Comments on: The Chevy Volt’s Battery Has Been Born and Director Denise Gray Tells us About it

By: Van

Van — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:59:54 +0000

Hopefully the one and a half foot high pack is actually only a one half foot high pack.

Hopefully the prismatic cells from A123/GM have already been developed and shipped to Continental AG where they are being packaged with controls and cooling if necessary, for shipment to GM before the end of the year.

Hopefully the cost per KWH for these A123/GM batteries will be less than $750.

If so, America may actually do something to end its dependence on foreign oil. Time will tell

By: domenick

domenick — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:51:05 +0000

Altair has an exclusivity agreement with Phoenix Motorcars for North America so they couldn’t supply GM easily anyway.

By: Don

Don — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:23:33 +0000

Altair right now is a great battery but they are a boutique operation. They have great intellectual property but no big production facility, no sub in place to do it cheaply for them. They had been in talks with GBT but those allegedly broke down and now GBT is working with a Chinese auto company, Lam of Lotus fame, and Zap of California to market cars and their stationary batteries in America. Now that CBAK has broke off with A123 one has to speculate that ALTI and CBAK could be talking … but even if they partner they are too late for GM.

Their current product is best suited for some particular niches. An expensive high capacity (much more energy dense although not as power dense than A123’s) rapid recharge capable battery (if you have the recharge station) – perfect for high mileage fleet vehicles with access to the charging station once a shift and whose high mileage garners enough gas savings to more than offset the battery cost within a few years – a big niche really (think everything from taxis to police cars to all those package delivery and other delivery trucks to buses and garbage trucks), but not one that includes the Volt.

By: domenick

domenick — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:25:50 +0000

“The Altair nanosafes fail to provide the voltage (the power) – remember A123 Systems’ director saying their batteries produced TWICE the power of the Altair’s.”
Q: What is the voltage of your modules and the 35kWh packs?
A: 12V and 420V respectively.

“No automaker has expressed any interest in Altair batteries for either a plug-in or a battery-powered EV.”
http://www.lightningcarcompany.com/nanosafe.php
http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/partners/index.html
http://digiads.com.au/car-news/latest-FIAT-news/2007_AllElectric_Fiat_Doblo_300km_Journey_200710.html

By: Zohar

Zohar — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:08:21 +0000

what I’m curious about is this: if the battery for the Volt weighs 200kg for a 40 mile range, does that mean that a battery for a 100 mile range (like this for the pure electric car) would weigh 500kg? where will there be place in the car for such a gigantic battery? especially when refering to the Better PLC project, who has this idea to swap batteries in 3 minutes… am I the only one who thinks it’s an undoable idea?

By: Jeff M

Jeff M — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 05:41:34 +0000

I’m sure it duplicates some info already on this site, but I’m not sure…

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=120578

at the end, about the batteries mentions:

“John Smith, group vice-president for GM North America Vehicle Sales, said that the goal is to improve the batteries so that they can be used to a 20% state of charge, which would increase the electric-only mileage potential. The durability goal is 4,000 recharging cycles, which would be good for ten years.”

By: bruce g

bruce g — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 03:47:31 +0000

Kent,
I thought those two were on the same Delta II platform, but its hard to keep up with the game.
Maybe one is for the Epsilon platform, Malibu, Aura,Vectra?

By: kent beuchert

kent beuchert — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:15:48 +0000

I still have the feeling that both battery
companies will be given a production contract, probably one for the Flextreme (and its siblings) and one for the VOLT (and its siblings). I assume the two pack configurations reflect the two distinct chassis requirements. I’m assuming a Saturn
E-Flex ala the Flextreme and a Pontiac on the VOLT’s chassis. I also assume that each
E-flex will have only one type of battery.

By: kent beuchert

kent beuchert — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:04:25 +0000

The Altair nanosafes fail to provide the voltage (the power) – remember A123 Systems’ director saying their batteries produced TWICE the power of the Altair’s. Altairs are also way too expensive – they only have a chance in an $80,000 car and have lost out on those contracts to a Chinese company. That same A123 Systems exec claimed his batteries will get to around $250 per kwatthour in a few years, while NanoSafes are today over $1000 and have little chance of ever getting to $500. No automaker has expressed any interest in Altair batteries for either a plug-in or a battery-powered EV. If GM did, they would be the first. I’m sure GM is well aware of the capabilities of the Altair batteries without any assistence from Altair shareholders. Right now, BYD’s batteries appear to be the most practical,
although they are not as powerful as either type being considered by GM.

By: noel park

noel park — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:36:07 +0000

ziv, #12:

Check out Mr. Lutz’s comments in the US News article linked to the post directly above.

Your points are well taken. God send that this and subsequent technology dramatically raises the mileage of the whole fleet – the sooner the better.

I am just saying that retaking technology leadership is Job #1. I may be taking too much upon myself, but I think that Mr. Lutz is saying the same thing. If so, it is the best, and most encouraging, thing I have heard from him in several months of carefully following this and the Fastlane blogs.