–but it is better to “feel” comfortable if that is what it takes. After all, life is short.
Life would certainly be shorter if you got in the way of the customer stampede when the Volt comes out in 2009/10.
Sep 12th, 2007 (7:26 am)[quote comment="7161"]Dale, I understand what you are saying. I have owned two GM cars in my life. The first was a 1974 Chevy Nova. The Nova was a great car. In 1986, fresh out of college, I bought my first brand new car. A 1986 Pontiac Sunbird. That car was such a piece of junk, I never bought another American car again. But I will buy the Volt. No doubt about it.[/quote]
1986 was 20 years ago.
Sep 12th, 2007 (7:28 am)[quote comment="7167"]Perhaps it is time to start living in the present instead of the past. GM builds quality products and have for quite a few years. My car is an example; 181,000 miles and purring like a kitten![/quote]
Well said. The mullet is long-gone, and a few posters would do well to shave theirs off.
GM for one has had less recalls than Toyota for the past 3 years (or more?).
FAR less.
Toyota is a great company, but ignorance is tragic.
Sep 12th, 2007 (7:30 am)[quote comment="7257"]Personally, I don’t see how you can judge a company or its products today based on a product they made 15-20 years ago.
My 1989 Chevy car was very unreliable.
My 1994 Chevy car was nearly perfect.
My 2000 Subaru SUW was good.
My 2003 GM SUV was/is good.[/quote]One would think that time moves on…
Sep 12th, 2007 (4:31 pm)I think independence of oil is the KEY to the volt
The whole word HYBIRD seems like a Combo technology.
Electric Car seems superior in the way that it uses no transmission and no engine. This equates to a longer life and a car that could last forever as long as the electric motors last.
My feeling is they SHOULD offer the Volt as an option without the range extender. No gass engine at all.
This option would be for real ECO people who want no gas at all,
would directly compete with the teslea.
Last but not least with no engine the weight would be less and you could have an option for an upgraded battery.
2 vehicle systems would define the volt as a special car.
The Prius could never do this and never will.
The volt is pure electric and by having a No gas at all option would really define the car even more.
The owners in large city’s might never use the gas engine at all and would ad to the weight and more service.
Were if you lived in the country the gas range extender engine would be a must.