Ed Welburn, Chief of GM Design was asked for an update on the production Volt’s design. This took place during the GMnext online web chat session.
His response:
I am so excited about this car – both the technology and the design. We’ve seen as we are designing the vehicle, how important aerodynamics are in fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
and
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 at 8:34 am and is filed under Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.I am thrilled with what the team is doing with the development of the interior – it’s creative, spacious… far better than the original concept vehicle.
The Volt is our absolute highest priority. It’s got it’s own dedicated separate studio dedicated to its interior and exterior design.
We’ve about completed work on the body shape and now we are working on the details…every single detail
There are some interesting aerodynamic surprises throughout the vehicle. And you’ll just have to wait to see them. At the end of the day, it still is obviously the Chevy Volt.
Jan 5th, 2008 (8:51 am)Actually, it looks better in the front after the changes, if the pic is to be any guide. The front was never the best styling anyway – the rear and top MADE the VOLT.
Jan 5th, 2008 (10:44 am)GM obviously has some of their most talented people working hard on this car.
Anyone who has been following E-Flex and the Volt knows that this is GM’s moon shot. They are pulling out all the stops to make it a great one!
I can’t wait to see, then drive and then finally own one a Volt.
Jan 5th, 2008 (10:57 am)There’s still one big problem with the way its appearance, it would look far better in my driveway.
I’m so very thrilled to hear how devoted to the Volt GM is, across the board. No distancing whatsoever.
GO GM, GO CHEVY!
(I’m doing hoop dances in my living room at this very moment)
Jan 5th, 2008 (11:47 am)I’m so pump I’m going outside right now to spit on my foreign car!!
Jan 5th, 2008 (12:41 pm)Good news, because something like the Aveo or the Cobalt is a tough sell with my wife, who has been totally spoiled by her Impala.
Jan 5th, 2008 (12:48 pm)I also would like to know about the instrumentation cluster, and any options that will be offered…..
Jan 5th, 2008 (1:28 pm)Does “spacious interior” mean 5 seats instead of 4? I think that is a big selling point for a lot of people.
Jan 5th, 2008 (1:42 pm)The revised front end has started to resemble to me the Chevy Sequel concept – hardly surprising considering that Boniface did that car too, and also since that concept was actually a fully functional prototype.
Jan 5th, 2008 (2:57 pm)[quote comment="24560"]Jim I #6
I also would like to know about the instrumentation cluster, and any options that will be offered…..[/quote]
I am interested myself. I dislike idiot lights and would like many gauges instead or some other type of system that can give me the information.
Jan 5th, 2008 (3:05 pm)Sigh.
“It’s got it’s own dedicated separate studio dedicated to its interior and exterior design…We’ve about completed work on the body shape and now we are working on the details…every single detail”
Tick tock, tick tock. Nov 2010, eh! 2 years 10 months to get it into our hands. Maybe you should be a little farther than “working on every single detail” on a conceptual level!
Jan 5th, 2008 (3:06 pm)Ok that last post sounded a little harsh, hehe. I’m antsy to get one already. (=
Jan 5th, 2008 (4:50 pm)Statik, #11:
Didn’t sound harsh to me. “Tick tock, tick tock”, indeed.
Check out this week’s Autoweek for a story on the Toyota concept hybrid pickup, evidently for the Detroit show. Looks like a miniature Ridgeline with Hybrid Synergy Drive.
Tick tock, tick tock.
Jan 5th, 2008 (4:52 pm)[quote comment="24560"]I also would like to know about the instrumentation cluster, and any options that will be offered…..[/quote]
I too would like to know more about the planned instrumentation. Like, Rashiid #9, I dislike “idiot” lights and would much prefer guages or digital displays. It would be great if there was a LCD display in the center and the owner had the capability to customize the display.
Jan 5th, 2008 (4:59 pm)A LCD display in the center sure would help my wife. The way the dashboard is now configured, she keeps getting a crink in her neck trying to check out our speed. Gotta look after the little lady!
Jan 5th, 2008 (5:17 pm)My wife and I have driven all over this country without any problems; north to south and east to west. After all these years it has become obvious that I have only one function as driver; “hold onto the steering wheel”. She will tell me where to turn, the speed to drive, etc., etc., etc. And, it makes no difference if she’s in the right seat or the back seat.
Any chance GM will offer an option for a Granny Clampett Rocker mounted on top of the Volt? One can always hope!
Jan 5th, 2008 (7:33 pm)Where will the shifter will be? I know there will be no transmission, but there will be Park, Reverse, Drive, and perhaps Neutral.
I like the setup on our Honda CR-V. The shifter has no mechanical linkage to the automatic transmission, but still uses a stick style shifter mounted low on the dashboard – like where the hump would normally start on a rear wheel drive car.
Jan 5th, 2008 (7:38 pm)I’ve seen some EVs use something mounted on the dash to switch gears. I grew up driving manuals, so I’m partial to having something on the center console.
Jan 5th, 2008 (7:52 pm)Necessity is the mother of invention….thank God this is finally on the way. Americans have been criticized for buying foreign cars for the last twenty years, but the Japanese cars have been far superior, I’m sorry to say. We will line up in droves to buy this car and dump our imports! Once again America leads the way to innovation for the rest of the world. Way to go Chevy – now get your two brothers to get off their rear’s and get in the game as well!
Jan 5th, 2008 (8:00 pm)[quote comment="24625"]Dave G #16 Where will the shifter will be? I know there will be no transmission, but there will be Park, Reverse, Drive, and perhaps Neutral.
[/quote]
When I was a kid in the early 1970′s, I remember a guy that had a push button automatic. He had buttons on the dashboard for Park, Reverse, Drive, Neutral. I don’t remember if he had more buttons but I do know it was an American car built sometime in the 1960′s. Like AES, I drive a standard shift, and will surely miss my clutch when I buy the Volt. But I see no reason for a stick shift in the Volt. It could have buttons.
Jan 5th, 2008 (8:12 pm)“There are some interesting aerodynamic surprises throughout the vehicle.”
I wonder what kind of surprises he is talking about. Are the surprises look related or are they performance related. Is it possible an aerodynamic version will get more than 50 miles on “electric only”?
Jan 5th, 2008 (8:52 pm)[quote comment="24569"]Does “spacious interior” mean 5 seats instead of 4? I think that is a big selling point for a lot of people.[/quote]
Yeah … I agree. My current car seats four – which is fine for me, my wife and two young kids (in their booster seats). But if we have another child – I need something that will comfortably hold three kids in the back!
Jan 5th, 2008 (9:03 pm)[quote comment="24636"]“There are some interesting aerodynamic surprises throughout the vehicle.”
I wonder what kind of surprises he is talking about. Are the surprises look related or are they performance related. Is it possible an aerodynamic version will get more than 50 miles on “electric only”?[/quote]
Here is what I think the surprises will be:
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58341
Look at the videos there.
It’s about shape-memory alloys and their use in aerodynamics.
Jan 5th, 2008 (9:04 pm)Here is the GM press release.
http://www.gm.com/explore/technology/news/2007/smart_materials_030807.jsp
Look at the pictures.
Jan 5th, 2008 (9:06 pm)And a quote:
“Burns’ research and development and strategic planning team is driving innovation in GM’s future cars and trucks with many initiatives around advanced propulsion, electronics, telematics and “smart” materials. Shape memory alloys and polymers are examples of smart materials that GM is developing for use in its cars and trucks. Smart materials are so named because they can change their shape, strength, and/or stiffness when they are introduced to heat, stress, a magnetic field or electrical voltage. Shape memory alloys – and polymers in particular – “remember” their original shape and can return to it, creating new possibilities for the many moveable features in a vehicle GM plans to integrate smart materials technology into its vehicles by 2010.”
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/09/19/gms-larry-burns-gets-asm-international-research-award/
Note the year–2010.
Jan 5th, 2008 (10:10 pm)[quote comment="24625"]Where will the shifter will be? I know there will be no transmission, but there will be Park, Reverse, Drive, and perhaps Neutral.
[/quote]
The Tesla has a shifter in the center console, the same as any other car. So did the EV1.
Jan 5th, 2008 (11:34 pm)# 22, 23, 24, good info. If all of these are relevant, Toyota and other car companies better get ready for a beat down starting with the Volt in 2010, take note when the Dr said by 2010…And the Volt target date is… 2010. Wow, I want one so bad. Goodbye my Audi; Welcome my Chevy Volt.
Jan 5th, 2008 (11:35 pm)[quote comment="24634"]Like AES, I drive a standard shift, and will surely miss my clutch when I buy the Volt. But I see no reason for a stick shift in the Volt. It could have buttons. [/quote]
Like I said, the Honda CR-V has no mechanical linkage to the transmission. The CR-V stick style automatic shifter just connects to switches underneath. In other words, they could have easily used buttons. But they chose instead to have a stick-type automatic shifter low and protruded on the dash – like where a center console would be if there was one. I really like it there, and I hope the Volt has it there as well.
Jan 5th, 2008 (11:45 pm)#24 Juan,
Cool!!! I hope they make the shell of the Volt out of the shape memory metal. If someone gets a dink in their door …all they have to do is throw a bucked of hot water on it and the dink is gone.
So …I guess you think they could use the memory spoiler or louver on the Volt?
Thanks for the link.
Jan 6th, 2008 (12:08 am)Very excellent seeing those kind of comments from the GM brass.
I think they KNOW they need a home run, and they’re going to do what it takes.
I know GM can do it. They need to shed their old ways and remake themselves through the Volt.
Jan 6th, 2008 (12:44 am)It is indeed time for something worthwhile. Risky it is, especially with Li-ion batt technology, but the old ways for GM would have been to play it safe and work on television incentives to sell re-boxed sheet metal.
The Volt is it’s own incentive, and we know it. That’s why I think that Lyle’s waiting list should get first priority with GM and let our neighbors wait in line.
Jan 6th, 2008 (1:37 am)#19- push button tranny
Several manufacturers had push button on the dash, including dodge and rambler (american motors).
Randy B.
Jan 6th, 2008 (7:26 am)[quote comment="24641"][quote comment="24569"]Does “spacious interior” mean 5 seats instead of 4? I think that is a big selling point for a lot of people.[/quote]
Yeah … I agree. My current car seats four – which is fine for me, my wife and two young kids (in their booster seats). But if we have another child – I need something that will comfortably hold three kids in the back![/quote]When you get that third kid you will not be using a Volt–or any other sedan for that matter.
You will quickly see the light and get a minivan or wagon of some sort.
What kind of car do you have now?
Jan 6th, 2008 (7:30 am)[quote comment="24670"]#24 Juan,
Cool!!! I hope they make the shell of the Volt out of the shape memory metal. If someone gets a dink in their door …all they have to do is throw a bucked of hot water on it and the dink is gone.
So …I guess you think they could use the memory spoiler or louver on the Volt?
Thanks for the link.[/quote]
It will most likely be the skirt below the front bumper for better aerodynamics at higway speed (and maybe other things like the louver). Remember, the batteries are liquid cooled, and the engine only ever needs to breathe once every six months.
There may yet be other applications.
And yes, that thing about dings in the door is patented and on its way. GM is working on shape-memory for rub-strips and other points of contact what get easily dinged.
A *major* fender-bender?
Not yet though.
Jan 6th, 2008 (8:12 am)Here is more:
“Shape-memory alloys will arrive first. These nickel-titanium materials, sometimes called NiTinol, are currently used in those cell-phone antennas that bend without breaking or kinking. But by carefully heat-treating the alloy, it can be “trained” to allow stretching, bending, and kinking at one temperature and to return to its original shape at another temperature. A strand of NiTinol wire just a couple times the diameter of a human hair can be stretched by four percent and then heated for a couple seconds via a low-power electrical current (under five amps at 12 volts) to exert five pounds of force as it returns to its original length-reliably, over millions of cycles. These simple, tiny, dirt-cheap wires or NiTinol springs can replace solenoid motor-actuators all over the car. That frees up space, electrical load capacity, and budget (they can cost 1/10th as much as a motor) to accommodate new features you don’t know you need today, but which Taub suggests you won’t want to live without five years from now.”
I suspect they may have even more applications of this in the interior.
http://www.motortrend.com/features/editorial/112_0706_technologue/
We will see.
Jan 6th, 2008 (8:28 am)By the way, you can see all the patents there:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/editorial/112_0706_technologue/patents.html
Get further descriptions at
freepatentsonline.com
Jan 6th, 2008 (8:30 am)I recall when I was a youngster we had a 58 Plymouth station wagon with push-button tranny. Coincidently, I just received a Feb 1959 Motor Trend which I puchased from ebay because it had an article about an electric car made by the Stinson Aircraft Co. claiming a 77 mile range on it’s 48 volt battery pack. More interesting were some of the other articles and reader comments. A road test of the big-three cars had 0-60 times in the 9 second range and fuel ecconmy around 13 mpg (V-8′s and high octane). Another article was entitled “Memo to Detroit: Needed, A Car For Basic Transportation”. This article was the result of a reader survey and some of the comments could have been taken right out of this blog. A very interesting read from 50 years ago.
Jan 6th, 2008 (10:29 am)My dad had a 59 Chrysler Imperial with a push button “torqueflight” automatic transmission. It was pretty cool.
Console mounted and column mounted shifters are left overs from the cars that had transmissions, and are no longer needed.
Push buttons are OK, but have already been done.
How about voice activated?
Jan 6th, 2008 (11:09 am)I would take a Volt if it had no heater and no AC, and no radio and no backseat. Just GiMme an American car that takes the strategic weapon of oil out of our enemies hands. It cannot be too soon.
Jan 6th, 2008 (12:09 pm)[quote comment="24756"][quote]When you get that third kid you will not be using a Volt–or any other sedan for that matter.
You will quickly see the light and get a minivan or wagon of some sort.
What kind of car do you have now?[/quote]
We have a 2005 Suzuki Aerio SX which very comfortably fits four. Adding a roof-top box, we’ve done all kinds of road trips in Canad and the northwest US. Without child/booster seats, three kids or three “slim” adults can fit in the back – the problem is the booster seats take up seat width, so that there is only room for two booster seats. We currently have only one car as my wife either takes the bus or bicycles to work and I am able to walk to work. As for a mini-van, my wife hates them and would prefer an SUV. I’m also curious to see what happens with future Saturn Vue “Green” models …
Jan 6th, 2008 (12:20 pm)[/quote]
I’m also curious to see what happens with future Saturn Vue “Green” models …[/quote]
The two-mode FWD Vue will be announced at the upcoming Detroit auto show. I think it will rival or beat the Ford Escape hybrid for the SUV mpg title.
Jan 6th, 2008 (12:58 pm)We had a ’57 Dodge wagon with a pushbutton transmission. This was in the day of the starter button (no twisting the key to start) The neutral button doubled as the starter. We had fun letting the neighbors try to start it when we first got it.
Just got a Mini-Cooper and, guess what, it has a starter button, too. Everything old is new again.
If the Volt has an ESP input so that it just “knew” what direction I wanted to go – that would be innovation!
Jan 6th, 2008 (1:42 pm)[quote comment="24814"][/quote]
I’m also curious to see what happens with future Saturn Vue “Green” models …[/quote]
The two-mode FWD Vue will be announced at the upcoming Detroit auto show. I think it will rival or beat the Ford Escape hybrid for the SUV mpg title.[/quote]
Brian – It’s a little off topic, but you & others here might like to know about a new GM/Lutz blog where I’ve just posted the following:
“I want to add this to my comments (posted at 8AM today) about GM employing E-REV technology in future Saturn VUE’s, etc:
“1) The pioneering E-REV technology (ala Chevy Volt) should be readily acceptable to Saturn customers, who are typically looking for innovative designs
“2) Saturn customers are accustomed to excellent customer service, which should help offset any concerns they have about “being first” to buy breakthrough technology like E-REV
“3) GM should cover all E-REV vehicles(including the Chevy VOLT) by the GM 100,000 mile power train warranty to further alleviate any RISK concerns!!!*
“*If E-REV cars are NOT covered for 100,000 miles it will be a BLACK FLAG to potential buyers!
The new GM/Lutz blog is at: http://www.gmnext.com/details/thoughts.aspx?id=8c347568-39b1-4e9e-9dce-dc5d19a5d851
Jan 6th, 2008 (1:52 pm)Whatever the production version of the Volt turns out to look like, I hope it is closer to the new Camaro than the Prius. If the instrument cluster incorporates an LCD I hope it is nothing like the multi-function display in the Prius: I almost wrecked the Prius I rented while trying to adjust the interior temperature, and the display was impossible to read in bright sunlight. The forward/reverse lever on the Prius looks like it came from a golf cart. Such a “gear shift” seems old-fashioned and out of place in the Volt: I would prefer a more 21st century approach to the instrument cluster and general controls, perhaps something more like the iPhone with a heads-up display like the Cadillacs offer. And please leave out the OSHA beeper that activates in reverse on the Prius.
Jan 7th, 2008 (10:06 am)Like many pieces of information provided by GM spokespersons, it uses vague references that sound good. Spacious sounds good, but unless spacious is defined by number of seats and foot room/head room figures, it leaves us with hope rather than dope.
Jan 7th, 2008 (4:21 pm)Estero, #14 & # 15:
Sounds like the story of my life. LOL.
Jan 8th, 2008 (5:39 pm)#43
Jim L
I can understaind why they put OSHA beeper that activates in reverse on the Prius. Many people are use to hear ICE noise. I used to work in a warehouse that deal with forklift. One of the forklift have a broken OSHA beeper, never bother fixing it. It had scare many people when the forklift lightly bumb into people, not knowning that it comming. I’m very sure the Volt will have a OSHA beeper, no question about it.
Aug 10th, 2008 (9:48 pm)I hope they make the production volt 99.9% like the concept and hope they dont change the style. We need to have cars like this and the style now. I was going to get a new camero but im looking into this now.