Comments on: Opel Flextreme is not for Production: Chevy Volt will be a Global Vehicle

By: Digger

Digger — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 02:26:44 +0000

Yes, the bowtie is a recognizable item. It is a well-known symbol for crappy cars. Bowtie=Chevy=Junk

If the Volt is to be a success, the bowtie needs to go. Any reference to Chevrolet should also be eliminated. Otherwise the car’s market will be limited to the choir – the same group of people who like Chevrolets and think they are good.

Unfortunately, this group is not very big anymore. The bowtie and Chevy have become to symbolize junk to the majority of educated people in this country. Drive into any major city (except Detroit) and see how many Chevys are the family car. Most of these people won’t even consider buying a Chevy.

The bowtie on this car is like an instant JUNK label that infects its entire image.

Ah, who am I kidding — it’ll be junk with or without the bowtie. At least nobody will get fooled if it is left on…

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:10:25 +0000

I agree with nasaman! get rid of that gawd awful, ugly a*s gold bowtie….and stop putting those tacky little GM stickers on the vehicles. The new Chevy emblem should look more like Opel’s…a SMALL chrome bowtie badge with a circle around it…..maybe?

By: Lyle

Lyle — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:05:59 +0000

Susman
Concepts don’t always mean production intent.

By: Suman

Suman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:13:14 +0000

According to a recent autoblog article, GM will display a “Saturn Flextreme” at the ‘08 Detroit auto show (among other vehicles), which contradicts this thread’s title. I guess we’ll have to wait until January to find out…
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/12/10/detroit-08-preview-saab-9-4x-could-make-an-appearance-at-cobo/

By: Jean-Charles Jacquemin

Jean-Charles Jacquemin — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:10:17 +0000

More news from Keith. I asked why we didn’t get news on the Flextreme development in Europe the same way as GM does for the Volt in the USA. His answer is here and more positive, perhaps shall we get an E-Opel be the Flextreme or not :

# Keith Childs, GM Europe says:
#1.1.1.1 2007-12-19 11:39 (Reply)

A firm production date can’t be announced, but rest assured, as soon as we know how fast lithium ion batteries for automobiles can be developed, you’ll be among the first to find out when we’ll put a vehicle on the road. In the meantime, stay tuned.”

By: Jim I

Jim I — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:25:59 +0000

ChargedUp #30:

Even if the performance, warranty, and service availability was there, you take my $35K Crossfire and put another $35K into the conversion. That is just way too expensive…………

bruce g #36:

No Way!!! If that is what the final design Volt looks like, take my name off the waiting list!!

Please do not forget that the Gen-1 Volt is being designed as a commuter vehicle. Let them get that model out and functional. Then they can take that new design studio and work on all the other models that are desired!

By: bruce g

bruce g — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:58:38 +0000

Now,
Have we agreed to a Opel styling with a Chevy bow tie to be deployed globally?
Sounds good to me!

By: james

james — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 05:43:25 +0000

ohm 21. nano solar! now that’s what i’m talking about!
we’ll be driving around for “free” in our chevy volts (or tesla’s if they get ‘em off the ground and have that kinda cash, lol)…definitely kicks ass.

By: Estero

Estero — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:03:18 +0000

Nasaman #25.

Thanks for the information. It is quite interesting how the “bowtie” emblem came about. Perhaps I should have paid more attention in history classes.

By: Abattoir

Abattoir — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:52:45 +0000

butters:
Thanks very much for the details. I wasn’t clear on the temperature characteristics of the Li-ion chemistry, and you raise an excellent restriction I hadn’t thought of – temperature requirements during charging.

The 32F (0C) requirement will be a consideration by GM, as most people do not have heated garages, and we go literally months here without the temperature getting that high. I imagine there will have to be some heating capability within the battery charging components to handle this requirement. I imagine it won’t be as inefficient as it sounded at first, as the energy lost when charging the battery will only help here by heating the battery pack.

Also, the battery should heat itself during discharge to some degree, so as long as the battery is capable of discharging enough energy to warm itself up on those really cold nights (I’m thinking a mandatory warm-up period before the car will move) then this is merely a design problem, not a fundamental limitation of the technology. All in all, good news!