Archive for February, 2008
More Details on Pricing the Volt
Recently we heard a statement from Dee Allen of GM about the Volt costing around $35,000. Since it’s of tremendous interest and importance, I decided to look into this in more detail. I managed to catch up with Mr. Allen who it turns out is GMs spokesperson on global product and brands, and [...]
Popularity: 28%
House Passes Energy Bill: Would Take Money from Big Oil to Give Plug-in Car Tax Credits
We have heard that the Chevy Volt could come with a roughly $5000 price premium to early adopters due to the costs of the lithium-ion battery and specialized low-power accessories.
An option that worked for early Prius adopters is the possibility of a U.S.government tax credit to people buying Volts. This could help offset cost [...]
Popularity: 25%
Chevron Has Nothing to do with the Volt
I have just received official confirmation from GM that Chevron/Cobasys has nothing to do with the Chevy Volt, the source article of the last post was incorrect in that assertion.
Popularity: 21%
Popularity: 21%
Chevron and the Chevy Volt?
The Car Connection just broke a story that the battery supplier Cobasys, which makes the nickel-metal hydride cells for GM’s hybrid Aura, Malibu, and VUEs is in deep financial trouble. Cobasys is co-controlled by oil giant Chevron, who is apparently in a financial dispute with the other co-controlling company, EDC.
The article goes on [...]
Popularity: 23%
Will Mass Use of Plug-in Cars Increase Air Pollution?
We have reviewed and discussed the EPRI study which suggested mass-adoption of electric cars can be handled by the power grid, will result in net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and dramatically reduce U.S. petroleum consumption.
A more recent study by GM suggests E-REV use will reduce tailpipe emissions by 80%.
In the USA Today, two studies [...]
Popularity: 24%
Lithium-ion Battery Separators
In discussing the Volt, we are often concerned with the working of the lithium-ion battery. Still not-yet-ready for prime-time, these types of batteries a great for cars because they can hold a lot of power and energy in a small size and weight.
The batteries work as electrons (electricity) flow between the anode (usually graphite [...]
Popularity: 27%
Profile: The Man in Charge of the Chevy Volt - Frank Weber
As you may now by now from my numerous interviews with him on the site, Frank Weber is the Chevy Volt’s vehicle line director. He is profiled by the Detroit Free Press.
He is described as a health-conscious musician with a penchant for tinkering and independent thinking. The German native is described analogously as [...]
Popularity: 24%
About 10,000 Volts will be Produced in the First Year
There have been discussions about how many Volts GM plans to produce at first. We have heard before that as many as 60,000 could be built and more recently that tens of thousands were intended to be built.
In a recently published article by the Globe and Mail, GM vice-chair Bob Lutz gave a much [...]
Popularity: 26%
Does GM Need Toyota to Make the Volt More Affordable??
Motor Trend published a report summarizing some of the presentations at the Society of Automotive Engineers Hybrid Symposium in San Diego last week.
One of these was by a Dr. Menahem Anderman of Advanced Automotive Batteries, which gave a “cold-eyed view” on PHEVs. His report concluded that GM won’t be able to make the Volt [...]
Popularity: 30%
Bob Lutz Reponds on the Recent Crock of Global Warming Comments
We discussed a few days ago, along with several other major blogs, Bob Lutz’ comment about global warming, where he had called it “a crock of s–t”. Apparently the GM vice-chair was quite amazed about how that took off on the blogosphere.
He has now responded on his own blog, and makes the point that [...]
Popularity: 27%
Bob Lutz: “The Road Ahead”
GM’s outspoken Vice-Chairman, and father of the Volt wrote an opinion piece for the Feb 25th edition of Newsweek entitled “The Road Ahead.”
His task was to predict the future automotive landscape and writes that it will be “markedly different than today”.
First he predicts some change in “proportion”, cars will be smaller, but feels that those [...]
Popularity: 28%
Volt Hurdles Other than the Battery
Most GM executives involved in the Volt program say the battery is the major stumbling block to development. Other new low-power components have to be made for the car in order to allow the 40 mile range, but these are mostly minor engineering tasks.
Normal cars have tremendous supplies of energy for the accessories to [...]
Popularity: 30%
Recent Posts
- Update: EnerDel’s Chairman on the Cost of the Th!nk Lithium-ion Battery Pack
- GM Marching to a New Beat: Expect Mutiple Volt Versions
- Exclusive: Interview With EnerDel Chairman Charles Gassenheimer
- Wall Street Journal Opinion - Chevy Volt Just a Political Tool
- GM on June Sales: Asia Doesn’t Have a Monopoly on Fuel-Efficient Vehicles
- Artist’s Estimation of the Production Chevy Volt
- Should GM Skip the Volt and Just Make More Efficient Gas Cars?
- Continental Says Chances Good of Getting Volt Battery Contract
- Lutz Explains Why the EV-1 Can’t Simply Be Reintroduced
- Ford Calls the Chevy Volt a Hail Mary Play
