Bob Lutz Wants to Retire After the Volt is Launched

We have grown very used to “hearing it like it is” from “maximum” Bob Lutz, GM’s Vice-Chairman.  He is in charge of product development and has been the lead instigator and driving force behind our beloved Chevy Volt.  Most fortunately, I recently had the chance to meet him (post).
 
It has been said that the Chevy [...]

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GM’s Brand New E-Flex Design Center

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Back in early October when I interviewed Bob Boniface (post), the Volt’s Chief designer, he told us about GM’s new E-Flex design center, which he happened to be moving into that day. He [...]

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Get Blown Away: First Peek at Production Chevy Volt!

GM has just revealed a teaser photo of the production version of the Chevy Volt, and there it is!
You will remember how Bob Lutz previously told us that the concept Volt did not do so well in the wind tunnel. We also heard from vehicle line director Tony Posawatz that it turns out aerodynamics [...]

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Slightly Better Picture of Chevy Volt CPI/LG Chem Prototype Battery Pack

Here is a slightly higher resolution picture of the first Chevy Volt Battery pack (thanks to Matt Kelly - and Dave G’s processing). Remember the pack is 16 kwh, T-shaped, and roughly 6 feet long, 3 feet wide at the bar of the “T” (closest to screen) and 1-1/2 feet tall:

Don’t forget, if you [...]

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Chevy Volt on Display in Los Angeles until Dec.11th: GM-Volt.com Meetup tomorrow

The Chevy Volt will be on display in Southern California for the next few days at free-of-charge events. I know many of you live in that area, so this is a great opportunity to see the car in the flesh and ask the GM folks questions. Given how much we at GM-Volt.com read and [...]

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Tesla Denies Rumors that Whitestar or Darkstar are DOA

Darryl Siry
In our last post, we noted that Jalopnik published “inside information” that Tesla’s upcoming electric sedan, the Whitestar might not make it to production. Of course this information is anonymous and unverified.
GM-Volt.com has been notified by Tesla VP of marketing Darryl Siry, that these rumors are not true.
He said:
It is simply not the [...]

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Is Tesla Pulling the Plug on the WhiteStar?

No sooner did we just discuss how Tesla VP of finance appreciates the Volt’s design, and heard directly from Darryl Siry, Telsa VP of marketing, that Tesla has the capability of building an E-REV (though he called it an RE-EV), that Jalopnik has reported a bombshell for the company.
It is no secret that the scrappy [...]

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Is Tesla Planning to Build an E-REV Too?

As you may be aware, Tesla Motors is a Silicon Valley start-up company that has produced an electric car called the Tesla Roadster. It is not available for sale yet, but that is imminent, and the sporty two-seater will set you back about 100K. In time, they hope to build a sub-50K sedan [...]

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Picture of CPI/LG Chem First Prototype Chevy Volt Lithium-ion Battery Pack

Thanks to a video by Matt Kelly taken at EVS23, we have the first public view of the LG Chem/CPI first prototype Chevy Volt battery pack:

Thanks to Lyle L. for the tip.
See the whole video here.
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How Did GM determine that 78% of Commuters Drive Less Than 40 miles per day?

A central factor in the Chevy Volt’s engineering design is that it can be driven for up to 40 miles on electric power only. A lot of electric car enthusiasts and manufacturers have come up with varying ranges for their vehicles. An example of this is the fact that the Tesla Roadster is designed to [...]

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Compact Power CEO Describes How Their New Chevy Volt Cells are Better

In our previous post, we told you that GM had received the second prototype Chevy Volt battery pack. The packs give a full 16 kWh of power which GM engineers feel is sufficient to propel the car for 40 miles without gasoline.
Jon Lauckner also mentioned that the second pack offers an improvement over the [...]

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GM Takes Delivery of Second LG Chem/Compact Power Chevy Volt Battery Pack, and it’s Better Than the First

Jon Lauckner

Yesterday, in remarks made at the EVS23 conference, GM Vice President of Global Program Management, Jon Lauckner, announced that the automaker received the second prototype lithium-ion battery pack from LG Chem/Compact Power. He said:
“A second battery pack, incorporating improvements from the first one, is being delivered to our battery lab today for similar [...]

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