Posted by Lyle in: Engineering, GM Q and A, Original GM-Volt Interviews, Production with 37 Comments
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This is the final segment of my interview with Jon Lauckner, GMs VP of global program management, considered Bob Lutz’ first deputy and who has been very involved with the Volt project from day one.
What are the terms of GMs battery contracts with the battery suppliers?
‘A’ we shouldn’t talk about what we’ve agreed with the companies not to talk about, ‘B ‘ lets put it this way, when their is intellectual property generated, nobody’s really anxious to see it just floating around somewhere. Were going to spend a fair amount of talent and treasure developing this battery pack and we aren’t anxious to see everybody and their brother walk in after its all done and say “me too, me too”
Can you anticipate the possibility of working with both teams in the final production vehicles?
Oh sure. I would say we haven’t decided exactly what we are going to do, we are going to let the development results speak for themselves and clearly we’d be delighted if their was room for everybody.
What happens when the car gets to production and there is a huge demand for it, how will GM take care to roll it out to everyone who wants it without creating a price-gouging scenario?
I’ve worked in three regions around the world, and Ive seen the same phenomenon in all these regions, and I don’t think anyone has a completely satisfying process for how to stop that. I mean the fact is that if you look at all of our regular production cars if we were to come out with a new version of the Corvette, in fact we will, we are showing the famous ZR-1 at the Detroit Auto Show. I guarantee you that there will be people waiting in line to get a ZR-1. They will go to dealers and their will be a massive discussion about how the few Zr-1s that will be available right at the first day of production, who’s going to get them and how much are they going to pay for them. Even though its unsatisfying, if you want to be the first guy on the block with something, well most probably you’re probably going to have to pay a little more to do so. And so were going to have to work on that but I think we’ll be very responsible in that regard.
We’ve got some reasonably smart guys who probably have some good ideas about that. I don’t really talk about that, I’m product development, we’ve got our challenges, we’ve got a tight timeline, we know what we have to do.
Besides the battery pack, do you see any other hurdles to production?
I think from a product development standpoint, the battery pack is probably the major challenge.
When do you think you will be able to know with full confidence that production will happen?
In terms of the development process, we have to get through the mule phase completely and then we build integration cars where we bring all of the final designs for all the production systems together. Integration cars come after mule cars. Mule cars are basically just to develop and understand the basic functionality. And we build mule cars not just for battery packs, but we build mule cars when we want to try out a new HVAC system or if we want to try a different kind of steering system or suspension system. Well build a vehicle that basically just has the components in order to feature that area of the car. The rest of the car is just along for the ride. We build mule cars to understand and tests these systems of interest, and understand very well the kinds of changes theyre sensitive to so we can get the design exactly the way we like it. And that essentially a process that works in each and every area of engineering whether its electrical or chassis or the interior area. We get the learnings from the mule cars and we fold all that into a production design. When we have the production design then we build an integration car that basically brings all of those into one car.
Does an integration car look like the final car?
It’s very close to the final car.
How many mules do you think you will need for the Volt?
I don’t know you will have to ask Frank Weber. I’m sure we have a build schedule.
Do you know how long the mule testing phase will take?
I don’t know, some will run longer and other shorter.
Six months?
I wouldn’t be surprised, for some of them. Each mule car has someone its being built for and a particular type of usage that its intended for. So some will be road schedules to run durability tests, and others will be for , static types of things, and others will be turned over to development groups to start developing how everything is going to behave.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:49 am)I was pleased to read this exchange….
“Lyle: Can you anticipate the possibility of working with both teams (i.e., both battery suppliers) in the final production vehicles?
“Answer: Oh sure. I would say we haven’t decided exactly what we are going to do, we are going to let the development results speak for themselves and ***clearly we’d be delighted if there was room for everybody*** (my emphasis)!”
This means that GM hopes BOTH battery suppliers will meet their specs, cost, delivery requirements, etc., and I see this as a vitally important goal because the batteries are the most unique part of the Volt and IMO are likely to become an extremely SCHEDULE-CRITICAL Volt component.
In the recent “Geographic Rollout” thread here, Mark H suggested GM offer Volt customers either an A123 or an LG Chem -based battery — which is very insightful! It seems entirely possible to me that the A123 cells (which employ nanotechnology) might have substantially higher energy density than the more conventional LG Chem cells ….thus Mark’s hunch that the A123 battery could achieve a longer range (say 60 miles) & that it very probably costs more seems like a pretty good guess. I would certainly be willing to pay perhaps $1.5K-2K more for a Volt with a 60mile vs a 40mile battery range, and I suspect others would also.
ALSO, offering EITHER battery as an option (for “40 mi” or “60 mi” gas-free ranges) could help address the distinct possibility that BOTH battery supplier’s full manufacturing capacities may be needed to allow GM to meet the huge market demand for Volts!
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:56 am)Lyle:
Just wanted to let you know, that I’m up here in Ontario, Canada keeping an eye on your volt site. I think you’re doing an excellent job of keeping everyone here up to date on volt relevant happenings – keep up the good work! I log on most days to see the latest, and tell anyone at work who will lend an ear, about what is happening with the car’s development.
I’ve been following on CNN, the coverage of the primaries in your country. I’ve noticed a distinct difference in energy policies between the Republicans and the Democrats. Mainly that the Republicans want to maintain the status quo with oil and war. Wheras, the Dems seem to want a change to renewables. Does anyone here think that this is actually true, or is it just pre-election rhetoric? I’m hoping it’s true, and the Dems get in.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (9:30 am)In re-reading the Lauckner interview I noticed the following exchange….
“Lyle: Besides the battery pack, do you see any other hurdles to production?
“Answer: I think from a product development standpoint, the battery pack is probably the major challenge.”
Lauckner’s response here again underscores the points I make in post 1.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (9:55 am)Canuk @ 2,
You just opened a can of words. I think no party is going to solve the problem. The truth is, the only way change is going to happen is if we (the people that visit this site) are willing to spend our hard-earned dollars on an electric car. We’ve seen republicans and democrats dump billions of dollars into “alternatives” like hydrogen and ethanol that are clearly not going to end our dependence on oil and bring an end to the war.
So to answer your question, the answer is not with politicians although I’d appreciate a tax credit.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (9:59 am)That also explains why Johnson Controls named GM as one of their clients for their battery venture in Europe.
This was a good segment…mules in a few months, and then they advance to the next phase. Seems like by this time next year there will be integration cars they will be trying to hide from photographers (I mean that in a good way)
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Feb 4th, 2008 (10:09 am)Canuk #2, and Dave B, #4
Aaahhh, Which party is the right one? Dems or Reps. I’m with Dave B on this one, but will add this. I don’t believe in any of the rhetoric any of the parties are saying right now. Remember, these politicians will say what they think the people want to hear. They are looking for votes and will promise the world in order to get them. The Dems are indeed talking about renewables, but like the Republicans, most likely won’t deliver. It’s really talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
Dave B is right. If we want real change, we have to do it ourselves.
And that means buying these cars and proving to the automakers that this is what we want, what we will buy, and what we will continue to buy. Politics aside, this is really how capitalism works.
BTW, Easter is only 7 weeks away and counting.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (10:36 am)Dave B/Rashiid
You guys may be right, and I’m definately looking to buy an electric car at my first oportunity, but I’m thinking that the big bully oil companies and thier political friends in the present office are suppressing honest desire for electric drive in automobiles, by coming up with any lame excuse why it won’t work. (ref. EV1 debuacle). To me, it looks like the Dems are the only party that stands a chance of getting in, that will try to give at least a helping hand to the idea of electrifcation of our cars. With electric cars having been recently unjustly demonized by the present establishment, they probably need that governmental helping hand to get off the ground.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (12:03 pm)Canuk,
Not true of the Republicans. All of the Presidental candidates have talked about energy independance and all have different formulas for achieving. At the end of the day, I don’t have faith that any of the candidates will make any significant controbution towards the solution, but rather, companies like GM, Toyota, BP, ect, will end up solving the problem along with American Consumers.
Our government has ignored this issue for 40 years — it’s not going to stop in the next 4 years.
I am being a bit negative. In truth, every American President since Ford has tried to create a national energy policy. It’s a classic issue of each party having a different methodology and failure to find consensus. But at any rate, be clear on this, it is a failure on the part of government, both Democrat and Republican. More specifically, it’s a failure of Congress.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (1:04 pm)Canuk #7
This has been discussed before. This car would definitely be more affordable with Gov’t assistance, and often things like this would never get off the ground w/o it. The EV-1 for example came from a state board mandate. That state was the world’s 5th largest economy.
When you really think about it, the forces in our economy against the Volt are considerable. However, if a huge company has the right mindset and fortitude it can and will be produced.
Again, I’ve got to hand it to GM.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (4:34 pm)Grizzly:
Sorry, I missed the first time this has been discussed. Anyway, I supose you’re right in that the U.S.’s economy/political situation will make it hard for the Volt to succeed (like salmon swimming upstream). So I guess we all have to root for GM to drive this E-FLEX mainstream , and hopefully full BEV’s shortly afterward.
By the way, I just received the March issue of Car&Driver in the mail today. They have a road test of the Tesla Roadster in it.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (5:43 pm)Canuk
Switch to Fox News. Oh, or is that banned in Canada (I think I heard that on Cnn),
Tagamet
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Feb 4th, 2008 (6:50 pm)I sent a letter to my congressman asking him for a $10K tax credit for Volt purchases. I also explained what the Volt is. We’ll see if he cares to respond in other than a form letter.
Now I will try to do the same thing at the State level.
I’ll let you know how far I get.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (7:13 pm)Canuk,
Ooops, sorry …I reread my post and it sounds a little curt. Didn’t mean it that way, just wanted to emphasize that you’ve hit on a point of concern on this board. Got to remember to be more careful when completing a post in a jiffy on my way out the door.
On another note, WRT tax credits and just what kind are currently given (Toyota, Honda …etc) is it any surprise that the Big Three mentioned in an article that the Japanese automakers have a better lobby with our own congress than they do?
How do we change this? The letters are good and I’m going to write my senator, but I wonder if we can’t take this to the press or television if we don’t succeed. I just think it would make for a very interesting story, and certainly with substance.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (7:33 pm)12Grizzly:
Thanks a lot.
It takes a while to succeed with people in DC, if ever. If we can figure out how to take the story to the press, let’s do it now. It will just give more incentive and cover to the politicians to do something.
I can write letters all day, but my track record with the press is pretty weak, if I do say so myself. If anybody has any expertise or suggestions on how best to do it, I’m all ears. Once again, how about GM’s PR operation?
I can just see the headline: “Grassroots plug in hybrid enthusiasts lobby Congress for tax credits.” Maybe it would give the thing some more PR impetus without having GM’s PR/lobbying fingerprints show up quite so strongly.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (7:57 pm)#14 Noel
In the letter show them why they should help you. IE What’s in it for them – good rep, more votes, hold a house meeting at election time if they want. etc. Actually, I quite like the last idea because if they actually come you get to lobby them in person!
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:17 pm)Noel Park wrote”
“Thanks a lot.
It takes a while to succeed with people in DC, if ever. If we can figure out how to take the story to the press, let’s do it now. It will just give more incentive and cover to the politicians to do something.”
*** **** ******
EXACTLY. Letters are great, but unless the issue is on the “burner” they are likely go get a simple response from one of the college interns.
Energy concerns are a huge issue. We can ignite this and make sure these letters are not only recognized, but tracked. Grass roots? You bet.
I’d like to know how many people are interested in voicing their opinions and WANT to be a part of this. This will be the first step.
One of the things about a free society is that we have a willing and able press that is equally free and always looking to break a story, especially one with substance.
Can we do it? I think so….err..no…..more like….WHY DON’T WE??
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:28 pm)Tagamet,
No, Fox News isn’t banned in Canada, but I don’t receive it because I don’t get it in the cable package that I subscribe to. Is it better reporting than CNN?
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:30 pm)People like Felix Kramer and our group at calcars have been lobbying hard for years for plugins. Would we be better served joining their efforts or splintering off to support the “Made in America, by Americans, For Americans” thrust?
I’m up for doing SOMETHING (I’ve been following calcars for a couple years, but I’m in Penna).
Tagamet
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:34 pm)Canuk,
“Better” is one of those “slippery” words (lol). I think they try to be “fair and balanced”, but lean toward the positive side of things. I’m a news junkie, and FOX is the only TV news I watch.
JMO,
Tagamet
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:40 pm)Fox is the propaganda arm of the administration. Stick with CNN.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:44 pm)“Fox is the propaganda arm of the administration. Stick with CNN.”
Lol, spoken like a true lefty. You say tomato, I say tomahto.
Tagamet
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Feb 4th, 2008 (8:55 pm)The Volt is a bridge, isn’t it? Still, news as sensationalistic entertainment is mostly misdirection.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (9:20 pm)Mien #22
“The Volt is a bridge, isn’t it? Still, news as sensationalistic entertainment is mostly misdirection.”
*** **** **** ***** ****
Probably, if they’re the source of their own material. They can be used. Publicity and public awareness are what’s at stake and they’ll do just fine. I’m confident.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (9:37 pm)Fox is the most watched. Fox is the most balanced. IMO (and almost everyone elses.)
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Feb 4th, 2008 (10:01 pm)I enjoy watching the Clinton News Network for my regular dose of Constant Negative News.
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Feb 4th, 2008 (10:09 pm)And to top it off, FOX news has the most beautiful talking heads on TV. And the women announcers are pretty nice too.
Tagamet
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Feb 4th, 2008 (11:40 pm)Amazing, how one automobile can bring us all together. We may lean right, or left, but the Chevy Volt has room for all of us. Just like Fox News…. Fair & Balanced.and eye candy as well.
By golly, it sounds like an ad campaign to me.
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Feb 5th, 2008 (12:03 am)I’ve seen at least two “pieces” regarding Plug-ins on Fox. Of course, to be “Fair and Balanced”, they also included (holds nose) parralel hybrids. Hey, no news source is perfect. Bill O’Reilley (on Fox) HATES Big Oil, maybe we can get him to track down (for better or worse) all of these conspiracy theories.
I think that the single most important thing we need to keep sight of, is that WE are all on the same team.
Be well and God Bless,
Tagamet
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Feb 5th, 2008 (12:04 am)er, parallel
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Feb 5th, 2008 (8:14 am)I’d like to see Bob Lutz one-on-one with Don Imus on the Imus in the Morning show. GM execs have been on in the past but after the I-man’s remarks last spring, and his subsequent firing, I think that most potential advertisers are holding back. Unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes. I do believe that the demagraphics of the I-man’s audience would be 100% behind the Volt.
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Feb 5th, 2008 (1:39 pm)If I really have my way, the Volt that I buy will have XM radio that I can listen to FOX on. That way, I can be fair and balanced while helping the environment and taking a bite out of hugo chavez. Maybe President McCain will allow me to have a tax incentative as well.
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Feb 5th, 2008 (4:22 pm)Fox news is owned by Rupert Murdoch and run by Roger Ailes.
That should be all you need to know.
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Feb 5th, 2008 (4:43 pm)Yep, Murdock in particular is a Capitolist Genius. Beats the heck out of George Soros.
Tagamet
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Feb 5th, 2008 (9:06 pm)I’ve heard enough from both parties that would make a dog laugh because its all hogwash.
I believe as Dave said its gotta be something that is please to all in the general consensus.
I like this new Volt and I believe it could really advance our American cars. I know that no where you go in the world oil is NOT getting cheaper and people are commuting more, at least here in Oregon, and California.
BTW, If you guys were looking for a test market and a guinea pig I would be happy to volunteer. I have a good deal of experience testing new cars.
This leads me to my next question, which is I have a 55 mile commute would this vehicle work for me, and does it allow for A/C.
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Feb 6th, 2008 (11:29 am)This might be a good time to “go retro” with things like electric windows. Put the crank handles back on and you eliminate the window motors AND solve some of the AC demand (grin).
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Feb 5th, 2009 (11:42 am)can i have Jon Lauckner’s emial for a school project?
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Mar 9th, 2009 (12:28 pm)I am trying to send GM top management a letter with pictures they WANT.
How do I get it to them?
Joey
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