Archive for January, 2008
GM Announces Cellulosic Ethanol Production Breakthrough by New Partner, Coskata Inc.
Corn can be converted into ethanol, but yields only about a 30% increase in energy over what is put in and of course requires food crop to make it. Being able to use other sources of carbon such as biomass or switchgrass is important if ethanol use in the U.S. is to become widespread.
Making [...]
Popularity: 3%
Chevy Volt at the GM Style Event
This is the second year GM hosted an exclusive and decadent event they call GM style, which took place tonight on the eve of the Detroit Auto Show’s first press day.
The event showcases GM’s vehicles as they shared a special stage with famed performers Mary J. Blige, Kid Rock, and Maroon Five. International media [...]
Popularity: 2%
GM-Volt Exclusive: Inside the GM Chevy Volt/E-Flex Battery Lab
Lance Turner is the electrical engineer who runs the day to day operations of GM’s advanced battery lab. He reports to Denise Gray who is GMs advanced battery director. While in Detroit for the impending auto show I was graciously allowed to meet Lance and tour the lab where the Chevy [...]
Popularity: 4%
Chevy Volt to Have 50/50 Weight Distribution
One question people have asked about the Chevy Volt is what will the weight distribution of the production version be.
In an article in Autoobserver, Jon Lauckner, GM VP of technology tells the author:
“…although the addition of hundreds of pounds of batteries typically would be a detriment to any vehicle’s dynamics, because of their placement roughly [...]
Popularity: 2%
Latest Battery Pack Q & A with Denise Gray, GM’s Battery Director
Sam Abuelsamid of Autobloggreen went to Las Vegas for CES and had a chance to chat with Denise Gray about the latest developments of the Chevy Volt battery packs.
Key points:
-they’re still confirming the behavior of the first two CPI packs, but they appear to be conforming to predictions.-packs are still evolving and haven’t reached [...]
Popularity: 3%
Lockheed Martin Signs Agreement with EEStor
Mostly, we talk about the Volt here, but relevant and related topics are often worth discussing.
We have previously discussed a secretive Texas company called EEStor, who are reported to be working on a new type of ultracapacitor that can hold 10x the energy in 1/10th the weight of typical batteries, at a fraction of the [...]
Popularity: 9%
Do you want your Volt to Drive itself?
Besides displaying the Cadillac Provoq, GM CEO Rick Wagoner also discussed GMs future plans for vehicle to vehicle (V2V) technology in his speech as the Consumer Electronics Show.
Using their built in GM OnStar communications system as a starting point, cars could eventually be programmed to communicate with one another, GPS, and the road such that [...]
Popularity: 2%
GM CEO Rick Wagoner Now Says 2010 a “Stretch” for Chevy Volt Production but he is Optimistic
picture from autoblog
In the year I’ve been writing this blog, never has there been quite so much word-mincing and media attention to production date as has occurred since I first asked GM CEO Rick Wagoner in an online chat how confident he was the Volt would be released in 2010. As you know, his [...]
Popularity: 3%
Cadillac Provoq Fuel Cell E-Flex Concept
The Chevy Volt’s upscale cousin has been born.
GM has just revealed the Cadillac Provoq, a 4 door crossover concept, which uses the E-Flex platform with a hydrogen fuel-cell range extender.
It runs on GM’s svelte 5th-generation hydrogen fuel cell stack married to an E-Flex propulsion system, which is the all-electric powertrain powered by a large rechargeable [...]
Popularity: 6%
GM to Unveil Cadillac Provoq Concept
GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner will be speaking tomorrow at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). We hear than among other things he will say, he will be introducing a new Cadillac concept called the Provoq.
We don’t know much about the car except that it will offer petroleum-free driving. Will it be an E-Flex variant, [...]
Popularity: 2%
Did GM CEO Rick Wagoner Really Change Anything about the Volt’s Release Date?
Last week I asked Rick Wagoner, GM’s CEO if he was confident the Volt would be released in 2010. He responded that it would be great, but that he couldn’t guarantee it. That remark prompted a flurry of news reports suggesting GM might be balking on their original plans for release. Here [...]
Popularity: 3%
We’re Getting Closer…Introducing the 2-Mode Hybrid Saturn VUE
GM has decided to release some details about a car they are showing at the Detroit Auto Show starting next weekend when press days begin (I will be there folks). It is their new 2-Mode Hybrid Saturn VUE.
GM has previously built 2-mode hybrid Tahoes and Yukons, which are just becoming available at dealerships. [...]
Popularity: 3%
Recent Posts
- Summary of Thursday’s Senate Hearing: Automakers Fight to Survive
- VIDEO: GM’s CEO Arrives to Capitol Hill in Chevy Volt Prototype, Senate Hearings Underway
- GM CEO Will Drive Volt Mule Inside Washington DC Today, UAW Agrees to Drop Job Bank
- GM: Out of Time, Out of Money, Out of Options
- GM Submits Long-Term Viability Plan to Congress: $18 Billion Needed
- Detroit 3 Viability Plans Go To Congress Today: GM’s CEO Will Drive to DC in Hybrid Malibu
- GM-Volt Exclusive: Bob Lutz Details Volt Mule Energy Use in Highway Driving
- GM’s Canceled LA Auto Show Conference: Was it Going to be the Volt Battery Contract Announcement?
- Flextreme Concept Wins Prestigious Design Award, Still Not Production Intent
- What Would Happen to the Chevy Volt if GM Failed?
