GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

We recently discussed that the U.S. govenment through the DOE has awarded nearly 20 million in grants to U.S. battery makers to help them develop lithium-ion technology for plug-in electric cars over the next 3 years (see prior post).

Some of you described this paltry sum, divided by 5 companies as a “pittance”.

Well, now the Japanese goverment has pledged 25 billion yen (215 million US Dollars) over the next 5 years to help its companies develop these next-generation batteries.

Considering Toyotas current hybrid advantage and the fact that the lions share of cobalt-oxide (laptop-type) lithium-ion batteries are currently produced in Japan, this factor of 10 greater amount of goverment dollars seems quite likely to keep Japan ahead of the U.S. in the future plug-in market.

What’s going on?

Not to get too political here, but the U.S. goverement has expressed interest in energy independence from oil-producing nations, which it is recognized, PHEVs can afford us.

If we can spend hundreds of billions of dollars help secure Iraqi oil, why can we only spend .02 billion on PHEV research, whereas Japan is willing to spend .2 billion?

The U.S. needs to secure its future, and lithium-ion technology/PHEVs is very important in that regard both from an energy standpoint as well as a financial one

Lets face it, the big 3 are struggling, GM held its own on sales this quarter, but Chrysler and Ford were down a lot. Japanese carmakers (whose profits are taxed and wind up back in the Japanese governments coffers) continue to increase their marketshares.

Want a GM Volt?  Write your congressmen, let’s ante up some more battery bucks folks, and give our companies a fighting chance.
Source (Reuters)

You may have heard about a new plug-in electric vehicle called the Aptera. The company has begun taking orders for a $500 deposit on its website (Aptera.com).

The vehicle is a 3-wheeler that seats 2 in front and 1 in back. It is capable of highway speeds and can do 0 to 60 in 10 seconds. There are two varieties, an all-electric with a 120 mile range and a series hybrid (the only other than the Volt) using a diesel range extender than can get 300 mpg.

Apparently the vehicle will be using lithium-ion batteries and the company has a working prototype.

To my eye, this is a similar proposition to the Tesla roadster in that it will be a low-production number vehicle, with 500 planned for the first year. Different than the Tesla Roadster will be its price, less than $30,000. Most differently than the Tesla, will clearly be its styling.

If you can accept the appearance, and it can pass crash testing, then this could be your first plug-in car.  The company plans to deliver them in 12 months and to begin production this month.

I contacted Steve Fambro, CEO and founder of Aptera Motors, and asked him who the battery maker would be.  His reply:

“We’re not announcing the manufacturer yet…hint: They are an American company.”

Hey, at least its a hint.  Some remaining questions include size of the pack, and the electric 3 phase A/C motor. Probably much smaller than the Volt’s considering the car has an ultra low weight and coefficient of drag (0.11)

Certainly this car is unique and may not be for everyone, but if they can get it out there under $30,000 in 2008, that will be a remarkable achievement.

Any takers?

We have previously discussed the importance of naming this car the Volt (see previous post), and even got GM to make some comments about it. We took an informal poll and found an overwhelming majority of visitors here wanted the production car to keep the Volt name (see post).

As we also reported, the UAW contract reveals definite plans to produce the Volt in Detroit in 2010.

An interesting observation though was made by MotorTrend blogger Todd Lassa. He analyzed the contract and noted most of GMs commitments were referred to under brand and name, such as writing that the Buick Lucerne, for example, would also be built at Hamtramck until 2010, or that the Chevrolet Malibu would be built in Fairfax, KS until 2010.

BUT, as he points out the Volt is being called, differently, the Global Delta Volt (referring to its platform) and not the Chevrolet Volt. He thinks this means GM might want to put the Volt out under another brand.

Sam at Autobloggreen doesn’t think that’s the case (link).

I don’t think so either. Perhaps it is not being referred to as Chevy because the car doesn’t actually exist yet, Lucernes and Malibus do.

Clearly, in meetings I’ve had with GM execs, they want this car to be a Chevy, because that name among other things implies affordability.

Certainly there has been a lot of negative talk about GMs brands being too old, and perhaps something new is needed. The EV-1 did come out under the direct GM brand.

I wouldn’t complain if they decided to call it the GM Volt.

What do others think?

As we have previously discussed, the U.S. government awarded research grants to 5 U.S. top lithium-ion battery producers for developing plug-in electric car battery packs. We have had previous discussions with executives from A123 as well as Compact Power Inc., the two companies with Chevy Volt contracts.

Now, I had the chance to chat with Mr. Charles Gassenheimer. He is the Vice-Chairman of Ener1, which is the parent company of EnderDel, one of the remaining three companies who are getting government grants. They have been in the news lately with their claim to the $1500 battery pack (more on that later). Some funding for the research is also coming directly from GM through the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC).

At the end of this post you can hear the entire audio of our discussion.

Mr. Gassenheimer tells us that Ener1 owns 80.5% of EnerDel, which is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and has 42 employees.

He clarifies that the government announcement is actually a Phase 2 purchase order from the big 3 automakers to buy cells from EnerDel. He also noted that EnderDel is the only one who has actually delivered cell samples to the USABC for testing at one major national laboratory.

He also indicates that when the cells were tested, they met all 30 end of life targets for the big 3, including cycle life, thermal performance, and power and energy density, the most important areas. He further tells us that the cells actually exceeded thermal performance expectations by 50%.

Specially, by thermal performance, he noted that EnerDels cells never heat up above 33 degrees C, indicating that they only need to be air-cooled as opposed to his competitors (which can get to 70-90 degrees C) which require more expensive liquid cooling.

EnderDels cell use lithium titanate in a spinel structure for the anode and a manganese spinel structure for the cathode. He feels this recipe produces a tremendous amount of efficient power, that doesn’t requires as much voltage, for example, as A123s, and is more power dense.

He clarifies that the EnerDel $1500 battery pack price widely discussed, is actually for a hybrid vehicle (HEV), not a PHEV. The PHEV pack pricing has not been announced yet and could be more expensive. He also tells us the $1500 lihtium-ion HEV battery is cheaper than the typical NiMh pack of $4000.

He expects to have his HEV battery packs in cars in 2009, and admits that EnderDel has been in discussion with several car companies he wont publicly name.

He also admits EnerDel was one of the initial 13 companies making a proposal to GM 11 of whom was not chosen. He says the reason why EnerDel wasn’t chosen was because they didn’t have a PHEV program in place at the time, but they do now. He also noted that EnerDel is a partner with Delphi, but now is in a position where they can bid on their own, and have already developed their own fully integrated and fully operational pack in Indianapolis.

He tells us that Li-ion for cars will be a 50 to 60 billion dollar industry, the race is “long from over”, and that the big 3 should want to talk to them.

He thinks the leasing model for li-ion batteries makes sense, to make purchasing a PHEV a positive return on investment for the consumer.

He tells us the EnerDel cells currently cost $500 per kWh, but is confident a goal of $250/kWh can be reached, and theirs will be the most efficiently priced cell on the market.

EnderDels competitive edge is due to manufacturing techniques developed in conjunction with Japanese partner Itochu, and the fact that the cells are made in the United States in Indianapolis. He feels his company will avoid the excess cost of putting Asian-made batteries on a boat to get to Detroit. He noted A123s manufacturing base is in China, CPIs in Korea, and Saft/Johnsons in France.

He says EnerDel plans to install their current packs in cars within the next 3 months to do testing, but wont say whose cars they’re going in. Very interestingly he expects to be in a position to sign a contract with a car company “before the end of the year”.

He says using li-ion in HEV will increase mpg because of its power, including amping highway driving, and expects impressive data. He also mentions putting the packs in a Prius.

In terms of risk of thermal runaway, he feels EnerDels cells avoid this by having a flat pancake shape and specifics of chemistry.

He mentioned his technology is 5 years in the making and is very excited about the massive prospects for the future.

Also we discussed the fact that Ener1 Inc is actually a publicly-traded company, allowing the individual investor the opportunity to play in this burgeoning and soon to be massive market (OTC BB: ENEI)