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Breaking: Bob Lutz Says Driveable Chevy Volt Mules in June, not Easter

January 13th, 2008 | Posted in: GM Q and A, Original GM-Volt Interviews

Here on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show myself and several bloggers are having the opportunity to chat with GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz. I am actually writing this post as we go; so-called “live-blogging”.

He is asked what his personal involvement in the Volt project is.

He mentioned he is very interested because it’s never been done before. He doesn’t go to the lab daily and “clamp cells together” but it is important to him. Then he dropped the bombshell. He said he was overly optimistic when he said driveable mules would be out for Easter. “It looks more like June”.

Asked about the financial relationship with Coskata, the new ethanol producing partner, he says “we took a tiny little bit of equity in Coskata”. In explaining why GM is doing it besides altruism he said “We would like to take the automobile out of the firing line for being involved in everything from global warming to funding terrorism.”

On the reason for the Volt mules delay, he says they have been delays in getting the battery packs for one thing, and testing isn’t as far along by now as they had hoped, and also that they want the software the car will need to be more perfected

I asked him whether GM would tolerate any risk of battery thermal runaway events (i.e. dangerous overheating).

He said “We will not sell the vehicle at all if there is any risk of of thermal events. We will have considered it a failure, and say see you in 3 or 4 years.” He went on to say that GM asked the original battery suppliers whether they felt their technology had any risk of thermal events, and the ones that were uncertain were not chosen. He is confident in the manganese spinel and iron nanophosphate chemistries of LG chem and A123 respectively.

Posted by: Lyle

58 Responses to “Breaking: Bob Lutz Says Driveable Chevy Volt Mules in June, not Easter”

Jake Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

Oh boy…here comes the firestorm.

I do hope A123 gets their pack to GM soon, and that this helps move things along. I have high hopes for A123’s technology.

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Tim Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:24 pm

The FIRST test mules will be ready in June? WOW!

The REAL profit is in the consumables. GM has been working with big oil to keep us addicted to Internal Combustion. Since 1931 they have used the same strategy of 1/2 truths, STALLLING and outright lying. “a new technology is coming, STALL, we’re working on it, STALL, maybe with a breakthrough, STALL, busses are better than electric trams, STALL, but we need the lead in the gas, STALL, you need larger & more powerful vehicles, STALL, look at the new EV-1 that changes everything, STALL, pay no attention to the EV-1, STALL, give them back so we can crush them, STALL, hey look at ethanol, STALL, now look at Hydrogen, STALL, look at our concept Volt, STALL, we’re getting close to a battery breakthrough, STALL, we’re waiting on another new battery tech, STALL, 6 more months to the first test mules, STALL, look at our mild hybrids, STALL, just be patient, STALL, , look at our new “green” SUVs, STALL, and keep waiting, STALL… FOREVER!

Now they’ve crawled into bed with Big Ethanol!!! Can we REALLY trust GM to deliver on their E-Flex promises?

The answer is NOT new batteries, it’s battery management using ultracapacitors. How do we know this is the truth?

AFS Trinity Energy Corp had taken a stock Saturn View hybrid SUV which seats 5 and created a Volt style E-REV-40 that can cruise in excess of 80-mph in all electric mode for over 40 miles by using ultracapacitors to buffer energy flow to the OFF THE SHELF batteries! AFS Trinity Energy Corp has NO affiliation with big oil, but they are willing to license their technology to the car manufacturers. The XH-150 prototype is running right NOW and has been featured on CNN and CBS!

Dr. Joseph Romm, Assistant Secretary of Energy, US DOE 1995-1998 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_J._Romm has appeared in their videos and endorses their technology.

Here are some more interesting videos including an graphic showing exactly how the ingenious system works: http://www.afstrinity.com/video.htm

No more wondering IF the Volt’s battery will work. AFS Trinity’s XH-150 E-REV-40 SUV is ready NOW using “off the shelf” components.

Then again the suspense is killing us…

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LyleL Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

Thinking back to the interaction of Toyota and Lutz with the final comment on who will have egg on their face come Easter.

“Let’s wait for the Easter Bunny. Somebody’s going to have egg on their face. And I don’t like having egg on my face.”

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/nov2007/bw20071116_842776.htm?chan=autos_autos+index+page_top+stories

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TheSaint Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

# 2 Sometime Easter comes in June. I rather wait a few more months so GM can upgrade, learn and make a better Volt than an early Volt just for the sake of beating Toyota. In time the Volt will be the most have car!

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Brian M Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 5:53 pm

We’re talking about two months here… let’s not completely freak out.

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Dave G Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

I kind of expected things to start slipping about now. At least we’re within 1 quarter. I expect 1-2 quarters slip by the end.

One comment that got me thinking was:
“and also that they want the software the car will need to be more perfected”

In other words, if all the battery packs were delivered and tested perfectly, the software would still be behind. This scenario is all too common. In fact, in the cases I’ve seen where the hardware is delivered on time, the software guys usually have to work serious O.T. to catch up. Everyone seems to under-estimate the amount of time the software will take.

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SilverBlade Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 7:16 pm

I do agree with Tim. GM has stalled before and only innovate when their profits are at risk, and THEN only innovate while kicking and screaming. If GM doesn’t come out with a plug-in, another company will.

It seems like GM isn’t serious about it now. They come out with hybrids, and ‘green’ SUV’s, but where’s the plug-in announcements? Where’s the gung-ho attitude to getting us out of the noose of oil? GM better deliver the Volt on schedule, or my money is going elsewhere.

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Stan Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 7:57 pm

Lyle:

Please give Bob Lutz two stinky eggs wrapped with print-out of his previous “Egg on face” comments this coming Easter. As an battery engineer, I seriously doubt they have the capability to deliver whatever nonsense they ever lashed out against Toyota. Remember, Toyota togetther with their buddies at Panasinic have been researching on battery tech for years, and still in vain!
Folks, please save the Newsweek report on Nov 19th, 2007 and donate it to GM!

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Joe Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 8:06 pm

Hey, give GM a break! When it comes to new technology nobody can predict in certainty if new problems will arise. All one can do is estimate the time frame. Most people don’t understand the under making of a large company. Yes, it is true GM makes predictions of things to come and sometime they don’t happen.That doesn’t mean they were insincere.

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Jim I Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 8:19 pm

One other thing to consider:

It is pretty hard to write software, when the hardware is not fully developed. So, as a programmer, I can understand why they could be behind a bit.

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o.jeff@Gmail.com Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 8:20 pm

Random questions:
What will the mule be like? (Will it have production-intent motor? Battery management computer? Production-intent engine?)
Does GM ultimately plan to manufacture the Volt’s electric motor in its own factories?
Does GM have the engine and motor undergoing testing?
Will the Volt be able to “borrow” parts from the new GM hybrids for “electrified” HVAC, steering, or braking systems?
We know that two suppliers are under contract already for the battery systems. How many other suppliers are already under contract for other Volt parts?
Will the Volt use the lightweight plastic materials shown in the 2007 show car?

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Rashiid Amul Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:21 pm

I agree with Jim I, #10,
I too am a computer programmer and I understand how difficult these things are.
Look at Microsoft and how they automatically download updates to our computers on a regular basis. Microsoft has NEVER gotten it completely right. I know that I write programs with the best of intentions and it still has some bugs. The software people at GM have to make their software perfect. I’m not aware of any company that can do that.

They are sincere. They don’t have a choice.
This is their last stance.

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Statik Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:23 pm

Checklist time:

Viable and proven battery: No
Percentage of Exterior Designed: Zero
Percentage of Interior Designed: Zero
# of new component 3rd party contracts: Zero
Michigan line cleared for new production: No
Test Mules: No

November 2010: 1,021 days away

I know I’m a dark cloud…I’m just saying.

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AES Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:25 pm

As much as I am disappointed, I would say that sometimes Lutz misspeaks. Denise Gray also specified “first quarter” for the mules.

Also, given Lyle’s first-hand account of the battery prototype’s awesome thermal performance, I think it’s safe to say that Toyota’s assault on GM (which came WELL before the Lutz challenge) in which they said that GM’s batteries for lithium-ion cars were “theoretical”, can be safely dismissed as ignorant anyway.

That said, I’d rather the engineers do things right rather than take shortcuts. That’s why we’re in for a 2010 wait anyway.

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AES Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:34 pm

One small observation – few other cars have been designed with this much transparency. If we followed the ups and downs of every car’s development (especially those of the Volt’s competitors) with as much religiosity, GM wouldn’t be the only group looking stupid in some people’s eyes.

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o.jeff@Gmail.com Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:36 pm

Toyota announced Sunday night it intends to offer a leased plug-in hybrid “by 2010″ to fleet customers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/business/14plug.html

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David L Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:40 pm

As (yet another) software developer I want to add that as GM *must* deliver a “winning product” with the Volt – they need to take the time to get the software perfected. If their are any bugs in the software (even though it could be updated with a quick visit to the dealer) – the launch would be a failure …

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Dave B Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:46 pm

OJeff @ 16, that is one heck of an announcement by Toyota…game on.

Although I hate that GM is talking delay and seems now to be focusing on E85 (which is a total joke and NO SOLUTION to our addiction to oil as it is), a delay is not surprising.

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Anti-Oil Jihadi Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

“We would like to take the automobile out of the firing line for being involved in everything from global warming to funding terrorism.”

Oh, I bow before Allah!
I knew I could count on an older, experienced businessman, who’s probably a conservative Republican, to see the light!

DEATH TO OIL!

http://www.oiljihad.org

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Estero Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 10:38 pm

Those who believe a 2-month delay in the start of mule testing is part of a grand conspiracy with the oil companies really need to get a life!

I am a retired software programmer, software designer and project manager. 30+ years ago, for example, I was involved with the development of Ethernet, the basic protocol used today in wireless communications, the internet, etc.

Anyone who has ever been involved in product development and testing, whether it is software or otherwise, know full well delays do happen in spite of everyone’s best efforts. To suggest otherwise really shows your ignorance!

It is time to get off this GM bashing bandwagon and start doing something more productive!

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Kyle Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 10:47 pm

Lyle,

Are these the last generation Malibu e-flex drive train mules or the full pre-production mules?

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Dan Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 10:58 pm

This is disappointing. GM is in a race with Toyota to come up with the plug-in by 2010. Toyota now says it will come out with their plug-in at the same time: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aCHIecOjRDRs&refer=japan

If GM wants to retake the technological lead, there is no longer opportunity for delay. I’m sure GM’s engineers are working hard, but for the next two years they’ve got to give their life to the Volt, lest Toyota wins again.

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Marty McFly Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 11:23 pm

If you’ve ever worked with contractors, you’ll know delays are always inevitable. Parts deliveries are usually delayed and when they do show, they’re not to spec.

Perfection takes time.

I wouldn’t expect to see the Volt on the streets until mid 2011.

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bruce g Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 11:42 pm

A cynic may think that eflex is a bluff on GM’s part. They take a nominal position in every aspect of a rapidly changing and unpredictable energy future and then kill time ..
Meanwhile carry on doing what makes them comfortable, sell technical innovation like cars that drive you to work.

Cant be true..

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Jon P. Says:
January 13th, 2008 at 11:53 pm

“Toyota announced Sunday night it intends to offer a leased plug-in hybrid “by 2010″ to fleet customers.”

That is horrible news, GM has to get this car out 1st. Not only do they have to get it out first its got to be better than any Toyota rice burner. Not only to fleet customers but to the general public. America needs this, Detroit needs this. We gotta get away from foreign oil, and take back one of our oldest industries all in one move.

Lutz it’s now or never, with the irony of fuel economy as the crushing blow.

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lylel Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 12:03 am

I also work in the software industy and know prototype systems can be worked up fairly quickly. The devil is in the details and there’s 2 years 9 months yet for dealing with that.. We’re talking mules. Hacked up malibus. I’m not expecting perfection, it’s not needed at this point in time. The test mules are internal test vehicles that we will never own. What is needed is a transport system that houses the batteries and electric drive (already developed and in use in fuel cell cars) with prototype software that will be fleshed out and debugged for the next 2 years and 9 more months. Prototype systems need to be moving and harnessed for data collection. Wouldn’t you think the hacked up malibus would have a dataport wireless or physical to flash new software hourly if needed.

On another thought, I’d feel better if Lyle Dennis was shown a laboratory where an open e-flex chassis is mounted on a dynamometer. Now that would be a good initial test bed for the software. Put the batteries, ICE, inverters, controllers, and software through it’s paces. Run it through the city cycle, highway cycle, spin dry cycle… I think skeletal software operation would be sufficient at this point in time. The preening of the software comes later. All the hideous bugs should be well gone by Nov. 2010.

As others have mentioned the clock is ticking, there are more opportunities for parallel development if they are really serious.

GM is a huge company with major resources.

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Mark Bartosik Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 12:21 am

RE Slip: Even if the mules slip by 2 months it does not necessarily mean that the whole program slips by two months.

RE AFS Trinity Energy Corp
Using ultra capacitors as well as batteries. That does seem like some obvious engineering, indeed we’ve discussed it here before. I wonder what their patents are like, unfortunately the bar that the patent office applies for “not obvious to a reasonably skill practitioner” is rather low. I suspect that it is more important for larger mass vehicles than the Volt. But it is of course the larger mass vehicles that the American public loves. It is all an engineering trade off. Maybe if the Volt had ultra capacitors too then it could handle 0-60 in maybe 5 seconds, or alternatively get an extra year of life from the battery. But that would add complexity and risk to on schedule delivery.

By using ultra capacitors and a battery the restriction becomes mostly aerodynamics. The larger vehicle has greater drag and rolling resistance. Mass becomes far less of an issue since the energy used to accelerate is recouped with deceleration. Indeed the moving mass could be considered an energy store, like a fly-wheel. It is all about aerodynamics. Get the aerodynamics slippery and you can use a more affordable and smaller battery.

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Stan Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 12:35 am

GM is surely to fail and Toyota is surely to lead again, one has to wonder if GM can survive for another two more years. Let’s brace the fact that Toyota will be the No.1 auto company “in the USA” and become an American pride while GM/Ford/Chrysler is becoming jokes and not really should be taken as American. America means success and only those who can win should be called American!

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AES Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 12:57 am

Stan-

Considering that Toyota’s North American profits get funneled out of the US and into foreign bank accounts, they’re unlikely to become an American pride anytime soon.

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AES Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:08 am

One point that may have been overlooked-

If the mules are built and are being tested, that implies that the electric drivetrains are fully operational, as are at least a basic version of the range extender.

Now, those mules can’t have been put together for testing the lithium ion packs without a few road tests. No point testing a lithium ion pack with a defective powertrain mule.

So the basic road tests of the mules had to have used some sort of battery – such as a basic, lower-tech NiMH pack. Which is exactly the point of development where Toyota is – and they’re trying to milk those pathetic journalist demonstrations for all their worth.

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Stan Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:08 am

[quote comment="26959"]Stan-

Considering that Toyota’s North American profits get funneled out of the US and into foreign bank accounts, they’re unlikely to become an American pride anytime soon.[/quote]

Who cares about their profits’ destination, so long people are happy by working at Toyota (instead of Detroit three) and so long Toyota hires more Americans than Ford (directly, indriectly), Toyota is an American company, if you work for GM, Ford, you worry everyday you may lose job, not so with Toyota. Just look at GM.Ford, Chrysler, they are only interested in SUV, PERIOD. Their shortsightness will eventually send them to trash bin. Sad for those who work there. BTW, 80% in Silicon Valley buy Toyota, Honda or Germany cars.

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AES Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:39 am

Stan-

A large part of why Toyota has success hiring people versus the Detroit 3 is because of differential relationships with the labor unions. If Toyota were forced to play by the same labor standards as Detroit automakers, it would be a very different ballgame.

There’s also cultural bias towards domestic vs. import depending on where you live – and some of that (though not all) is largely unfounded on quality realities.

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Stan Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:44 am

BTW, I used to work for GM and Chrysler, they are horrible place to work and management always overlook people’s opinions. Now I am a 45 year old man retiring in Eastern Ohio with my severance package from GM, about $350,000 and I had to sell my two homes in Farmington Hill in order to retire. Fortunatelly I got out of my properties before it went bust in Michigan (One of the home dropped $250K in 4 month). Lots of my friends at GM, and Ford are worried all the times.
I will never buy an American car, ever!!!!

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Stan Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:46 am

There’s also cultural bias towards domestic vs. import depending on where you live – and some of that (though not all) is largely unfounded on quality realities.[/quote]

How do you explain even people working at the Detroit Three facilities joke that only the cars made on Wednesday by Detroit three is worth buying?

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Stan Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 2:01 am

AES:

My real name is not Stan, I did this to avoid being detected by GM guys here. I used to be involved in the EV1 program, one thing I could tell you that the termination of EV1 by GM is well planned, reasons:
1). EV1 is losing money and can’t be profitable in 5 years.
2). Gas price was low and Texaco paid extra to GM in order to get the NiMH battery tech so big oil can stop anyone from using it in order to protect profit (Trade group API negotiated with GM).
3). GM knew Panasonic was infringing NiMH patent, but kept quite so Japanese can continue to work on NiMH, only to sue them when the NiMH is on the market.
4). GM chosen to use batteries made by Ovonics because their manufacturing sucks.
5). Toyota told GM that they can make EV with 150,000 miles and expect to be profitable in 5 years, but GM asked Chevron (new owner of NiMH patent) to sue Toyota and only then Toyota choose to make Prius and paid heavily to Chevron fir the right to use NiMH in prius.

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butters Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 2:32 am

I really don’t see the point of adding an ultracap to the mix. The Volt’s cells should be capable of 10C discharge, which is 160KW for a 16KWh pack. The motor can handle 140KW, so the pack can provide enough power. All the ultracap would do is require a DC-DC converter and its associated efficiency loss. If the AFS Trinity uses cobalt cells with a lower C-rate, than it makes sense to include an ultracap.

As for the software, the devil is in the details. For example, in a conventional car, when you release the brakes from a dead stop on a flat surface, the car rolls slowly forward (or backward if you’re in reverse). That comes naturally for most cars, but if drivers expect the Volt to behave similarly, it will have to be programmed to do so.

I took an embedded systems course in college where we wrote control software for an elevator. It seems simple, but as you work out the possible sequences and state transition diagrams, it quickly becomes surprisingly complicated. That was really the point of the course, that systems are more complex than they seem.

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Nick Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 3:54 am

The Toyota announcement is hype. The electric range is SEVEN miles and they will only lease to commercial fleets. IE, you won’t be able to buy one and wouldn’t want to, anyway.

GM is developing a plug-in VUE with about 10 mile range for release perhaps as early as 2009. So even with some slippage on that date, GM is in good shape re being the first to mass produce plug-ins for consumers.

Since Toyota is resorting to vaporware even in 2010, we can assume that the odds of having a higher electric-range offering by 2011 are very low. So, GM still looks good to beat them with truely game-changing electric range.

All that said, the good news is that plug-ins are coming.

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Dave G Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 7:48 am

[quote comment="26972"]I took an embedded systems course in college where we wrote control software for an elevator. It seems simple, but as you work out the possible sequences and state transition diagrams, it quickly becomes surprisingly complicated. That was really the point of the course, that systems are more complex than they seem.[/quote]
I did embedded sofware design for 7 years before moving on to systems. It is more complicated that it first appears, but it is also usually possible to code 95% of the software and test 50% or more without any hardware.

Denise Gray says here:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/01/10/autobloggreen-qanda-the-latest-on-volt-batteries-with-denise-grey/
“Yes, we are running this fast as possible. We got a number of different swim lanes all in parallel,”
I hope this applies to the embedded software as well.

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Van Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 9:14 am

Slippage is slippage. We all read the reports that A123/Conti had not slipped, but now the report says it slipped. Second, the LG pack arrived on time, but testing has gone slower than expected. Slippage on both fronts.

Yes, it would be nice to know if the mule with the battery storage area pictured and shown to Lyle, when he visited the Lab, had a prototype gen-set, or just something ginned up to test the battery.

On the Saturn Vue front, we now see the PHEV version will start production in 2010, so the Vue looks like it will hit the market 6 months to a year before the Volt.

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OhmExcited Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 9:59 am

It’s inexcusable that Bob Lutz would throw down the gauntlet to Toyota and talk about someone having egg on their face by Easter, only to unceremoniously announce a further 2 month delay.

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Eco Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:44 pm

Bob, get a clue.

[clipped from LA times story]

“Asked what he would tell people unhappy that they can’t get their hands on a Volt, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said: “That’s too bad. They’ll have to visit a Chevy dealership and buy a Cobalt or a Malibu.”

Not in a million years Bob. I have owned 2 GM cars and will not buy another GM uses fundamentally different technology that will not impoverish me to keep it running. It’s the Volt that reduces my total operating cost, or a Honda/Toyota/Nissan.

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Bob Lutz has egg on his face: drivable Volt in June » Hybrid News Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Auto News: Car Reviews, Car News, Car Shows » Blog Archive » Bob Lutz has egg on his face: drivable Volt in June Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Bob Lutz has egg on his face: drivable Volt in June | Blog with finance,travel,automotive and medical infos. Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Winding Road » Archive » Lutz says Volt Mule by June Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
kert Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 5:29 pm

How come so many people think its only Toyota vs. GM ? Other major carmakers are in it too, at least the japanese. In case you STILL havent noticed, they do have prototype plug-in vehicles running on lithium battery packs, and have had them for quite a while. And are planning to launch before GM.

As for Bob Lutz .. of course development programs slip, there are always unknowns and gotchas, even if you have your managerial reserves and cover all possible bases. But thats PRECISELY why you dont go around shooting your mouth off with stupid comments like his “egg on a face”.

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noel park Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 6:29 pm

kert, #46:

Plus Chinese, if you believe the post above.

I try my best to be philosophical, and not to get too excited about these various schedule slippages and glitches.

Either GM is going to get this done and get a new lease on life before they disappear, or they aren’t. I am saving my money to jump on the Volt, if it ever appears, because I much prefer the former. If not, I want to feel like I tried to be part of the solution anyway.

It’s kind of like a cross between a Harvard Business School case study and a soap opera.

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AES Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

A thought occurs: the “egg on the face” bet arose because Toy said that GM’s thermally-stable, high energy batteries were non-existent and theoretical. It wasn’t really supposed to be a “drivable volt by april” kind of bet.

In the case of the former, as reported by Lyle, Toy already has egg on their face.

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Guy Incognito Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 9:22 pm

[quote comment="26868"]Bob Lutz Says Driveable Chevy Volt Mules in June, not Easter.[/quote]
Hey Bob, have you seen what the Chinese are up to?

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Joe Says:
January 15th, 2008 at 6:29 am

Yea, there are others who are working on electrics. They are just trying to steal some of the thunder GM is getting. Will the media pick on them if they don’t produce? Of course not, GM is the bad bad company and for the others, it’s ok for them to lie. Wake up American and be a little patriotic!!!

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Joe Says:
January 15th, 2008 at 8:23 am

#44 get your facts straight. Lutz never said a drivable Volt would be ready for Easter. He said a mule would be ready for Easter. So what if the battery pack has been delayed a couple of months. What’s the big deal about that. I guess you don’t understand how manufacturing works. A goal is set and sometime delays happens and sometime goals are reach early. The bottom line is, all and all, GM is on track.

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kert Says:
January 15th, 2008 at 9:32 am

>>Yea, there are others who are working on electrics. They are just trying to steal some of the thunder GM is getting.

In case you havent noticed, some “others” have had long running electrics research and prototype programs way before GM came up with Volt, or even when EV1 was hot.
The thing is, they dont go around shooting their mouths off about these, and deliver a product when they feel its ready. Which, by current estimates just happens to be two years before GM gets there.

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Kevin R Says:
January 15th, 2008 at 10:40 am

[clipped from LA times story]

“Asked what he would tell people unhappy that they can’t get their hands on a Volt, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said: “That’s too bad. They’ll have to visit a Chevy dealership and buy a Cobalt or a Malibu.”

There is no way I would turn to a traditional engine powered car again. I’ve said it several times and I’ll say it again.

When my 2000 Pontiac Bonneville dies (162,000 and going strong) which I estimate to be 2009-2010, I will be purchasing an electric vehicle and none other. If the Volt is ready, I’m buying that as I prefer the Volt. But if it’s not, I’m going with whatever other company has one out at that time. That would be too bad too, as I want to support GM but I’m not going to be a slave to the oil company’s, nor continue to support it’s infrastructure.

I’m finished after this car whether GM is ready or not. Enough said!!

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Jack Says:
January 15th, 2008 at 11:36 am

#52 Where are all these electric cars that came out before the Volt today? Maybe they are not shooting their mouth because they don’t have anything worthwhile to shoot their mouth about.
.pkm,j098uy7

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kert Says:
January 15th, 2008 at 11:54 am

::Where are all these electric cars that came out before the Volt today?

In Tokyo and London, mostly.

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Dave G Says:
January 17th, 2008 at 11:16 am

[quote]When my 2000 Pontiac Bonneville dies (162,000 and going strong) which I estimate to be 2009-2010, I will be purchasing an electric vehicle and none other. If the Volt is ready, I’m buying that as I prefer the Volt. But if it’s not, I’m going with whatever other company has one out at that time. [/quote]
Ditto.

(Quote)
Lutz says Volt Mule by June | 6autos.com Says:
April 15th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Lutz says Volt Mule by June | 6Autos.com Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

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