Tesla Motorcars as you may be aware, is on the verge of producing a fully electric car with over 200 miles of EV range, called the roadster. The company’s founder was Martin Eberhard who has subsequently left the company. Whether he’s disgruntled or not isn’t for me to say, nor frankly to care about much either, but his is an important voice in the world of EVs’. He has published his thoughts about the Chevy Volt on his new personal blog.
In summary, he noted that Bob Lutz told him GM was producing the car in response to Tesla. He also agrees that the Volt program is real, and a good thing for this country. As well he feels that the extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) concept is good because the generator is much cheaper than another 100 miles of range worth of batteries, and may allow GM to produce a car many may be able to afford.
So now GM’s Volt has Eberhard’s blessing.
You can read his blog here.
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Public Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Jan 20th, 2008 (8:21 am)I stumbled across Eberhard’s comments on his new blog early this week after he’d left a short post just below one I’d left for Bob Lutz (at http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2008/01/happy_birthday.html) on Jan 14. Martin’s comment to Bob there was simply,
“Bob,
If you pull off the Volt program reasonably on schedule and at projected prices, GM may just eat Toyota’s lunch. It will be about time – good luck!”
I don’t know Martin, but it’s obvious he’s a smart, nerdy guy (reminds me of the guys I’ve bumped elbows with for decades at NASA). His comments on his own new blog that Lyle gives the link for above are well worth reading!
Jan 20th, 2008 (8:46 am)PS: WNBC did an excellent Martin Eberhard stand-up interview while he was still CEO at Tesla. The audio & video are superb and it covers a wide range of EV-related issues in ~18 minutes. I heartily recommend having a look:
http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=70885
Jan 20th, 2008 (9:12 am)Lyle and nasaman,
Great article and great links.
I really wnat to see the Volt and other GM electrics.
Jan 20th, 2008 (10:02 am)“(E-REV) concept is good because the generator is much cheaper than another 100 miles of range worth of batteries, and may allow GM to produce a car many may be able to afford.”
Points: (1) The higher the price, the less important the vehicle. (2) Better to have an affordable vehicle ($25K) with a 20-mile electric range than an unafordable one with a 40 mile range.
Jan 20th, 2008 (2:29 pm)Tim,
Here – here.
Jan 20th, 2008 (2:43 pm)Well. THAT’S the smartest thing Eberhard ever said (I’ll resist the obvious comment).
For all the talk about the Tesla, I don’t think there will be another car produced that will have as little effect on the planet as it will, assuming it ever gets on the street. Fisker has one-upped the Tesla
and will produce a bona fide Hi-Po practical (for the price) car that, by all rights, every would-be buyer of the Tesla should be rushing to buy, especially since a lot of those in Tesla’s short line were buddies of Eberhard and should no longer feel bound by loyalty considerations.
Jan 20th, 2008 (5:22 pm)kent, #6: You couldn’t possibly be more wrong. Tesla has singlehandedly disillusioned the public of the idea that electric cars can only be glorified golf carts. There is speculation that Tesla was the initial inspiration for the Volt project. If we are all driving electric cars in 30 years, I think it will be in large part due to Tesla, even if they never deliver a single vehicle to a customer.
Jan 20th, 2008 (6:03 pm)“…Bob Lutz told him GM was producing the car in response to Tesla.”
If thats the case, what was GM’s response to the Prius?
Jan 20th, 2008 (6:26 pm)“If thats the case, what was GM’s response to the Prius?”
Obviously, this.
Jan 20th, 2008 (6:50 pm)drivin98 is just being mean, correct but also mean.
GM talks the talk while they build giant SUVs and try to change our addiction from petro to their new investment, ethanol which is a stop-gap to their final goal which is to addict us to H2.
I’m beginning to believe that the volt is a red harring to shut us up while they promote E-85. I really would like to be very wrong on this one, but I smell fish.
Jan 20th, 2008 (9:40 pm)Nasaman, thanks for the link. I hadn’t seen that before and found it very interesting.
I believe, as Tom #7 does, that Tesla really put electric cars on the map and on our minds.
I’m sorry that Mr. Eberhard is out of Tesla at the moment. Although I will never be able to afford this car, I hope his dream becomes a reality soon.
Jan 20th, 2008 (10:17 pm)GUYS!! HELLO, you obviously have forgotten about GM’s EV-1 about ten years ago. They DID build an electric car, but wouldn’t let their customers buy the car — only lease them! THEN, when the lease was up, GM told them they had to give the car back. The car owners LOVED their cars and said they wanted to BUY them. Guess what? GM REFUSED to let their customers BUY the car. (What company refuses products to customers!?!) GM made them turn in their vehicles and then CRUSHED EVERY SINGLE EV-1 even though they were still in great working order!
Rent “WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR” today and find out the truth!
Jan 20th, 2008 (11:15 pm)<>
Seems to me this is exactly what Toyota is shooting for with their PHEV Prius. Their existing NIMH packs run in tandem apparently only provide about a 7-mile all-e range, but
I’m sure Toyota is probably looking to at least double that range with the new lithium packs being developed at Panasonic EV. 10-15 miles would give the average driver enough range to do around town errands and local commuting with little or no petrol, possibly at under or around a $28-30K sticker price. A lot of this is conjecture on my part based on various statements Toyota has made in the past re the market viability of PHEVs–namely that they are a no-go unless they can be produced at a price that a mainstream consumer won’t balk at. Their latest (modest) price cuts on the Prius and Camry hybrid only reinforce how strongly they believe in keeping this technology withing the reach of your average joe/jane. Personally I find this
approach both savvy and shrewd (as well as commendable), and I have no doubt GM will look to copy their strategy in pricing the Volt.
Jan 20th, 2008 (11:27 pm)I suggest “imperfect solution” for the next Volt bumper sticker.
Jan 20th, 2008 (11:29 pm)Nice to see Martin’s validation of what GM is doing.
@ Charlene…give me a break, no one has forgotten the EV-1. It is mentioned in almost every post here. *sigh*
Jan 21st, 2008 (6:18 am)What people HAVE forgotten about EV1 is that there was a series hybrid prototype with four seats and 40mile electric range, very similar to Volt in principle. Somehow GM doesnt like to mention it much these days.
Jan 21st, 2008 (7:54 am)Charlene, I will rent “Who Killed the Electric Car” when you go rent an economics book (or start your own business).
If I were king (wait for the irony), I would not let people vote unless they had studied both Macro and Micro Economics.
Jan 21st, 2008 (7:55 am)That said, I hope this silences all the critics.
Jan 22nd, 2008 (12:06 pm)# Tim Says:
January 20th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
“GM talks the talk while they build giant SUVs and try to change our addiction from petro to their new investment, ethanol which is a stop-gap to their final goal which is to addict us to H2.
I’m beginning to believe that the volt is a red harring to shut us up while they promote E-85. I really would like to be very wrong on this one, but I smell fish.”
***** ***** ***** ****
Anything is possible. The distrust of GM is unfortunately warranted. One thing to remember is that GM forced no one at gunpoint to buy those Huge SUVs. Toyota, Honda etc would make as many as they could possibly sell, they just don’t happen to be as good at it as GM. I’m sure that GM wishes it didn’t have the UAW and a competitive labor disadvantage that would make them more competitive at the smaller vehicle end.
I don’t see any distrust vis-a-vis E85, because we’re not going to go all electric overnight. Fool sells are another issue, and while he won’t outright trash them Lutz did put them dead last in an interview I read.
I believe that GM has about 1 chance to get this right, and they know it.
Jan 29th, 2008 (12:33 pm)Hit the mark, GM makes history!!!!The peoples champion!!!!!!! Miss the mark,(overpriced cobalt ev with fancy bodywork) Maybe TOJO’s hiring???? your ball general!!
Jan 30th, 2008 (1:35 am)Come on guys, I think people are putting too much faith in the mocumentary “Who killed the electric car?” Yes, it’s possible that GM could have continued to produce the EV1, but they would have taken an annual loss on it every year. Selling cars is about marketability, and nothing else. Honda just dropped the insight….why? It was THE most fuel efficient mass produced car in the country (70+ mpg over the prius’s 50+). They didn’t “kill” it guys…WE did, by not buying it. Are we supposed to believe that GM would intentionally NOT sell something that could, as many followers of mocumentaries propose, make them hundreds of millions of dollars?? The fact is, the EV1 program was dropped because GM couldn’t make a profit off of it, just like Honda dropped the Insight because they couldn’t make a profit off of it.
We have to stop blaming car companies guys…GM sells SUVS, but so does Toyota, and every other car company out there. They sell what people buy. If Americans had shown an interest in more fuel efficient cars 50 years ago, that’s what they would have given us, but in most surveys, Americans (present company excluded obviously) still choose more horsepower over more fuel efficiency.
Everyone has to remember, there is NO such thing as an earth friendly car company. Even the electric cars need batteries, which are built in battery factories, which pollute….a great deal. Every car company on the planet has the EXACT same goal….SELL MORE CARS.
Aug 14th, 2008 (2:51 am)GM didn’t start the volt project until it saw that high gas prices were killing its big moneymakers, the SUVs, the 4 wheel drive pickups, the HUMMERs.
GM killed the electric car because it didn’t want California to force it to make no-emission vehicles when huge profits could be made on gas guzzling HUMMERs. (It bought HUMMER the year it killed the electric car.)
GM made it’s choice 10 years ago. It bet on big gas guzzlers. It may be too late to change its mind.
Feb 23rd, 2009 (6:19 pm)A little bit of reality…
First of all I confess, I am part of the problem.
- I own an SUV and it wasn’t made in Detroit. (Land Rover Discovery)
- I own a small car made in Japan (Subaru Impreza)
However I also have a car made in the US (Chevy Malibu)
Although NONE of these cars make the green list I am here and for the first time I see the possibility of an electric car that could work for me.
First of all the truck really only pulls my camper and otherwise is parked a lot so really doesn’t use very much gas at all. I commute in the Chevy and my wife in the Subaru.
The reasons I have never considered electrics until now are simple but completely underscores Martin’s support of the Volt.
Point 1, Although either of our (to the office) commutes is well within the range of an electric, the “one-off” days over 60 km (40 miles) of driving happen in my world at least 3 times a week.
Point 2, It’s Minus 10c today here in Calgary, I can’t help but think that running a heater is going to affect driving distance.
Point 3, There is simply no way in hell I can afford a $100k USD car. So the Tesla which would likely have the range I need (And although I’m a huge Lotus fan) is out. As well a two seater car would simply not get used as we are driving kids to activities all over the place.
My average driving each year is closer to 40000 km, so an extender in not optional.
This leaves the Volt or the Prius as possible “green” alternatives to our aging mini-fleet of cars. I don’t like the way the Prius looks, so am not interested. In my world an AWD volt would be a winner. I think a FWD one has a very real shot too although once you have had a Subaru in the winter it’s just plain hard to beat.
I don’t think I’m an unusual case, I have life commitments and need to fulfill those. The winning technology is one that is efficient, easy to use and affordable.
The $40k target is very close to what I call good, I do not want a stripped out basic car For the same money I can get a MB C Class with AWD.
I love the technology, I grew up in a Chevy family, and I really do like my old Malibu.
Please Chevrolet don’t screw this up.