GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Q: Will anyone have the chance to beta-test cars?
A: “We have not finalized any official plans around that. We are looking at and investigating various types of demonstration opportunities whether they involve formal agencies or get direct to customers that has not been determined yet.”..”From a selfish perspective this vehicle will behave a little differently Project Driveway will be a great learning experiences, and getting that feedback earlier with a small sample size, it’s something that we’re looking at but no definitive plans have been made.”

Q: Do you expect the Volt to be sold through conventional dealership channels, or could people buy it on the internet directly?
A:(TP) “All of the Chevy dealers will have experience with our Malibu hybrid (mild) our 2-mode hybrid (Tahoe) and that great leverage for us to build upon rather than create something new. Selling through the conventional channels will be particularly important for the peace of mind people will get for the service and the like”..”I don’t think were going to skip a step”

Q: How confident are you that the Volt will be produced by the end of 2010?
A: (TP) “Our confidence has grown over time. I wouldn’t care to put a number on it. I think Denise and I are of the same opinion, our confidence can grow much more dramatically once we begin working with the hardware.”..”Were at a point right now where our simulations, our studies can only take us so far, the next step is working with the hardware.”
(SF) “So these next few months could be a very interesting time?”
(DG) “Oh..Very”
(TP) “That’s one of the reason Denise and I are here, the next couple of months you wont see us, Denise will be in the lab and I will be on the grounds.”

Q: What is GM’s Global plan for E-Flex?
A: (TP) “With the first installment of the Chevy Volt..it has to be a planned cadence.”.. “We can’t be in every region right off the get-go. But with a planned cadence over a period of time we will reach out to a number of country. I can’t talk to the specifics because there’s a finalization from a corporate perspective that we’re doing, but I can fairly say ‘U.S. first’ followed by countries, plural, on more than two continents.”..”The versions of the vehicle will be fairly the same”
(SF) “Our Chairman Rock Wagoner and Larry Burns went into China in the end of October and made an announcement about a $250 million investment in an R&D center in China.”..”Keep your eye on that, because that’s an important important step.”..”they’re going to be selling more cars in China by 2020 than we do in the U.S.”..”It is important that the world get off oil”

Q: Will Canada get the Volt at the same time as the U.S
A: (TP) “Yes”..”all of North America together”…”other countries will get the Chevy Volt after that”

Q: Is there any debate about the brand being a Chevy or the car being called the Volt?
A: (SF) “No.”..”and that is an important point”..”We want to sell these cars into the millions, think about everywhere that Chevys are sold”..”We picked Chevy because that is our people’s car”
(TP) “It nearly has a global presence, there are only a few countries where it doesn’t exist.”
(DG)”We have a battery activity that’s not only confined to North America but distributed throughout the entire globe that sits to determine what my requirements are, so that we do not have to start all over once we go to another country.”..”That is the beauty of engineering structure the way we have it right now.”

Q: It seems like this effort is a tremendous risk to the company?
A: (TP)”Absolutely. No doubt about it.”..”But you know what would be riskier?…Doing nothing”
(DG) “I look at how different technologies have developed over the years and quite frankly I see battery technology getting a boost”..”We’ve got to get the battery on an exponential learning curve, and we can, it just required something behind it to push it.”

Q: Are you on schedule with the mules?
A: “Yes we’re on schedule.”…”The definition of what kind of mule is ready when I’m not going to define.”..(SF) “We will definitely let you know when its ready.”

Q: Are you planning to lease the battery? Is it still on the table?
A: (TP) “No decisions have been made one way or the other. Remember we have leased vehicles before, such as Project Driveway..There are all kinds of ways to make sure the technology works.”..”We are exploring a lot of different ideas and alternatives. That’s where we’re at in the program right now” ..”Were intrigued with the ideas of replaces a petroleum or gasoline bill with a different energy bill”..”How to transact that, it could get a little dicey or complicated.”..”Uncertainty around the battery itself, how much does it cost, how much is it worth, is there a secondary market around it”..”These are things enough people are interested in because of the interest in probing the different areas, were collecting a lot of data.”..”There has been no decision made, were investigating the alternatives. It is frankly fraught with a lot of tricky stuff.”..”Some seeds have been planted about the idea we are taking to some people we are not privy to discus at this time.”

TP: “Imagine this…Let’s say you’re driving the Volt and a message comes on saying you have to check out the battery. You have not noticed any driving or performance issues. But you bring it in to the dealer. One of the quandaries were in is this. Do we let the well-trained technician open the battery up, you sit there and wait, does he have the right tools and diagnostic equipment OR does he pop the battery out give you another that’s there and sends yours back the central expert center to Denise’s engineers who looks at them and works with the supplier, appropriately reconditions it and the batteries ready again. Or do you really always have to have that same battery always with you, like an engine is to a car now? This is an example of the type of things we’re studying.”

Q: Will you make the batteries swappable so that if a better technology comes along or if a Project Better Place-like program arrives the car could participate?
A:(DG) “Your battery will always be serviceable. Always. You just slide it out and put another back in.”

Q: Your going to design it that way?
A: (DG) “I have to. Easy to slide out and in by a trained technician. And we’ve learned a lot about how to service batteries.”

Q: Are you training first responders to car accidents on dealing with the batteries?
A: (DG) “Yes.Yes.Yes. In fact I have an engineer whose only job is vehicle safety for first responders. He spoke to federal agencies (recently) about safety in high voltage vehicles, and did a wonderful job.”

Q: Where are the charging ports going to be, and will there be one or two?
A: (TP) “We are thinking about it, and are very close to finalizing our decision on that matter.”..”It will be one or two, not three or four (laughter)”

Q: What are the barriers to sub-7 second 0 to 60 time, and why are you picking 8.5 seconds?
A: (TP) “We are still in the general 8.5 vicinity, what we ultimately settle on may vary slightly from that.”…”A really really important point to note is 0 to 60 has become a sort of de facto standard although very few people really do 0 to 60″..”One of the things, Lyle, you can help us with, and we’re going to help develop the metric, is with us, it’s really your initial acceleration because of the instantaneous torque you get from the electric system, now whether its a 0 to 30 time or a seconds to 0.2 G’s. We think thats a much more practical everyday, real world measurement.”..”We want your readers and your community to understand that one of the advantages of an electric vehicle are in the launch feel, launch performance”..”8.5 seconds is a nice car”..”We’ll have instantaneous torque”..”Our vehicle will be low (to the ground) and very very aerodynamic from the perspective of aerodynamic benchmarks.”..”Now, could we make it faster? Perhaps for future versions.”..”Remember the first objective we have is the 40 miles EV range”..”thats the primary objective, we can’t lose site of that”..”We have to do the first car right..it has a mission and a purpose..If we can achieve that mission, were very confident that other spinoff opportunities and choices will become available. It’s nothing prohibitive”

Q: Are you going to use specialized lightweight materials?
A: (TP) “Some. The car will be more conventional than it will be groundbreaking in mass”..“We will use selective items where we feel we can manage the risk.”..“it would be shame if the battery came in in time, but the…’aluminum hood’ was late”

Q: So the car will have a steel frame then?
A: (TP) “Yes”

Q: Is there any possibility of this car coming our in 2009?
A: (TP) “No.”
A: (DG) There’s another factor when it comes to time frame. As Tony mentioned, this battery doesn’t exist. These battery suppliers have to build manufacturing capability. They have to build plants, they have to build equipment, and they have to go through their trial and error of tooling this battery as well, and that takes time.”

Q: Will multiple range battery sizes be offered?
A: (TP) “Not in the first version.”.. “We can imagine a day when the customer has a choice or check box..give me a 20 mile range…because maybe it will cost less”..
“There is an important issue. We find, going above the 40 (mile range) from what we know today is kind of the limit for us. Then you get to the point where mass and cost of the battery is already expensive.”..”Then you fringe on the areas where we don’t want to compromise. Certainly everyone (who wants and can afford one) can go out and buy a Tesla”..“We imagine that in the future with cell advances, that in that space we made for the battery maybe we can get 50 (miles)”

Q: Would you get more range if you removed the range extender from the car, as it adds mass?
A: (TP) “The 40 was chosen based on a lot of studies. Driving behavior, the cost and mass of the battery, etc. A battery, the size of this table gets you 40 miles, a little 8 gallon fuel tank gets you 400 miles, and this is that delicate balance (of design). We have ripe in our minds, the EV-1 experience of ‘range anxiety’”..”We feel it’s a minority of people who would not want a range extender. (removing the ICE) would affect range ‘not much’”..”Mass is not as big of a driver as aero and electricals.”

Q: Is it possible that a third companies battery could make it into the Volt?
A: (DG) “I’m just hoping that two make it (laughter)”

Q: Are you working with EEStor, maker of an ultrcapacitor?
A: (DG) “Yes. We have been working with them the last couple of years via USABC. There are a lot of companies that have a paper analysis of what their chemistry can do. We tell them come on in. We have a standardized spec sheet for every battery application, remember we have a whole portfolio of battery needs from the mild hybrid to the Volt. We have an open-door policy. I have yet to find a company that has the wherewithal to handle all of those types of needs.”..“We’ve had EEstor in, we’ve had communications.”..“They have our specs, questionnaire”..”We say (if they pass the questionnaire) we’ll buy a sample and we’ll test it in our lab under these conditions and share with you the results.”..“We maintain a separate facility and moneys..give me a single cell and I’ll test it. It’s an open door policy”..
“The ultra cap is good for bursts, because all the energy is stored on the surface. It charges quickly and releases quickly”..“R&D projects are looking at supercaps in conjunction with other technologies in order to provide you with the overall performance. Still in the very early stages.”

Q: Do you have the plug-in VUE prototype battery packs?
A: (DG) “Yes, we’ve got ‘em”

Q: How to you simulate on the cyclers (battery bench testing equipment) 10 years of driving in a short time frame, and how long does that take?
A; (DG) “It will be patented one of these days. It’s not public information. You use a lot of temperature because temperature accelerates the molecular chemistry per cycle”..“We also have to test the other components such as the electronics and plastics ability to withstand extended use”

Q: Do you have any working mules?
A: (TP) “We do not have any yet that have a pack. We have some vehicle-based hardware, that work has begun. The lithium-ion pack and the car will converge some time in the near future”

I met with Tony Posawatz, GM’s E-Flex vehicle line director and Denise Gray, advanced battery director armed with >250 of your questions from our GM-Volt.com community. In more than 2 hours of discussion we covered a lot of ground, dozens were answered. Here is the first installment.

Q: How will people in apartments deal with cars that have to be plugged in?
A: (TP) “Our main focus is on the vehicle and getting it correct and running”. “We are beginning to do some work and discussions about electrical infrastructure” “We’re anticipating that’s going to be a help-required area, it’s not our business to do that” “Our studies show that 80% of people have relatively easy access (to the grid)”

Q: Will GM also allow faster charging from a 220 v outlet, besides regular 110 v charging?
A: (TP) “That’s our direction right now because we want to offer a choice to the customer” “We hope and expect that other industries (businesses) will come into play and help fill that gap” “For example I expect well see some pretty cool accessories (aftermarket)”

Q: If the car is moving at a velocity of 65 mph and the HVAC is activated, how will that affect the anticipated 40 miles electric range?
A: (TP) “I can’t comment specifically as to the impact of running your HVAC system as it related to numbers. It has an affect..it’s a function of (the environment). there is some degradation if your AC compressor unit is going on”..”We will have a new HVAC system that is intended to be very efficient”..”We will allow the customers choice if they want to run in eco-mode which will restrict a little bit of the HVAC performance.”..”We’ve done some studies and it (HVAC use) could mean a few miles of EV range (less)”..”We are looking at creative ways to minimize waste and allow passenger comfort and maximize EV range” “We are looking at the degree to which we shut other systems off,whether it be lights, etc.”..”A lot of this stuff is in software”

Q: Is the 40 miles range you have modelled with no HVAC?”
A: (TP) “Yeah, it’s with no or minimum HVAC”.

Q: How do you expect the car to perform in very cold environments, and will that change the range?
A: (DG) “With our lithium-ion chemistry”…”we have to do testing at the high and low temperature extremes”..”it is a ‘to be determined’”..”there’s a number of variables in the equation”.”there are still some big-time unknowns”

(TP) “We have to design the car for the extremes, but in many cases (the cooling system) will never be turned on”..”some of the energy of charging will go to heat the battery” “if someone leaves the car outside and it’s whatever below zero, they’ll have difficulties”

Q: When will the production Volt’s design be released?
A: (TP) “We’ll answer that later. I do not have a final date.”

Q: What are the barriers to getting this car out in 2009?
A: “We’ve been asked by many well meaning factions (such as government), ‘how can we help’”. “we are looking at an 8 to 10 year warranty battery, and it hasn’t ever been constructed. We certainly don’t ask for 8 to 10 years to test the battery.” “We believe we have staked out the leadership position”. “We will pace the development.”…”General Motor’s can not afford to have any significant issues (with this car)”

Q: So there is a risk to you if the car comes out to soon and the batteries start failing?
A (TP): “Absolutely”..”There is a certain time required to get this car going.””We are leveraging certain existing architecture, but many things will be new.”..“There will be certain family resemblances to the show car, but, in order to achieve the 40 miles of EV range, the car has been blowing through a wind tunnel, and it will have differences.” “efficiency is the most important thing, and aero is huge. (also) the more you slip through the air, the more regenerative braking you get.”
“If there was (already) a battery that already existed, then it might be a different story”

U.S. News and World Report got to ask a few more questions than I did of Bob Lutz at the L.A. Auto Show press day.

Among other things, when asked if he thinks the Volt will work out, he said “There would have to be some horrible surprise for it not to work.”

He talked about how the initial Volt plan intended a lot of batteries and 100 mile range, but was later changed to 40 miles and less batteries by VP Jon Lauckner.
He is quoted as saying the Volt team said “2010 is an impossible target”.
With respect to production numbers of 60,000 he says “Within a few years we hope to be producing hundreds of thousands. This is potentially the reinvention of the automobile.”

He also addresses the risk of this program to GM.

Our very extensive GM-Volt.com Q&A is coming shortly so stay tuned.

Source (US News and World Report)

Denise Gray

I just completed two days of discussion with key Chevy Volt executives and brought with me the list of the questions you asked right here. Since at the time of the meetings, there were more than 250 questions, I had to boil them down a little. I got to spend a couple of hours with Tony Posawatz, Volt Vehicle Line Director, and Denise Gray, Battery Chief along with Rob Peterson and Scott Fosgard of GM public relations. Due to the sheer volume of questions, we couldn’t get to them all initially but did eventually get to most; I will break the answers up over a few posts. So check in daily for them all.

First, I wanted to share with you firsthand information about the very first Chevy Volt lithium-ion battery pack which is now sitting in GMs advanced battery lab in Detroit.

The pack is from LG Chem and Compact Power Inc. Denise also mentioned that the pack has fully integrated electronic control systems as well as a functioning liquid cooling system (contrary to prior reports). She relayed the delivery event, on Halloween, and complete with CPI engineers in hand as analogous to a new baby coming into the home..very exciting with many GM employees (excited neighbors) coming around to gawk at it and wish it well.

She relays that the pack is 200 kg, T-shaped, and about 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 1-1/2 feet high. These were roughly the dimensions of the table we sat at for lunch which she said happened to be about its size.

She mentioned that the pack is currently undergoing bench testing and has yet to be placed into a mule, but will soon. Furthermore another pack is on its way within 2 weeks, and two more from A123 will arrive after that.

We went over the battery development process and the fact that the initial field of battery contenders were 27, which got cut to 13, and finally to the current two: CPI/LG and A123/Continental. She is in constant contact with the people at both battery companies.

She also defended GM’s decision not to make the batteries in house, as Toyota claims they are, because it makes more sense to work as a group with companies that are excellent at the components they make as opposed to try to do it all themselves.

The pack they got meets all of GM set requirements and is indeed a fully operational 16 kwh pack. Denise tells me special precautions have to be made for the technicians considering the high voltage in regards to their safety. Every cell is monitorable in temperature and voltage with extensive sensing devices.

The cells are segregated into groups or modules each module has a central monitor that evaluated each of its cells, and all the module monitors feed back into a central monitor. All the cells; both from CPI/LG and A123 are prismatic or pancake-shaped (no cylinders). This shape is very important to keep the pack as dense and same as possible, and for better heat dispersion. The modular structure is considered very important from a production, serviceability, and control standpoint.

Indeed there will be several configurations of prototype packs from each manufacturer. Denise’s lab will test them fully on the bench and in mules to see what eventual design will be superior.

No pictures of the pack yet, but I’m working on it.