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Give Your Direct Input to GM’s Volt Engineering Team on Vehicle Data Options!
A post by “Belloc” on our Forum was noticed by one of the actual GM engineers that is building the Chevy Volt. That engineer writes to me “I’m an enthusiastic reader of the gm-volt.com site” and “I’m trying to ensure that it’s (the Volt) got the best features that the customers’ want.
Belloc’s post:
“I would like a built in webserver (like a wireless router) That would allow me to monitor the electricity used/ gas used/ miles traveled etc… I would like to be able to see my day to day usage as well as a week and month breakdown. I would also like to be able to enter in my electricity cost and fill up cost to track all expenses.
I would also like to monitor hours on engine. When the next maintenance is due (oil change etc) also I would like a history of all maintenance that was performed over the history of the vehicle.”
It turns out GM is wondering whether this kind of thing would be a good option for the production car. The GM engineer asked me to throw out the following questions from him to you, the GM-volt.com readership:
1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail?
2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much?
3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc.
4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel?
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest?
Give the GM Volt team your thoughts in the comments section, and vote in the poll below. Witness the importance of this site and your opinions in the development of this revolutionary vehicle!
As for me, I’d like a wireless networking server in the car that provides battery SOC, time and distance to depletion, and the ability to check my car’s charging status from any browser, and of course a GM-Volt.com icon on the dash and screen so that we can all network about our Volts anytime!
While I’m at it, I’d also like to be able to see the depletion of my batteries energy graphically in real-time while driving, and have the dash show me optimum driving velocity for grade so that I may make the charge last the longest. Oh yeah, and of course I want the whole dash to be a programmable LCD screen. I think this geeked out setup should be an option at extra charge of $499.
What say you?
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{UPDATE: COMMENTS Overloaded go to Next Post to answer]
March 16th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I am concerned that such features would be abused and that they coincide nicely with the VII pork barrel program to eventually track the movements of every driver. Not that I blame GM for trying to make quick buck, did anyone notice that two of the questions were directly related to increasing the consumer’s cost? I’m glad the features are suggested as being optional as I have an emphatic NO!. By the way, the pretty graphical display of the battery depletion in real-time while driving would reduce your range. What a waste.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
The most important on-board function is the ability to tell the amount of battery charge left, and the current "miles per gallon" equivalent, however that will be measured. The most important remote function is how much the battery is charged, and the time remaining until full charge is restored.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I will a conditional YES to the 5 questions listed (as well as the wireless server question I’ve already voted for). I’m saying my vote is "conditional" because I don’t really know enough about what the GM engineer is asking to make my answer unequivocal.
BTW, GM’s OnStar is already able to obtain & transmit/receive all kinds of vehicle performance data. It uses satellite links —which are about as "wireless" as you can get.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Aren’t the telemetry features that have been suggested nominally available already via OnStar?
I think that the possibilities are facinating. Why can’t a person simply "call" their Volt on the phone and receive a text message on the vehicle’s State of Charge (SOC) or other operating parameters such as whether the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is charging the batteries? The Volt with OnStar will be able to call the owner’s cell phone or even transmit a message to any designated phone number or e-mail address. Voice synthesis could be used in the messaging from the Volt to anywhere. Pretty exciting stuff.
The OnStar link would be used by GM to monitor the performance of the vehicle systems as a preventitive maintenance and value-added service – for a fee, of course. I’m sure that GM would want to know that all systems are performing well. This information would ensure that the owner is served, as well as GM, when the owner is not effectively supported by a local dealership. GM cannot allow a Volt to fail. The negative publicity will be lethal to the entire program.
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March 16th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
If it’s done through OnStar, then it should be easy to implement.
However, I would very much like for this to be an OPTIONAL feature, since it would add a lot of money to the base cost.
That, plus the obvious privacy concerns about having personal information wirelessly transmitted.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
That said, the vehicle should have a SIMPLE average mpg/distance traveled readout on the dash, similar to on the Malibu hybrid that I test drove a few months ago. Simple, non-obtrusive, cost-effective. Oh, and it should tell the truth! (my ex-boss’s Prius mpg counter lied constantly about getting 100mpg while going 80mph).
March 16th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
The key in the car is how much charge is left and expected mileage (just like my Aura that tells me how many miles my tank of gas should get me). The rest is interesting, but not necessary and should be available via email/text/online. This is NOT worth paying for but GM should do it as a huge marketing strategy. "The Volt fleet this year saved X gallons of gas, X tons of carbon, etc. Join the Volt fleet and save the planet."
March 16th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I think a webserver or remote access is a bad idea, especially wireless. I personally don’t like the idea of anyone being able to hack into my vehicle and get any type of information. It is opening a hole to the vehicle that is unnecessary and irresponsible. The only possible way I can see this not being hacked is if there is some security at the hardware level. IE, I would want to be able to secure it externally, at least through a MAC filter list and WPA-PSK TKIP encryption, it should be required. Also, at the vehicle level, if the webserver would provide interactive access and any ability to change settings of the vehicle, it must have hardware encryption, the modules for the server and the vehicle must be separated by a hardware and software firewall on both sides. There should be a hardware based authentication mechansim that is tamper proof as possible. This is going to take time and money, so I think any wireless/webserver option should be at an extra cost and not included in the price of the vehicle. I could see something along the lines of a special attachment that could be added to the plugin that would provide ethernet access to the vehicle but would contain the same kind of protections described above.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
The price of Volt seems to be moving towards the $40,000 range. I’m really only going to be interested in a version of this car that sells for $30,000. You can include whatever you want, but if it costs $40,000… it won’t matter what the features are; I won’t buy it. The problem today is the 5 to 10 year pay back on saving gas $ vs. increased cost of the car. If these cars are going to really hit mass market success (millions of cars), then the payback timeframe needs to be in 1 to 3 years range. Otherwise, I’ll just buy whatever car has the features I want…. there is no financial reason to buy the product. The question you need to ask yourself is "what does the average person need?". I need to know how much range I have left on my battery. I need to know how much longer before my car is fully charged. I need to know how much total range I have left (battery + gas engine). I WANT the car to charge itself at the cheapest time of day (if time allows) and this needs to be user selectable/programmed — otherwise, someone will be selling an aftermarket timer to the owners. I’d prefer the car is smart enough to be able to figure out the cheapest time to charge without me having to do anything to tell it when the cheapest time is. It would be nice if the car could tell me what it cost to charge my battery each week or month .
March 16th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I agree with RB re needing info on charge remaining and any data that help "instruct me" on efficient driving habits. I don’t think that the "pretty LCD screen" would draw enough current to significantly reduce driving range, but I could be wrong. Surely there will be a navigation system option, so the screen would be there anyway (g).
Rather than a wireless connection, I’d prefer removeable storage like a usb port or SD card slot. Then I could take the info into the house and keep my own records. Cost effective charging times should be handled by my utility company (if they ever get that capability in Penna).
March 16th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I would assume if wireless that encryption and authentication would be used.
I don’t think it should cost anything if the list price for the Volt is above $30k.
Instead of wireless however, and to keep it at no additional cost, just have a USB port in every Volt (or include an USB to OBD2 adapter)… and provide software for the PC (laptop) to be able to read the data and display the stats/graphs folks are looking for. One should also be able to access all data normally available to the techs via the ODB2 port (including fault codes, etc) via this PC app.
If someone wants wireless access they could plug in a wireless transceiver into the USB port (or a different USB port if the same USB port can’t both be a slave and a master)….
March 16th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I agree that some sort of mileage/usage/estimated miles to go should be display as even my Hyundai has it today, and included by default.
All the other features should be part of an OnStar package.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I believe this option should be there and i would subscribe to providing data to GM. However users should have an option to turn it off, if he/she have a privacy concern.
Additionally GM should be clear about usage of these data as well as what would be shared with Vendors (i.e, A123 et al).
March 16th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I think the car should have a fancy display set-up. Indicating everything from amount of charge remaining to distance travelled/estimated available to travel on battery and blended MPG on board INCLUDED in the price. It is assumed a electric car will have these things…it’s kinda like a gas gauge.
We are buying a electric car, it better have some twirlly information readouts that differ it from your mom’s Buick. I think it is kind of expected if you buy this car.
Myself personally I don’t need my car to email me what I can see onboard…if somebody else wants to pay for this service, and if you want to build it…go for it, but it’ll be niche.
As for "Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest?" No, lol. It only takes about 2 minutes to go online and see what the prime billing times are, and then it takes about $10 to buy a plug timer. So I guess I would be willing to pay $10 as a one time shot.
So I guess my answer is, give me the basics we expect. Some guys want ‘webservers’ and ‘CO2 savings graphs’ so charge them for that. Don’t pull stunts like having no RPM gauge on the base model standard transmission, but then say for a $700 option you can have it..give me a break. (I owned a Grand Am with such a ‘non-feature’ in the early 90s when I was poor–a little yellow light came on when GM thought it was a good place to shift).
March 16th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Any information worth knowing needs to be in real time. This means the car needs to provide essential data while driving not when I am watching TV in the family room. Essential data would include miles/charge left on battery vs. mile left on battery with generator in use. Plus will the generator charge the battery while the car in not in use? That way the battery will be at full charge when I leave work by using the generator. Better yet, will there be a solar panel option to charge the battery when not in use? That would be an option worth consideration.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Question #1: I don’t see the need to track costs on a weekly or monthly basis for fuel, but maybe some businesses may.
Question #2: No, I wouldn’t pay for it.
Question #3: I’m not sure why I would want to know the emissions reduced, except for conversation at parties. The CO2 abated would seem to depend on where your electricity comes from i.e. hydro, coal, nuclear, etc. My guess is that the software assumes the negated CO2 from the reduction of gasoline, without any charge for the source of electricity. Again, conversational piece only.
Question #4: Although a calculation of the costs savings for electricity versus fuel is nice, I think it is somewhat elementary. At 5 miles per kwh of electricity, with 10 cent per kwh, your energy cost for driving 1 mile is 2 cents. With gasoline at $3.00 per gallon, and 50 mpg with the ICE in operation, energy cost is 6 cents per mile. Do we need anything more sophisticated? I don’t.
Question #5: (To Nasaman, I think this question revolves around the fact that Electric Utilities have excess capacity at night when the power demand decreases, and in some instances will sell power for less money during these time periods. Some people with electric hot water take advantage of these rates and install large hot water tanks that store a lot of hot water, but they only operate (provide heat) during "off-peak" or nighttime hours). This, I believe, would be a "smart" control in the Volt that would wait until these low rates were available before beginning the charging process. This could be quite valuable (versus installing a timer in your garage), however, I’m not sure what it is worth. If the average electric rate is 10 cents per kwh, the "off-peak" rate might be 8 cents per kwh. For a full charge (8 kwh), 365 days per year, the annual savings are about $58 per year, so the option shouldn’t cost more than 2 or 3 years worth of savings, IMHO. With the advent of electric cars, however, the Electric Utilities may become more aggressive with their "off-peak" pricing. Only time will tell.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I would prefer to keep the costs down on the Volt as much as possible. I only need to know how much energy is in the battery, similar to what the gas gauge tells us now.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I don’t think data about something I can’t do anything about is of any value – the battery’s state of charge, cost of electricity used, etc. I would have absolutely no use for.
Smart charging for low rate periods would be useful, assuming I can find out what those periods are and if they exist on my grid. Gasoline engines already tell the driver when to change the oil, so that wouldn’t be anything new.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I thing like most cars sold now, anything you want to pay extra for should be available. Myself, I would just like to know condition of batteries while driving. The only other things I would pay extra for on the first version, is air, and cruise control. The rest doesn’t really bother me. Getting good cost effectiveness is the most important thing first. I guess I am old school and don’t mind rolling up the windows or using a key to open a door.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
To optimize battery usage you should be able to tell the car your destination. From this it can use GPS to figure your energy requirements needed to complete your trip. This way the car can determine the amount of range extending energy (Gas Engine) to produce for the trip.
Also it would be great to include wifi. Download music to the car. Track your car functioning ect.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Don’t send my info anywhere (HATE ON-STAR), just download on cars info hard drive than make sure it was bluetooth so my i-phone can get wireless down load Plus give me a check engine page so I can accesses trouble codes without a Hand OBDII scanner . All so It would be nice if after you get CODE like P0300 it would be nice to add a small description i.e. multi eng. miss fire or cylinder 1 miss , Please leave off the GPS , My wife doesn’t need any more help hunting me down!!!! LOL
March 16th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Lutz has already eaten crow on "comfortably less than $30,000", and on "60,000 produced in first year", and now on his promise of "mules by Easter, or egg will be on my face". I would love a trend setting Volt, but that doesn’t matter as much as Chevy building a car that can go 40 miles, or so, on a charge. Just build an electric car that has EREV capability, and I will buy it. But I think GM is over-promising and under-delivering, again.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
These should all be standard features in this car and should not cost additional. Wireless feature should be that of a client not a router and be able to connect to your personal wireless network when in range. Last thing we need is a bunch of wireless routers driving around.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Statik, I think you may be in for a surprise if you think you can buy a basic $10 plug timer to plug your Volt into…. 1st those basic do-dads aren’t grounded, and 2nd, are for low amp devices, not the current the Volt’s charger will be drawing.
In any case, the Volt’s computer should be able to be told when to start charging anyway manually. In my neck of the woods we don’t even have dual rates, ie. it doesn’t matter if it’s day time or night time
March 16th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Wireless access is expensive and unnecessary.
What would be nice is if the stereo had a regular USB connector so you could plug in a memory stick with MP3s. Some stereos already let you do this.
Once you plug the stick in, the car could write a text file with all your statistics to the stick so the next time you plug it into a computer, you can look at all this information. Presto, no wireless, and ridiculously easy to use.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Need a hard drive that we can push songs to from inside the house. SO the car would, once plugged in to a power source, would join the wireless network and share its drive with a password. Does Microsoft Sync include this?
March 16th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
All five questions are trying to make the car do something a car does not need to do. And as a result they will make it more complex than it needs to be and more expensive.
The utilities are very good at working out how much electricity you use. My bill even has a graph of CO2 emisions that says none (because I pay a premium price for Solar Power). They can send you a clever thing called an itemised bill. If they can organise a hot water heater to use off-peak electricity they can certainly organise for your car to charge at the best possible rate.
Would I like my toaster to send me an email when the toast pops up? Simple answer is no!
Your customers do bring up some good points which are important. You can’t do an oil change every so many miles because the driving conditions might mean that the gas engine has barely run in that time. Boat engines have mechnical counters for hours-run that would solve this.
A fuel gauge for batteries as well as gas would be important but you could live without it.
What everyone wants/needs (if they know it or not) is an electric car that is a real car not a skateboard and as quickly as possible (please). Fancy options risk slowing down the development.
I want to know when I can buy one in Australia – can anyone answer that?
March 16th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Ok, the question sucks. NO it shouldn’t be optional…yes it should be included…ie. mandatoy.
There should be no extra charge, it should be simple enough to link to your wireless network and download the data or access it onboard or both…no reason to charge for that, the car has the data and other than the ability to connect wirelessly there’s no cost to GM.
I don’t want this by e-mail, I want the ability to look at specific trip data, specific commute data, etc. immediately to get immediate feeback as to whether a change in driving style or route or whatever had a significant impact on my energy use.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Regarding the option to monitor gas/electricity consumption: I think the Volt should be providing this information to the driver as a built-in option, not remotely by e-mail. This kind of information is available from the on-board computer even in today’s cars.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I’m sure the car’s costs are going to be difficult enough to keep down without adding superfluous options.
And let’s not forget, additional electronics suck battery power!!
March 16th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I would like to be able to get the raw data out of the car, but that’s *not* the place to be doing all the analysis — that should be on the desktop. It doesn’t need to be wireless either — put a usb port in the dash you can stick a thumbdrive in. When you do, the car uploads and/or updates the current data log, and the builtin mp3 player scans it for mp3’s to make available for listening. Plug it into the pc when I get home, fire up the analyzer, point it at the data and go to town with it. Simple and inexpensive…
March 16th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
>Wireless access is expensive and unnecessary.
Say wha? Its called an option, if you dont want it dont buy it.
Either way, a PC with wireless running linux would do this, the software to do it would be cake. I could build one for 150 bucks.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
PS: electronics like this are *nothing* compared to the cost of moving the vehicle, energy consumption is the least factor in whether or not to include them!
March 16th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Most of this is much ado about nothing. Let’s keep this thing on track and not get into tributaries. A simple calculator built into the dash could solve all this w/o the need for complication.
Let’s get this thing on the road!!!
March 16th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
With respect to the Informational Display Center; I would like to see a display signifying that: "Electric AC Compressor Running." The vehicle does have Electric AC Right??? This is very important info for drivers in Hot Climates. Furthermore, this function will significantly tax batteries hence range of the vehicle.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
>>Either way, a PC with wireless running linux would do this, the software to do it would be cake. I could build one for 150 bucks.
You have obviously never worked on a mass-market product. Sure, $150 sounds pretty cheap, right? Actually you can get wifi adapters for under $10 on sale sometimes. But let’s talk about a rollout of 30,000 cars. Now your super-cheap wifi radio is costing GM almost a third of a million dollars to include, for one year. That’s like 6 peoples’ salaries. A lot of the engineering of a car is trying to save 5 cents on one part, 10 cents on another part, etc. It’s not just GM being cheap; all car companies do this, because if they don’t, it’s money walking out the door unnecessarily.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
>>I would like to see a display signifying that: "Electric AC Compressor Running."
I have an idea. What if the display was a jet of cool air coming out of the vents?
March 16th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
These are the features that I think are most important: Five seat-belts ( I am married and have three kids ) . Prioritize aerodynamics & internal space in the production body design ( especially given the Cadillac-esqe angularity of early versions ). Prioritize fuel & battery efficiency performance over crotch-rocket type acceleration. Make the vehicle at least as reliable as a Toyota ( there are lots of "patriotic" Americans who buy Japanese cars on reliability alone: we’d all prefer to buy American, just give us a quality product ). Support will be tantamount for such a revolutionary new type of product; if there are problems ( as should reasonably be expected with what is effectively first-generation technology ), proactively correct them at GM’s cost . Create an aggressive and complete training program for dealership repair shops. I notice a remarkable disparity between today’s GM/Chevy and Toyota/Honda Dealership shops. Put speakers on the outside of the car and run an engine sound while car is going under 35 mph; otherwise we’ll have lots more dead cyclists. Let us load the engine sound of our choice ( e.g glasspack, chitty-chitty-bang-bang, vette, etc. ) via the built-in ipod dock. Keep the cost under $30K . Make batteries easily swappable so that people will ultimately be able to upgrade to better battery packs and go on longer trips sans liquid fuel ( perhaps on later versions ) Release a tier 2 bin 5 diesel range extender. Use a standard charging mechanism (i.e. one that will be able to plug in to standard domestic 110 and 220 outlets ). Produce an adaptor ( between car and outlet ) if safety necessitates a special connection. Here are some additional points which relate more directly to the thread thus far: No wireless ( potential security issue, unnecessary complexity and source of problems, energy drain ) . No Microsoft software whatsoever; only secure & well-written firmware & software. Make On-star an option ONLY ( I don’t want to be tracked without permission ) There are other items but my wife is calling so I have to go.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Awesome idea Tom, Air coming out of vents would be, should I say "Cool." This could be done right inside the vehicle diagram displaying which power mode the vehicle was currently in. (GM are you listening,)
March 16th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail?
The several suggestions for doing this with a thumb drive seem valid to me.
2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much? Personally, no.
3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc. This info is of no value.
4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel? No. I can do the calculation.
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest? We don’t have time of day billing. A timer on the charger would be useful. At some point, the capability of responding to info from the power company will be important. They should be able to turn off the charger when they encounter peak load conditions. An emergency override so you can charge if you need to would be necessary, but generally delaying charging for an hour would be no inconvenience and a useful way to do grid load balancing. They used to be able to control my water heater for this purpose. (And gave me a discount for the privilege.)
On board display should be info useful for maximizing operating economy. Amps being used, battery capacity remaining.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail?
onstar already has this in an email, which is fine
2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much?
probably, a few bucks a year
3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc.
no
4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel?
no
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest?
yes
March 16th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
I’ve been on solar power at home for 5 years and monitored the weather, power produced daily…haven’t paid a penny for power. Have stantions on the roof for additional power solar panels for my electric cars. I need to monitor the car power usage to determine whether I need to add panels as it evolves to remain no cost for oil, by me or the local Power Plant.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I think all of the features described should be available, but should be free. I suspect that pretty much all the information necessary to make such computations is already available (that is, I doubt you’ll need to install more sensors or any extra hardware), so it’s just a matter to write a little bit of firmware/software. And I have a feeling that such software has already been written, if anything to tell GM’s engineer how the Volt prototype work.
So give them to me, and give them to me for free.
Thanks !
March 16th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Sound like those fuel economy gages some cars have, one only looked at them when the car was new. After awhile they are just ignored and the person just drives how they usually do.
Having the car know when is the cheapest time to charge would be good. That way one would not have to set some kind of timer to accomplish the same thing.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Firstly, I would like to commend the GM engineer (or department) for trying to get feedback from hard-core customers. Nice job.Next, I would like to say that because we are moving to the electrification of the automobile there are many things that can be done that were not done before. This will provide added value to the customer (with little added hardware cost). I’m all for wireless capability. Integrated with both OnStar and standard wireless Internet. Wireless and cellular capability is not that expensive (many handheld devices have this capability -iPhone is just one). The OnStar use will probably require an extra fee but the use of Internet via a standard wireless connection should be free. Here are some of my recommendations:1) Make the system user configurable. Allow the customer to use a standard setup or configure whatever information they want. Allow the paranoid (doesn’t mean people are not watching them) to turn off any tracking or remote access. Of course use the latest security measures.2) Allow customers to access information via the internet. This opens all kinds of interesting functionality, "Hey, I wonder what charge my Volt has right now." or, "I’m about to leave the office I would like my Volt to start venting the interior." or, "I just got a message from my Volt that the security system just went off. I need to go check it out.", the list goes on and on.3) Ok, I have to mention that these are the types of functions that would go hand-in-hand with solar-on-the-surface (SOTS) technology. Perfect fit.4) Make the whole system an option because we need to have a really inexpensive model for the price sensitive customer. However, I want OnStar, Wireless, SOTS, Extended range batteries, Big sexy rims, two-tone paint, etc. Hey, if I wanted to go cheap I would just buy a tiny micro car. I want to drive in responsible luxury. Sustainable luxury. Green Luxury. You get the point. 5) Finally, If any of this will delay the release date than wait till the following year to implement. The release date is the most important thing.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Remember to K.I.S.S. It needs an accurate battery gauge and gas gauge. Doesn’t need wireless or email or extra cost gadgets.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
1. The on-screen display should function at least as well as does that of the Toyota Prius in the sense that some form of feedback to the driver should be given to indicate energy utilization, say, in Watt-hours per mile.
2. The Volt must come with regenerative braking to maximize miles driven in all-electric mode.
3. And, please, PLEASE do not hold release of the Volt hostage until the “perfect” Li Ion battery pack is developed. The Volt could be in service to today, as are Toyota’s RAV4 EV’s, if they were to use the Panasonic EV-95 NiMH batteries that have kept most of the greater than 300 privately owned RAV4 EV’s running, most of them for more than 100,000 total service miles, on charges that last more than 120 miles.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I’m an IT guy by day (and an engineering enthusiast by night), and having any kind of wireless access to the car scares me. My employer pays for training from SANS every year, and the IT staff spends a week in a big room learning how computer networks can be abused and fraud can be committed against our business-processes.
OnStar will never be installed any vehicle I buy. When I’m driving, I want to be in my car — I want to be able to leave my computer-security (tinfoil) hat by the computers that I manage. I just want the car to take me where I’m going — I don’t want it to inform a multinational conglomerate and member of the military industrial complex (GM) about my whereabouts, even if they built me a beautiful car. I do understand that some people may rightfully trade this in exchange for the automatic 911 call that OnStar provides — but I don’t need, don’t want, and will rebel against that capability. If I were to ever acquire a car with OnStar, my first task after taking possession of the car would be to remove or cripple the OnStar transciever. I may very well add data-link capabilities to a vehicle that I own, but it’s absolutely critical that I control it. Otherwise, I’ll be worrying about IT security while I drive…
So, this brings us to the real question: what does a potential-customer like myself want? I want full and unfettered to the car’s computer, especially it’s data-logging and diagnostic capabilities. I own it, it’s mine, I should control it. As the owner of a Ford Ranger, I was quite disappointed by how much of a black box the ECU / power-train computer happens to be. I had to buy a $150 box (that appeared to contain about $30 worth of electronics) just to be able to read the check-engine light. For my Volkswagen, I was able to buy a 3rd party product called VAG-COM for $250 that allowed my pretty-good access to the car’s sensors and settings. For me, the ideal car would have an RS-232 or USB port where I could attach my laptop and chat with the engine-computer. Furthermore, the protocol on that port should be open enough that one could reasonably chat with it with just a terminal program — and that a motivated geek could write an open-source GUI for it. This would allow a huge number of very smart accessories.
Now, if GM is concerned about owners tinkering with the ECU too much and costing warranty money, there are a number of techniques from the computer-security community that could be applied. My first thought is to log every change to a read-only memory module that contains a clock (like a syslog server on Unix). That way, if an owner makes a potentially harmful change, there’s no disputing it. Furthermore, GM could utilize a public-key cryptography system to authenticate teh changes made by the dealer. This stuff is tried-and-true everyday tools in the IT world, and could easily be used to solve disputes over warranty issues. When I’m hacking around with a car, I realize that I take responsibility for the results of my changes — and up until now, I’ve only purchased cars that have passed out of warranty so that I can play without worrying what the dealer will think. Plus, I can review what the dealer and any 3rd party mechanics do to my car, both for the purposes of my education (always good!) and also to make sure that they’re conducting their business ethically.
So, in summary: Absolutely no wireless capability whatsoever of any kind for me. Others may opt-in, but that’s their business. Unfettered access to the car’s computer. Logging and accountability as per IT industry’s standard practices would be fine – this way, the dealer and I must both be reasonably open and honest about what we do to my car during the warranty period.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
1. In the vehicle data. 2. Make it an option for those who want another monthly bill. 3. I don’t need to know the possible gas analysis of my emmissions. 4. It seems cost savings data of electric vs. gas would help sell more cars and should be standard. 5. Make a timer function standard, my kitchen range has one.
What I would like to see is ergonomic charging locations and receptacles. An idicator that your still plugged in might help before backing out of the driveway.
Let’s keep this car simple, functional, and efficient. If the price is closer to $30k a lot more people will be able to drive one. For those who like all the extras, offer options, we are all used to options. Most cars today have base models and options packages.
We all want to feel good about driving a greener car. Driving 40+ miles on electric rates is what will really sell this car. It’s the #1 reason I would buy one. #2 reason, it’s American.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Build a nice in-dash interface to the on-board computer with the ability to store and retrieve vehicle metrics but keep it all within the vehicle. I don’t want vehicle telemetry broadcasting information to the internet. Nor am I likely to pay a monthly fee for wireless internet. I think it will be important to know the status of the batery, charge information and efficiency while driving. If I’m loosing cells I want to know about it. I don’t need anything else.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
I have 3 solar inverters and never look at the CO2 readout.
The data that I am interested in is:
1) KWh used for charging.
2) Gasoline used.
3) Miles driven.
Ideally I would like this to be available as historic information, daily or monthly for the lifetime of the vehicle.
Yes to ability to select charging times. My utility is too stupid to have time of use metering yet, but they are thinking about it. Potentially On Star could help with this, it knows your location, and thus can guess the utility, but this will not cover all since some utilities make time of use optional.
I would like to be able to pre-heat the car a few minutes before I go somewhere in winter, this could be done by wireless and/or key fob.
I voted for wireless, but I am unsure about it. If available, I think that it should be possible to disable. Keep it simple is also good, and cost is an issue. Downloading data to a USB disk would be enough for me. I would not pay much for wireless just for viewing historic data and state of charge, maybe $150 However, it depends on what it was capable of doing via wireless. Potentially it could email stats to GM if OnStar is not used. As someone else said — great marketing for GM — XXX gallons saved.
Should we be more concerned about hacking via wireless than via OnStar?
This data should definitely be available in some form, USB disk copy, OnStar (but not exclusively via OnStar), wireless, or on screen display.
I would also like to be able to use it as a whole house emergency generator, that’s something I would pay real money for, at least make the firmware such that this could be an after market option.
Don’t forget to provide tire pressure in the display, if not too costly (or as cost option).
March 16th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I like the idea of tracking electricity used/fuel saved. I could care less about emissions reduced/CO2 negated. Deliver the information via onboard display readouts similar to the DIC on my ‘06 Silverado as part of the base vehicle AND via wireless web as part of an optional electronic upfit. GPS navigation, MP3s on a memory stick, DVD screens in the back seat, and a whole lot of other gee-whiz could make a nice $1200 option package, but DON’T make me pay for features that aren’t useful to me.
Time-smart charging would be nice for some, but not me. My electric rate is the same 24/7. The other guys with time-of-day electric meters can buy a $12 timer to charge at the correct time, so I really don’t think it’s worth building into the vehicle.
"Don’t let PERFECT become the enemy of GOOD!" We need the basic car far more than we need gee-whiz gizmos. I’d take one with manual widows, manual seats, manual steering, no airbags, no ABS, basic 2-speaker AM/FM radio, no trip computer, no On-Star, no cruise control, no rear window defroster, manual adjust mirrors, stamped steel wheels, boring grill trim, and even no "washer fluid low" idiot light. I know such a stripped down model would never make it in today’s market, but the point of my comment remains valid: Just make the car, and make lots of them! 10,000 just ain’t gonna cut it…
March 16th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
This sounds like a fine feature to be added to OnStar, which I currently subscribe to. However, expecting the Volt to be a WIFI hotspot and run its own webserver seems more than a bit silly to me. And I’m a web developer.
If GM is looking for wiz-bang new features, I would prefer they leave the 90’s behind (eg 6-disc CD changers) and offer something like Ford’s SYNC system. If I can fit thousands of CD’s in my pocket, I should be able to fit more than six in the radio of my car.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
As for what should be displayed on the dashboard of the moving car, I’ll trust the ergonomics and HCI folks figure that out. I’ve studied enough computer interfaces to realize that providing enough information to satisfy my curiosity will distract and intimidate most people — and it would take me a while to learn to watch the gages rather than the road. Plus, the folks who design these interfaces usually come up with really nice graphical themes. And, lastly, I know how much research goes on in this area, and I’m sure professional designers follow it — so I’d prefer to just let them use their expertise for what the driver sees in the moving vehicle.
If I’m curious or need to troubleshoot the car, I’ll just hook up my laptop to either the OBDII or the USB/RS-232 interface and have my passenger operate it while I drive (or vice versa).
March 16th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Being able to check the status of the vehicle remotely is a desirable feature, however, I don’t want to spend too much for frivolous goodies. My main interest is the economy of operation and its return on my investment. My second concern would be security and protection of my personal information.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
I was thing about this very thing the day before you posted the question, however I have a twist to this.
Currently I am a Prius owner (yes a Japanese company) and waiting for a SUPERIOR car (Volt) to be developed in the US, however I think consideration be given to offer similar (or better) options than the Prius offers in order to get customers from the Prius to migrate to the Volt. Little things like Bluetooth, Navigation, Keyless Entry, Backup Video Camera, noise beeper when the car is backing up, a gas tank bladder, side window air bags, retractable split rear seats with removable privacy cover, automatic climate controlled ice-cold Air conditioning system (even in 115 degree Arizona heat), etc. I hate to go on, however even the split rear hatchback solves a purpose–the ledge (where a "spoiler" would be attached actually blocks headlights from cars behind you from shining directly into the rear view mirror and into your eyes. It’s the little things that make a difference. Get Steve Jobs’ (Apple Company Chairman) opinion with GM’s quest for additional critical input (however I think Steve Jobs is currently in talks with Volkswagen).
In regards to paying for options, I am for it. I understand that OnStar might have a similar system, but doesn’t OnStar require a monthly (or yearly) service plan? Given the current economic conditions what happens if you are not able to afford the additional monthly expenses?
March 17th, 2008 at 12:02 am
just need to keep the cost down so people could afford to buy them if keep adding stuff and raising the cost the average person won’t be able to afford them and then there wouldn’t be as many on the road and we as a country need to get as many of these vehicles in motion as possible and as soon as possible thanks Eugene
March 17th, 2008 at 12:04 am
I take back what I just said about no WIFI in the car.
Actually, that would be an incredibly cool feature if OnStar was enhanced to also be an internet service provider. I could use my car as a portable WIFI hotspot, and if the OnStar ISP service was fast and reliable enough, I could possibly even cancel my home DSL service.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:04 am
Look, keep the first production model as simple as possible. I want a American made, eco-friendly car thats bigger then my Honda Insight ( the best car I’ve ever owned). Speaking of which, the gauges in my Insight tell me exactly what my battery is doing and how my driving is effecting my MPG – that’s all I really need and I’m sure it cost way under $500 to set that up. Oh! And one last thing – I refuse to purchase a vehicle that has that insidious OnStar contraption. For me that has to be a strictly optional feature…
March 17th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Keep the car cost effective and dependable. Mileage is very
important. Plug in idea is the way to go. Although it wasn’t popular years ago, we live in different times and gasoline will
become very expensive in the next few years.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Phantom load.
If the wireless was to use 10w, say 24×365 that’s 87KWh, or 440 less miles per year.
Running on solar power, I’ve gone to some trouble to avoid phantom loads. So I would say it is ok if the wireless uses under 0.5W. That may be difficult.
Any wireless should have an on/off and the off should cause it not to consume power.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Just build the friggin car already. I don’t need any delays. An electric car with 4 wheels, a steering wheel and a few seats. I was spending $600 a month for gas. Now its more like $800. I cant wait for any stupid options. I will be buying a Prius this week. To hell with the Volt. Maybe GM can develop an optional drivers seat that captures the methane from my farts and burns them in a fuel cell. I can’t wait any longer. Sorry Detroit.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:31 am
info is nice to have but kiss.
want I in the Volt is that be built asap!!
you are already stalling way too much and it’s getting worse. China’s BYD has a luxury sedan plugin hybrid with longer range than the volt for 20k$ out this year.
you have oceans of fucking cars you could just put a plugin drive in and you should. but you use a new model as an excuse for stalling. listen to that motherfuckers instead of completely irrelevant wireless bs
March 17th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Off-peak charging is only thing that seems to be a practical consideration.
From my test engineering background I might be interested in data logging, but my guess is the average driver won’t care or want to be bothered. They’ll just look at the utlity bill and gas station recipts.
Unless someone is going to reward me finacially for the CO2 I don’t emit, an accurate accounting has little practical use.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Many good comments have been made. From my perspective, if this is to be a "worldly" car, it should have options that work in various countries. That the OnStar program does not work even in Alaska is disheartening. Please make certain it is optional so I do don’t have to pay for it.
As for MPG or km/100L info, in addition to battery charge, the Prius panel is grotesque. I’m sure the buyers of that car delight in seeing their gas mileage in something like 160 font size. Please do NOT succumb to that mentality. The information is good, but I’ rather not have it readable from the car next to me at the traffic lights.
KISS. And get it available quickly, please. Thanks!
March 17th, 2008 at 12:45 am
These add ons would be "Nice To Have" but
will increase the cost of the vehicle.
We need this car NOW, no frills, something that will get me to work and back or to town and back (50 Miles is ample). An inexpensive
vehicle with no fuel cells and no gasoline engine. There is no time for years of research and haggling over what options to offer.
Get a car on the market that I can buy NOW!
March 17th, 2008 at 12:46 am
These add ons would be "Nice To Have" but will increase the cost of the vehicle. We need this car NOW, no frills, something that will get me to work and back or to town and back (50 Miles is ample). An inexpensive vehicle with no fuel cells and no gasoline engine. There is no time for years of research and haggling over what options to offer. Get a car on the market that I can buy NOW!
March 17th, 2008 at 12:57 am
At the same time you can upload data.IT would be great to download music into the car before you leave for the day.Everyone has a wireless router in there homes so you can just make the Volt a device and download movies, news and audio right into it.That way on the way to work you can listen to your favorite music,Greg
March 17th, 2008 at 1:08 am
A wireless router would be very useful in the car. Both for transmitting all sorts of performance data, AND for passengers to be able to run their Wi-Fi appliances. It would be great to be able to "log in" to the car from any web browser. Also, having the car Wi-Fi accessible would be great for people with home networks. As soon as the car came within range of the home wireless router, automatic sync could take place with .mp3 files or videos so that the car’s entertainment system would always be up to date with the home system.
The Volt is basically a computer on wheels–that just happens to have a small gasoline engine. To not make the car’s data available to owners would be just plain wrong. For all the people worried about ‘privacy,’ just include a function to disable all wireless access.
I would hope that any such system would use standard computing platforms and protocols so that third party developers could get into the act. Worst of all would be to offer an expensive but proprietary access capability. GM should resist that temptation. Many buyers would reject that option.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Lets keep the cost down, I hope this car concept does not turn out to be like the portable power tool market were you buy the product but then the cost to replace or lease the batterys is the real expence. If so over the long term the cost to operate the car will be very high.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:22 am
If you want to see some really cool features that can be enabled by providing connectivity to a car, check out the Th!nk Ox concept car (due out in 2011): http://en.think.no/think/Think-Models-Concepts/TH!NK-Ox/The-connected-car
I would like to see the same sort of features for the Volt – along with pre-heat or pre-cool options via wireless or GPRS.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:23 am
I am against any thing that will unnecessarily add cost, weight, and drag to this car. It sounds like some should be talking to Microsoft as they are looking for an electronic platform rather than affordable transportation. Our state is in the process of spending millions of tax dollars to try and keep drivers in their lane as they have so much to do with cell phones, GPS’s, and ect. that they forget to drive and cause a lot of accidents. GM just make us an affordable electric car before you and us both go bankrupte.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:27 am
I want a Volt version of the Chevy Colorado: 4-door truck, smaller bed, smaller all around, but a 4-door truck. That’s what I’ll buy. I have a Colorado now and love it. I want a Voltorado.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Here’s thar link again:
http://en.think.no/think/Think-Models-Concepts/TH!NK-Ox/The-connected-car
March 17th, 2008 at 1:39 am
Grrrr … the TinyMCE editor is a little too smart for its own good.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:43 am
I think the wireless idea is ok, but I would be more willing to spend an extra 500 dollars on a battery with an additional 10-15 miles of range, even if it was optional. I would buy a 32-34k Volt tomorrow with a 50 mile elect. only range. A larger battery storage area would be acceptable to me if necessary for the additonal cells. GM could also encourage employers to install charging receptacles for the drive home.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Just do something like OBD-II on steriods — rich data, easily available — along with gobs of history that can be easily dumped to a PC via USB or SD card.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:52 am
It’s time for Detroit to take back the market in the U.S.A.. Every american faces growing financial troubles, due to increasing oil prices. It has trickeled to every aspect of our lives. G.M.’s goal should be to mass produce the Volt and make it financially available to everyone. G.M. has the opportunity to create a turning point in american history. A point where good ole’ fashioned american ingenuity and know how save our collective asses. Don’t stop here, lets start work on the hybrid diesal. Lets drive down logistic costs and make it possible for us to live the american dream again. Less money for oil, more money to the detroit bottom line, and an america that spends again.
March 17th, 2008 at 3:50 am
1–Monthly e-mail as part of the OnStar report I already receive on my GM-built car.
2–I would not pay any extra for this option, but it would sure make me feel better about paying the already expensive $200/year for OnStar.
3–Would be cool, but I won’t pay extra for it.
4–Ditto
5–I would pay ~$100 extra for this feature. This may be worth more, but, please, I know this is not that hard.
My vote for wireless was for doing it via OnStar not an on-board WiFi router. If others want this option let them pay extra. I might pay a little extra for a remote start (but this does not have to be anything more than the existing option available on many cars). This car absolutely MUST have a good readout display that gives drivers real-time feedback and a battery SOC gauge, and this must come standard.
I love cool options (like having my car call me and speak with a programmable voice) as much as anyone. However, the most important things, by far, for me as a consumer (in order of importance) are for the car to function as advertised (i.e., 40 mi AER, 50 mpg with ICE running, 0-60 in 6 sec), to look sweet (i.e., like the concept car), to cost no more than $30-35K, and to be available for me to actually purchase and drive home ASAP (2012 at the latest). I will be more inclined to pay for bells and whistles later, when the batteries get better and cheaper (I want to spend my money on maximizing range right now).
Thanks GM, for listening. I am rooting for you and will support you if you give me good reason.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:12 am
Many electric utilities offer lower rates for electricity purchased during off-peak hours. A wifi arrangement that would automatically access the local rates and and charge the vehicle during lower rate periods would be a valuable addition to the Volt.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Leave the power sucking bells and whistles out of it. Anyhow, anything wireless will eventually get hacked, so forget it. Spend your R&D pesos on improving battery reserve and electric-only range as much as you can…. lets see 100mi on a single charge before the mill kicks in.
And yes, I believe in the KISS principle.
Oil is $107/bbl today and headed up fast… and with it gas prices are headed thru the roof…. soon to be $5/gal. At that price, your basic soccer mom plug-in Volt will sell like Rotary Club hotcakes on a cool fall morning.
Keep it simple, keep it reasonable in price, and lets get the Volt into the showrooms ASAP.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:34 am
No wireless access.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:42 am
Keep the cost down where as the middle class can afford this kind of a car.. Most of the time when a good vehicle comes out the cost of the vechile is outragious.Love the idea of very little gas bieng used. I travel 16 miles every day to work then 16 back total 32 miles this car would suite me just fine.I like the idea of taking moeny out of the pockets from the big shots. great car ,hope to see it soon SINCERLY Ray P.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:56 am
I missed out on the EV-1 because I live in Maryland. My commute to work is 6 miles round trip, so a Volt would suit me just fine. Please keep the fancy options down to a minimum so that this car is affordable and attractive to the masses. I really want to see GM succeed with this. I don’t want to see them one-upped by the Japanese again.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:57 am
Lets do this right. We need a car that is affordable, dependable and made here in America. I am sick of Toyta. Lets get it done right and produce enough cars to make a difference.
John Ferraro
March 17th, 2008 at 5:01 am
K.I.S. S.
Why is it that NO!!!! US auto maker, will even try to catch up to forgein car sales. When Toyota has 21% of all cars sold in this country. Make a affordable (safe) HIGH MPG car for the working class. If you build it they will, COME. Get up off the GREED end you are sitting on!
March 17th, 2008 at 5:02 am
I get the feeling that the Volt will be a tantalizing product to bring people into the showroom and not purposely for mass production, similar to the Ford GT. What I want is a vehicle that is safe, durable (last longer than 5 years) and efficient – in that order. If Toyota can make the Prius a production car there is no reason I can find why GM can’t put this into production in one of the old Oldsmobile plants.One of the issues I have is air conditioning. It is my understanding that the motor will need to be running to drive the A/C compressor. GM should be working with Vintage Air of San Antonio about an efficient A/C system instead of trying to re-invent the wheel or have their Intellectual Attorneys reviewing the US/Japanese and EU patent and trademark offices for existing designs. Two years to production seems like an awfully long time given the resources available.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:04 am
KEEP COST DOWN AND MAKE AFFORDABLE FOR EVERY ONE , WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER TO CREATE A BETTER PLANET
March 17th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Keep it simple, make it efficient as possible. I drive a Prius, love the car. I want a Volt that beats the Prius in all ways. I want better MPG and clean air. Not a lot of gizmo’s for my ego.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Come on, lets make a car the world wonders at. I agree with the above. This stuff is a simple add-on and should be standard. When Toyota and Ford offers it at no extra charge, how are you going to justify the cost?
March 17th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Build the car, I am sure you will be able to determine which options trully matter & which ones don’t. Thank you,
March 17th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Keep the cost as low as possible. That’s the ONLY way
Detroit can beat the Japenese and Koreans!
Dave
March 17th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Ok dear All,
Just to give you my experience with my actual car, an small basic Opel Corsa with a lot of generic GM parts.
I was just astonished a few month ago when I went to my garage for a little check. I was explaining that a warning light was on from time to time on the dashboard but I was unable to show it because it was out at the time I went to the garage.
No problem said the attendant, we will know everything of the conditions of the car and YOUR DRIVING BEHAVIOUR during the last 24 hours by plugging the car in the computer.
I asked to see and that was true. This is not advertised. I asked to get the software to check the use of the car … mainly by my children who say they respect speed limits and so on … but I’m not sure of it at all.
Until now I got no answer to my request.
So I think it would be pretty simple and not very costly (I didn’t pay too much for my car and it runs OK, thanks Opel) to adapt the already "board computer" for an home usage using a common USB link, be it wireless or not. The software could be available through an internet application.
I vote for an optional wireless connectivity of the board computer which is there anyway. And a possibility of a customization by the user of the outputs he wants. This should not cost very much since you already pay for it (except the connectivity to your own computer ).
For an E-REV vehicle, the suggestions made above are of real interest. I think I would prefer to get rough data of mileage, electricity regenerated, rate of discharge of the battery, correlated with the current driving behaviour (average speed, .
Price and cost data should be introduced by the car owner on is own computer.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:35 am
I like nifty little electronic touches just like everyone else, however, most are only utilized when a car is new and one is playing around with all the gadgets and gizmos.A real-time energy reserve monitor seems mandatory, but things like service intervals, engine hours, motor time, etc, aren’t really needed except on an access basis.What is the ONE thing I’d like to see GM do with the Volt? GET IT TO MARKET ASAP! Don’t piss away precious time using in-house committees to decide if available battery tech is adequate for this application…choose the best available NOW (like LiFEPO4), and get the car on the market. As better tech comes along, it can, and should be incorporated directly into production, with previous customers (the ones who supported GM with their money) offered reasonable-cost upgrades.When I first read about the Volt I said, "WOW! Now here finally is a truly viable, real-world vehicle that deserves the name ‘hybrid’!" I’d love to see GM grab the reins on this and use the opportunity to SET the market bar. The LAST thing we need is yet another bloated SUV that gets maybe 5mpg more than the last one.Now, as for something specific I’d love to see…offer the Volt with the OPTION of its onboard generator engine to use a fuel OTHER than gasoline! The United States has the largest supply of natural gas in the world. Vehicles have been successfully using fuels such as butane and propane for years, AND I might add, a "distribution network" for these fuels already exists! Take propane for example…you can buy it almost everywhere, and you don’t even need a fixed, onboard "tank" to hold it…make the Volt capable of using OTS propane tanks that can be quickly replaced…which means it loses nothing in terms of cross-country range, yet is completely OFF the petroleum "teat".A generator engine doesn’t operate in the same environment as does one required to provide motive force. It starts up, goes to a preset, optimal rpm, and runs at a steady state, allowing less "complex" fuels to be used, and this is all too evident if one simply looks to the private sector where industrious and inventive people have been "home engineering" all sorts of alternative fuel vehicles for years.Stylish is nice. Modern is nice. Gadgets are nice. However, underneath it all, the basic platform should be kept simple, and built to be upgraded either by the consumer, or manufacturer as technology permits.Another factor that must be addressed is PRICE. There are already quite a number of high-priced EV’s and alternative fuel vehicles using NASA derived technology that only a few can afford…and the people who can afford THOSE tend to have substantial economic resources which generally means they aren’t exactly fretting every night over the cost of gas. The high-priced vehicles will fail for one simple reason…low market penetration. It’s time for GM to reach back in time and steal an idea from an early 20th century entrepreneur…Henry Ford. Instead of building a few expensive, optioned out, over-teched vehicles, instead churn out a veritable swarm of reasonably priced, "good enough tech" vehicles that will get into the hands of MANY consumers.Anybody remember what Cadillac built between 1900-1930? How about Chevrolet? Buick? Anyone? But I’ll be almost EVERYONE has heard of the Model A and Model T Ford. What was the secret? It was bringing to market the right car, at the right price, at the right time to get PEOPLE into them. This is what the Volt should be about. Not another EV1 doled out to a limited market via leases, nor something like the Honda ECV–another boondoggle being leased out in a limited market, using high-dollar, unrealistic technology…that is of course if the idea is to actually do something positive about getting practical, low-cost alternative fuel vehicles on the road. On the other hand, if the idea is to suck up huge government subsidies and tax credits for the "effort" placed into R&D for a car that won’t actually effect change in the real world, then I suppose delaying production, continuing to "develop" the technology, and all that other hogwash is the order of the day.I mean, just how hard IS it to build an EV? People have been converting ICE cars in their garages for decades, AND even been building on-board or towed generator "systems" to allow cross-country range; all from parts and components sourced "locally" and "on the cheap". Yes, these "inventors" were satisfied with CURRENT TECH….like SLA batteries, but their existence proves it doesn’t take billions of dollars to put an EV or alternative fuel vehicle on the road…it just takes the desire to make it happen.Right now GM is standing in a wide-open doorway to the future with virtually no competition already extant. The longer GM takes to bring the Volt to market, the smaller that door becomes. Already an "upstart" company is planning to have a sub-$30K EV in widespread distribution by next year…using Chinese backing…an electric car with 120 mile range…nothing fancy or over-teched, but straight to the point.It’s time to stop designing, stop developing, freeze the concept, and get into production.If the Volt I can buy tomorrow lacks some goofy "gee-whiz" gauge or readout, I could care less, and I suspect I’m not alone in this regard.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:36 am
I JUST WANT AN ELECTRIC CAR!!
And I want one as cheaply as possible. If I want a bunch of superfluous add-ons, I would get a gas car!
All I need to know:
How long til charge complete.
How many "MPG" am I getting.
How long til battery is drained.
Please don’t start adding stuff, especially large LCD display screens that suck power. I want the battery to last as long as possible.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Wow look at all the comments. Is anyone really even going to read mine? Reading yes, no, yes, yes, no over and over again gets old. haha! Is anybody out there. IMO it is a total waste of money and electricity. On board mpg, battery state, etc is all that is needed.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:52 am
I hope that someone has been working with the Bose company in designing a stereo that uses less power but really rocks. It should be built like a laptop with a touchscreen. USB inputs to store MP3’s. Also all of the accessories should be run off of a seperate battery that charges simutaineously with the other batteries. That being said, I think the most important thing is to get this car into production!! If the gas prices keep climbing I’ll buy a Prius and then I won’t need a Volt. I have never owned a foriegn car and don’t want to. Heck, how hard would it have been for GM to reinvent the GEO metro X series that got 60 miles per gallon without batteries?
March 17th, 2008 at 5:55 am
Anything above the basic vechicle that add costs to the price of the basic car should be an option. All we want to know is:
1. How long until the full charge is completed.2. Percent of battery power left while driving.
If the Volt does NOT come in with a selling price below $25K it will be difficult to sell with the inevitable competition from Japanese and European manufacturers.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:05 am
I would like to see a boiled down version. I am someone that does not need all the options on a car. Would like to see an electric car with the bare necessities. Fm radio, cruise control and that is it. They should be able to put out an elecctric car with bare bones options for around 20k. And for thoes that need it all make then like they want. But for us that just want an electric car to get from the high prices of gas then I hope they build it
March 17th, 2008 at 6:06 am
LCD screen do not suck up much juice. In fact alot of research now is being poured into certain polybenzene based matrials to establish an even more efficient and as thin as a credit card LCD. That being said, I don’t want a bunch of extra garbage on my new car. Honestly, all i need is the body of a small coupe or sedan with an electric motor that can get me up to 75 mph and sustain that for a while(I am still skeptical about the 40 mile range when the tesla and zapp cars can go 250 – 300 miles per charge, step it up chevy). About the monitoring the best time to charge, everyone will charge it at night, when it is the cheapest because power is in low demand while people sleep. Electric motors have been around for a long time, and we are good at building them. Don’t try to rip us off.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Please don’t start adding silly web options to this car. What’s next, a myspace page for each vehicle?
My current Japanese-made hybrid provides a reasonable feeback as to gas consumption / electric usage in-vehicle. That is quite enough. I don’t see the need to check in on my car via the web while I’m at work via mobile Internet or whatever. I want a car to get me where I’m going, cheaply and efficiently. As soon as I’m out of the car I am too busy living my life to even care what the car is doing out there in the garage. Just hurry up, please!
March 17th, 2008 at 6:22 am
great looking car give me a great price and not a bunch of stats that don’t really mean anything. I know I’m saving by driving the car. I don’t need to be emailed or told by the car how much I’m saving. I do need to know how much of a charge is left on the battery.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:24 am
I would like to see a full electric vehicle. So we can say good bye to OIL. I say good bye to OIL. Go ahead GM you know it will work. Remember the EV1…… you will sell a ton of them. Take back America and make a fully electric vehicle. I dare you !
March 17th, 2008 at 6:25 am
I would like to see a full electric vehicle. So we can say good bye to OIL. I said good bye to OIL. Go ahead GM you know it will work. Remember the EV1…… you will sell a ton of them. Take back America and make a fully electric vehicle. I dare you !
March 17th, 2008 at 6:26 am
I would like to see a full electric vehicle. So we can say good bye to OIL. I said good bye to OIL. Go ahead GM you know it will work. Remember the EV1…… you will sell a ton of them. Take back America and make a fully electric vehicle. I dare you ! http://www.pluginolympia.com
March 17th, 2008 at 6:27 am
All of the options listed would be useful. You really can’t have too much information. Better to have more data features so that people can pick and choose what they want. A calendar that synchs with outlook and google calendar would be useful too.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:35 am
I would like, instead of a full roof top sunroof, a retractable
solar panel collectoin to recharge the batteries. The router internal network system would then balance the recharge on demand either via gas or diesel and solar.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:37 am
In reference to the questions above:
1) Yes
2) Yes, equipment expenses only, OnStar already offers this service, so I think the service should be included as part of the OnStar basic package
3) Yes, always like more information (I am electronics technician by trade and believe all information is important and aids in troubleshooting whether it seems important or not)
4) Personal opinion is this is irrelevant, I can maintain my own records and do my own math
5) No, I would rather maintain the vehicle myself and not have too much automated for me.
I am still watching this program closely because I want to see it succeed… one step closer to fuel/emissions free. As of the moment; however, I am concerned about the cost and the target consumer. Everyone wants gas mileage and everyone wants to get "green" but if the cost gets too high up there, it’s introduction would be for the rich who are busy driving fuel hog SUV’s and probably don’t really care about the mileage… the caring consumers will be unable to afford it. I agree with Greg(87) on all the extra electronics as well… only show the information I need immediately while driving, sell the vehicle with software for a laptop and a manual on how to read the vehicle’s computer… or is that too much for a consumer to have access to (I feel automakers are greedy and withhold this information so their proprietary technicians with proprietary tools, software, and parts have to make repairs)? Is it possible to install a solar panel for a roof? I know it isn’t a huge help… but it is a help and an extra that I would pay for since I move every couple of years from apartment to apartment and do not have an actual home to plug the car into at night. Is an A/C system for the battery more efficient than a liquid cooled system?
March 17th, 2008 at 6:40 am
All the add ons sound great but I thought the whole idea of creating the Volt was to make it affordable to as many people as possible. If the car it overpriced what good is it if noone can afford to buy it? Guys lets be realistic and attack the problem the correct way, make a fully electric car without all the fancy gizmos and gets us more than 40 miles per charge.
How is it that the TELSA gets 200-300 mile a charge and the Volt only gets 40? The technology is there lets use it at an affordable price.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:45 am
I would like some of that information, but I don’t think I want a wireless router set up. I would prefer using a flash drive that I could use to get the data and then plug it into my computer where I access either a web app or client app to fool around with the data. No need to suck more power from the car than necessary.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:45 am
1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail? Would prefer this information be displayed in real-time in the vehicle.
2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much? If it was part of a very informative LCD panel and navigation system I’d pay up to $499.
3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc. This doesn’t seem helpful other than knowing that I am saving CO2 whenever I drive the Volt, but once I know this I won’t be checking it again.
4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel? Yes
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest? Not really. If it needs to be charged during the day regardless of rates, it will need to be charged. This isn’t necessary.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Having wireless access to this data would be moderately helpful and useful. Most of that same information would be, or at least should be, also available on the car itself. With the cost of the Volt already rising from its original estimate, I would not be willing to pay very much extra for this service. It would help if this wireless service could be combined with with Wi-Max internet and cell phone capacity (in my case for the iPhone, in my son’s case the Blackberry on a different carrier), the ability to sync an iPod with my Mac at home, etc. If it this service is offered, (a) it should be relatively inexpensive, (b) platform neutral — that is, able work with Linux, Mac, and Windows through, for example, a standard browser, and (c) absolutely, definitely not tied to a proprietary system available only from GM. If this item were to cost a significant amount of money, say $500 or more, I would rather have the option of investing in a stronger battery — or seats that an older couple (65 and 67) could more easily get into and out of, etc. P.S. I hope that it will have an option for 220 volts (at my home) as well as 110 (at my son’s home and most guest locations).
March 17th, 2008 at 6:48 am
I believe the most important issue as regards to how the Volt communicates to the User/GM is the method used. I would prefer IP communications over power line ethernet. This would make it more universal and secure. Few examples:
1) Connection at home to monitor the car with some of the software features suggested.
2) Connect to a public charging station so that billing would be communicated by the car to the billing service.
3) Connect at a dealer for diagnostics.
4) Connect to GM for software updates. I believe that this is important and requires a more secure approach that wireless cannot provide.
Using wireless communications involves to many security issues. There are many who don’t bother to secure their wireless networks.
Also the issue of having to have the right network name and login. I believe that wireless would limit were the car could communicate to the user and to GM.
With a direct connection via power line ethernet only two security passwords would be needed. One with GM for SW downloads/system monitoring and one for the user. An additional one for a billing agency could be set up for away from home charging at a public charging kiosk.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:49 am
I am very excited about the Volt project and agree that any delay in production is not what we need. For me, the price point is $30K. Its style is of huge importance, as well as a great interior and instrument panel. Certainly solar panels should be incorporated into the body as much as possible. I look forward to seeing the Volt in production. Otherwise I will wait for a Corvette Prius. But seriously, my 2003 ‘vette had the best instrumentation of any vehicle. OnStar is a fantastic safety feature. I would not be without it, and it is helpful to receive a monthly e-mail on oil life, etc. LarryLufkin@comcast.net.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:49 am
I voted no. The reason is that I would already expect information for electrical usage/gas usage be available without an email. And the delayed charge should be set by the user and not automatic.
The rest of that stuff sounds like something that will just drive up the cost and development time but not really add much to the vehicles functionality/usefulness. And I don’t want to encourage people to drive with there face glued to there laptop.
Please don’t turn this into a low priced luxury car. It needs to be 30K with a few options if you want Average Joe to afford it.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:52 am
60 of my 77 years were spent in the car business, & for my own amusement, I customized (not for profit) a number of favorite body styles & drive trains with a generous application of the kiss principle. I think the Volt would be a better vehicle with cleaner (less weird) lines & as few "gadgets " (they break)as possible. I spent 2 wks driving a SatVue hybrid & studying , with a friendly service mgr, the online service manual. Cluttered! & not enough return on the extra cost.
Volt is appealing because I had been considering putting a small power unit in the bed of one of the EV converted pickups that was available locally.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Yes, I think it would be very wise to include the option for uploading data on how the car performs for personal and corporate use.
The value I see in this is getting information back to GM for tweaking and supporting this new platform. GM should make this a standard feature for any "flavor" of the vehicle so that the engineering can be improved. This will give GM a significant advanatage over the other PHEV’s coming out. There will be surprises with this… testing/monitoring all of the environment/use variables will be impossible.
One caveat, do not make the data export tightly coupled to the software running the car. No "blue screens of death" … kin to the infamous Microsoft OS are reasonable. I do not want to see a hex dump while driving on the expressway.
Dan
March 17th, 2008 at 6:55 am
If customers want this and that, they have to realize that all those extras will dig-in into the battery power and therefore will get less mileage out of the car. Why not start with the basics for now and when battery technology improves some more, then think about these things. As for myself I’d be real happy to have a heating and air conditioning system, a radio that sounds decent but takes little power (get help from Bose for that), accessories lights that can be control automatically and manually, And of course all the safety equipment needed on a car. Most of the drivers would use this car for commuting so a NAV would not be that important, plus the fact a portable one would take less electricity for those who must have one. Hey also, isn’t the whole idea to begin with, is to make the Volt affordable? I hope the Volt project is build with a lot of common sense.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:55 am
I would like to be able to come home in the evening from work, pull in the garage and roll the front tires over some sort of "car wash like hump" and then an LED light comes on in the dash showing "Set to Charge" or something. I want to make charging the Volt as convenient and simple as possible so the whole family will keep the car running on the cheapest possible electricity as often as possible.
Until there is "automatic wireless recharging", and a "smart grid" where your Volt can "talk" to the electric utility companies about charging times and price, I’d like to be able to program the home charging unit to charge the Volt at any time of the day or night over a month … or even a year.
Hopefully, the home charging unit will have a user friendly, very secure web interface where you can pull up a calendar on your PC and program it to charge the Volt according to your personal preferences, data from the utility companies about the cheapest times to charge, etc.
It would need to have battery backup and nonvolatile storage of the data … and perhaps the ability to synchronize with time servers on the internet, etc. It would also need to have some sort of "Charge Now" feature that would let you override the programmed charging times if you want to. Maybe just enter a private code on the charger unit in the garage to get it to charge at whatever time you want … knowing that it could be more expensive. Wealthy people might want to just disable all the programming and have it charge any time they want. Let them spend more for electricity if they want to. It’s their electricity bill.
Whoever makes this kind of web interface for the charger better make it user friendly or people will get overwhelmed setting it up and just not use it … the same folks who never could program their VCR, etc.
The same thing goes for all the electronics inside the Volt. A lot of smart design needs to go into the information systems for the Volt. Do good intuitive design like Apple does with the iPhone. Make it simple enough for your average high school teenager to figure out with a little time. All kinds of drivers will be driving it you know, not just people like us on this site.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:01 am
I’m currently a Prius owner, and my least favorite feature on the car is the touch display panel. It’s cute, but otherwise awkward to use … try changing climate settings while driving … it’s a pain.
Use the display as a display, and don’t get too "cute". I say no to the wireless … just not necessary.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I think most users (main stream) wont care much other than, How far can I go till I need fuel (elec. or bio). I have a great idiea for this car I was going to offer to any manufacuter of hybrids, I would like to prsent it to G.M because they spent the time to build a better plan ( Volt ). Please contact me. Its yours N/C. I just want to help us all. ( I have prototype)
March 17th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Much of what’s being suggested belongs in version 2.0. GM had better just get this vehicle on the road quick, or Toyota will get there first. That said, I do like the idea of knowing SOC with some degree of precision.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:11 am
I will not spend extra 500$ on a car that’s likely going to be pushing my finances, so if they have this option or not, it’s really irrelevant for me.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Someone mention solar panels on the roof. What most people don’t realize is, solar panels are not cost effective. They are still very expensive and require large surfaces to be effective. I know every little bit of power generation helps. The problem is customers would expect too much from them and they would be disappointed. GM could make it an option, but customers would have to be well inform before their purchase.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I think electricity (kW-hr) and gas (gallons) per mile monitoring would be a usuful feature. I would hesitate to have GM produce a "CO2 Saved" figure as it is a number that is easily skewed based on assumptions (type of electricity used, compared to which other ICE,…).
March 17th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Here is my take.
1. All of this needs to be optional. I do not want to see things forced on people that do not want it. But I do, and I am willing to pay for it, as long as it does not become a $2K option.
2. A built in wi/fi router or wireless client capability is completely unnecessay. Ethernet connection over standard electric lines already exists. So when I plug in the Volt, it would then be able to communicate through the power line to the adapter that then gets plugged into the router I have in the house. This stops any power drain on the batteries, as it is only running when the car is plugged in. Those adapters only cost about $50.00. This eliminates all the wireless hacking concerns.
3. In additon to the data logging/diagnostics being downloaded back to my PC, the connection should be able to give complete control of the charging, GPS, and music systems. I should also be able to program when I want the charging circuit to start and the heating/cooling system to activate, so the car is ready for me when I open the door.
4. Software updates from GM could be handled very easily this way. And in the first few months, I expect there to be several updates required, once the real cars hit the road. It is completely unnecessary to have to take the car to a dealer to do a software update.
4. If the dash is an LCD screen, I would like to be able to customize where and which displays are being shown at any one time. Some times there can be too much information deing displayed, causing overload to the driver. Even if it is not completely customizable, there should be several different software optional "themes" ready to go.
So except for the LCD dashboard and the ethernet of power adapter, most of this is software related, not hardware. And other than the up front cost of the initial option purchase, I do not see the requirement of any monthly fees, unless you want the OnStar options.
And didn’t we discuss this very heavily about six months ago on the old forum?????
March 17th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Go look at a Prius and see what 11 years of development has produced and use their knowledge in developing the Volt. After your raised estimate of costs, I bought 2 of them and dropped my desire for the Volt.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:19 am
I would like to see a variation of the Volt that has an SUV body so that it is practical for everyday use…I would also like to see it designed so that the IC engine on board couldbe switched out to a fuel cell when a hydrogen fueling infrastructure is in place.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:23 am
As for the built in webserver, I’m not sure that would real practical for a standard option….. optional updgrade sure, but I don’t think it should be a standard option.
In my fealing the overal price of the car should be enough to make people want to buy this thing. If the price comes out above $25,000, I think most consumers will balk at it.
Keeping things simple, at least for the baseline model, is essential to keep pricing on this vehicle attractive. You want mass adoption, not just niche.
Simple things such as an iPod dock and built in Bluetooth connectivity are inexpensive conveniences which should be standard in my opinion.
I also agree that knowing how much charge (in terms of miles) is left and what your current mileage rate is, are very important factors.
Adding features uses energy that car can’t use for propulsion, so the simpler the better. Basic features such as Heat and A/C are a must. Driving features like cruise control, tilt steering and intermittent wipers obviously. Beyond that, the point of the car is to take you as far as possible without having to refuel/charge while keeping the overall price of the car low.
If you want to integrate some of these more obscure requests and high end items, …. do it as just that, optional updgrade. But keep the basic car at a price that the masses will get in line to buy.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:24 am
If this is an electric car, and an environmentally sane option, I think a large chunk of your market are rejecting a lot of the gadgetry and consumerism that goes with it. A monitor for hours on engine/battery sounds a wise option and necessary one. In all other matters, though, more gadgets means more material produced, means more waste.
Can we keep it lean and clean please? Else all this extra will just end up in landfill, non?
A radio will do because I can use my $50FM transmitter to play my IPOD/MP3 player through my stereo. An indicator will be essential for battery life, but otherwise I get my wattage readouts from my electric co.
I get that GM wants to sex up the image of the electric car, but we’re already converted!! My one comment would be that since the majority of those influencing Volt purchases will be women (as with most car purchases these days), you’d be wise to start considering the body design and practicallity of its interior before you consider the bling factor of flat screen displays & etc.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Any extra features that delay getting the vehicle to market are bad. Don’t go for a home run on the initial offering. There will be follow on products, and you can add new features then.
Just make the car, make it reliable and affordable and fun. And make regular commercials for it, not ones designed to scare buyers off. And stop Lutz from trying to scare away environmentally oriented buyers; they are a large part of your target market for this car.
I’m still not convinced GM is serious about this. So far, the advertising makes it look wierd, not like a regular car. GM has been in business for over 100 years, don’t claim you don’t know how to advertise cars!
March 17th, 2008 at 7:26 am
1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail?
Would like to be able to download to a flashdrive –
2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much?
Yes, but should be able to do the software and flashdrive port for under $100
3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc.
NO
4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel?
NO – simple math, I can figure it out myself
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest?
NO – information available from other sources – if a person is interested in this type of information, they can look it up.
Remember K.I.S.S.
Build a basic piece of transportation without a lot of bells and whistles (everything added to the car draws power).
What I would like to see is added range — 40 miles???, get serious — Tesla is claiming 200-300 miles per charge, seems like the LEAST you could do is 100 miles per charge.
My biggest concern is battery life – I have been driving an electric car for years and have NEVER found a battery that would last for more than a year or so (and I have bought some $200+ each batteries that claimed 6 to 8 years of life….). Whatever type of battery pack you install, make sure it will last and not need to be replaced every two or three years (the car would basically be worthless after the battery pack wears out!!).
Looking forward to the Volt – It will be my next car - I will drive my old car till the wheels fall off while I wait.
Len
March 17th, 2008 at 7:28 am
I think the monitoring should be on the console of the vehicle. There is no need to have remote access. Ithink it could be abused.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Keep cost down. Offer a smaller battery version for owners who mostly drive only 15 miles per day. Do something about a heater and air-conditioner, even if they are optional. Show the battery verus ICE situation to help users make the driving decisions that reduce oil consumption.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:29 am
For me the biggest option I’m willing to pay for is a solar panel in the roof. I live in sunny Florida and would love to soak up some of that sun.
WiFi would be cool but make it a pay for option, maybe part of the onstar which I gladly pay for in my other GM cars.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:30 am
I don’t know about others but I am looking for a car that will lesson our dependence on oil. American made is a must. There is no doubt in my mind this car will be expensive to build with the new technology. That still is no reason for GM to try and recoup their cost with the Chevy buyers of this car. This technology will be the future. I see big oil pushing for a higher price of the car and then pointing to it’s lack of sales as proof that the public still wants low MPG gas burning cars.
GM should include as much of the features that consumers demand in other $30K cars. Buyers are already paying a premium price of the car. The limited distance the car can travel. 40 miles will get me to work and back.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Alot of the options requested should be done during testing so you can show the statistics of how well the car did (or didn’t do). But having this wireless option as something you want to buy, I guess is okay. I wouldn’t want it added automatically because that just increases the overall cost of the car. You’d definitely need some kind of monitoring system, but most drivers won’t need the "in the weeds" detail. I just want to drive the car and know I don’t have to pay the $4 a gallon for gas! Please keep it simple and keep it real.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:33 am
This feature would be most useful when the car is sitting in the garage, plugged-in and charging.
You could switch on the wireless data feature, walk over to your home PC and buy/write/download software to analyze your car’s performance and mechanical status.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Get the volt into production and add up grades later. the desire is so strong we need to start with a basic model like the model T
March 17th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Well, they should have some way of communicating with the electric grid for smart charging. (i.e. Demand response)
March 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am
I voted yes, but I do NOT want this to be part of OnStar, while I’m sure that is a great thing for some people I don’t want anything to do with it.
That being said, I would not pay extra for it, but yes I would like to have it. I think that GM needs to set the bar high, include things such as this to generate more hype and get more consumers interested in buying.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am
I just sat in the Smartcar, that is available now in the USA. Unlike the model in Canada, my knees hit a ridge on the dash. I will not get one of those. I sat in a Beetle, I fit fine. I am going to purchase the 2009 model in August.
I hope GM does not make that mistake, and build the Volt that will accomidate drivers with a 35-36 inch inseam. Americans are tall. Ssave the high tech stuff (wireless remote) and focus on who are you going to be able to accomidate with the volt. Is 6ft 2in the maximum? If so, too bad.
Five dollars a gallon hey? I hope GM builds at least three models of the volt, entry level, mid level, and one that has all the toys. I hope it is not a one fits all, and the cost is out of reach of the person that needs to buy it.
Howard Buckalew
March 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am
i’m a software engineer and i can ensure you that it DOES NOT COST BIG BUCKS to make a wireless server. i’ve done it before in other products. and most of the needed software is freely available as open source and as it is basic web stuff, it is very secure. that said, things like this are a one person job for three months, if that if he knows what he is doing.
now if you went onstar, most of the interface is already done for you except the scripts to parse what data you are looking for.
now as for hardware, you can get a wireless router for $20 at your local store and this includes taxes and profit mark-ups.
as for what i would like to see is as much of the above as possible in the local computer screen (whatever that is in this case). we have the option to check those values or not. my avalanche has lots of info all shown in a three inch one line menu setup under the speed on the dash. this is simple and wouldn’t short change the total distance. keep it simple like what you already have in your GM products and it will go far for both energy usage and status.
k.i.s.s.
$35K is already high and your time to market is also an issue. don’t add to these issues.
i already get onstar emails about usage and whats left. keep real time data to a local menu on the volt and longer calculations based on some equations to an email. this will off-load the processing to some onstar/gm server processor. the local volt display should just show some data points that are important in those equations (as noted in desires above).
March 17th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Question 1; The most important feature is ability of the driver to see how his driving affects mileage and learn to drive better. I find the feedback of my Prius is very helpful and has improved my driving. The driving public is tuned in to gas milage and this is still a good measurement to use. Emissions reduced, CO2 negated might be good information, but it also may be too hard to keep accurate.
Second, do everything you can to put as much battery capacity in the car so I can go as far as possible on electricity only. I commute about 37 miles a day, and I want to be able to do that without the gas engine running. You’ve done it before, you can do it again. This may scare the oil companies, but it is the most important feature for my childrens future.
As to the wireless option, don’t do it except as an option. OnStar and ODB handle everything I need. And the public still remembers that you are tracking information that is being used against them by the insurance companies.
Just make the car and get it on the road. Don’t worry about extras, just get the basics right. What good is a wireless network if the you don’t have the electric drive train right.
And I would add a little more power. 130kw to 140kw might be a little slow for some drivers. That’s about 187 HP equivalent. Maybe you can add an upgrade in a year or two.
Just do it!
March 17th, 2008 at 7:41 am
I just sat in the Smartcar, that is available now in the USA. Unlike the model in Canada, my knees hit a ridge on the dash. I will not get one of those. I sat in a Beetle, I fit fine. I am going to purchase the 2009 model in August.
I hope GM does not make that mistake, and build the Volt that will accomidate drivers with a 35-36 inch inseam. Americans are tall. Ssave the high tech stuff (wireless remote) and focus on who are you going to be able to accomidate with the volt. Is 6ft 2in the maximum? If so, too bad.
Five dollars a gallon hey? I hope GM builds at least three models of the volt, entry level, mid level, and one that has all the toys. I hope it is not a one fits all, and the cost is out of reach of the person that needs to buy it.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:41 am
We don’t even know yet how much the Volt will cost or whether it will actually become a reality. Let’s not bog it down with every gee whiz gizmo that could slow down development and add to the cost of the vehicle. The point is to get a revolutionary vehicle on the road that people will buy and drive.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:42 am
PLEASE GET THE CAR TO MARKET , KEEP IT SIMPLE AND KEEP THE PRICE DOWN, PEOPLE WILL BUY
March 17th, 2008 at 7:43 am
None of the superfluous video screen features are necessary. The last thing we need is more incompetent drivers watching their display instead of the road.
Let’s stop the fluff and get to the chase. Here are some other concerns from me, a GM family member…
If you wonder why GM sales have been less than robust, how about producing something the shrinking middle class can afford — definitely below $30,000. I don’t expect anything between $20,000 and $30,000 to be no-frills. I expect everything included, and that’s not unrealistic. Stop overpaying your CEOs, and maybe you can pull this off.
I’ve been driving my ‘96 Camaro for 12 years. If you want me to buy something new from GM, it had better be just as sporty, high-tech and under $30,000.
Regarding the environment… there is no reason any auto maker should produce an internal combustion engine beyond the year 2012. You must stop dragging your feet and quit bowing to the oil industry. I challenge you to stop manufacturing fossil-fuel burning vehicles by 2012. There’s no reason you can’t do it. If GM doesn’t get there first, someone else will.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Get the volt into production and add upgrades later.The desire is so strong we can’t wait .Similar to the model T
March 17th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Don’t reinvent the wheel and drive cost to the unobtainable. OnStar and the onboard microprocessor can handle most all anyone would want to know and more. Keep styling close to the original concept, use Cadillac cues and don’t GM bland it away from all of us really liking the car. Bean counters will try to make it all cheaper in materials, they’ve done enough to ruin our economy as it is. Let the engineers and scientists and designers make the car, leave the accountants and business suits to count the money.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:46 am
The car should have some way to tell the state of charge, like a fuel gauge does, but it does not have to so complicated. If you want to know how much you are saveing in fuel costs, just write down $40.00 everytime you stop at a gas station for a pop and no fuel.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:47 am
In answer to the GM engineers’ five questions, I would answer yes to #1- preferably a dash board readout of usage and dates. #2- the extra cost for this should entail no more than a few hundred dollars. The Volt is meant to reduce the cost of driving, and I anticipate it for the masses.As for my rejection of #3 and following, overcomplications compound the cost and the liklihood of malfunctions or difficulty in operating. User friendliness should also be a key componet of the Volt.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:47 am
I would like (and would pay for) a 110V 15a plug-out on the outside of the car (with a switch on the inside) so that I can run my sump or freezer during power outages.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:48 am
I’ve been an electric car advocate since the ’70’s, so stop the BS and get the car on the road! NO to wireless since OnStar already serves up most of the monitoring issues anyway. I have been a lifer GM owner and am getting frustrated with all the promises. 4 Chevy’s, 2 Pontiacs and 1 Olds. Am about to consider the Malibu Hybrid as an interim to the Volt. However, GM is not letting me pick some of the luxury items I want eg. leather seats. I am with most of the previous commentators and that is keep the price range $27 to $32,000. Affordable by most drivers. Above all, a QUALITY made vehicle is utmost to bringing the American public back to (mostly made) American auto.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:49 am
This is interesting discussion. Maybe this car would be good for having all this extra information for the customer. Since many of us early adopters are either technologically advanced or more environmentally concerned people. I know most people in the general public wouldn’t know what to do with such information. "I put the key in and it goes", ALF.
I think a good option on the charger would be something with the cost of electricity. I would think the utilities would love to delay the charging cycle to later in the night on peek demand days. It could be something simple as a load shedding arrangement that many utilities already have. To save money based on current cost of electricity, many utilities are not setup to do that for home users. So I don’t know how much help that would be. A load shedding device could be installed by the utility at the charging outlet as well.
As for information from the car, I guess I would be interested in more basic numbers like: estimate date that service would be needed, percentage of electricity vs gas usage and estimate of miles left on electricity. The other data that has been suggested would be kind of a wow type thing for me. But I don’t think I would look at it much, so not so useful for me.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:51 am
The volt should at least have a wireless network card that allows you to connect it to your wireless home network. Obviously, there should be firewall security but for the most part it would just be nice to be able to access the stats data from your home computer.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Given the stories I have been reading recently about the projected cost of the Volt, I am concerned that adding more features, if they are not purely optionally, will reduce the number of people that are able and willing to buy the Volt.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:52 am
LET’S GET THE CAR TO MARKET AT A LOW PRICE
March 17th, 2008 at 7:53 am
The most important thing with this project will be keeping costs down…that’s the only way to get high buy-in once you go live. Keep it looking sharp, but make most of these special requests "options", so that your low-end commuters will be willing to plunk down the bucks to get in on it.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Anything you want to add as an option is fine with me but keep the price of the base vehicle low enough for the masses to afford it. Lets be totally honest here. The electric vehicle technology would be completely solar powered and cost almost nothing to keep running if GM & Shell oil had not bought up and eliminated all electric trains in this countries past in order to make sure they could sell more deisel fuel . This kind of capitolism cannot make us a stronger and healthier country and will not save us from foriegn oil dependance. I have purchased 8 new cars from GM in my car buying history and never have I bought from any other manufacturer American or foreign. I will not pay more than $ 25,000.00 for this car. When you care about a country and its future you make profit concessions at first that will pay off in the long run with volume sales. As the lyrics of the song go." You shouldn’t have took more than you gave and we wouldn’t be in this mess today". A lot of manufacturers will be hitting the market with their versions of plug ins and Hydrogen powered vehicles, you better make sure yours has the best range and is the least expensive or no one will be bying the GM VOLT.
I hope you understand my position fully.
Jim
March 17th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I just want a car with 4 wheels and a battery. Save the fancy stuff for later.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I too believe the most important aspect is to keep the car simple and reliable. On board solar panels on the roof and hood are very important to me for extending the range of driving. I live in the mountains and it’s a 20 mile drive to town. If the car could "recharge" while I’m shopping, etc. then it would be a useable vehicle. Also, being able to plug in to solar panels at home would be an important option.
No to wireless. Diagnostics plug in capability would be a plus. No need for on board music. Just keep it simple.
And extend the range as much as possible.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Geez, just found this post and alreay 100+ comments!?!?!
#1 – in the vehicle
I am bound to be stuck in traffic some time, so I could play with this data while waiting.
#2 – max $20/year
Not sure what I would be paying for. If it is data processing, I would hope that all the processing and display would be handled within the car’s computer. In that case I would pay max $400 for the computer module.
#3 – certainly emissions data, CO2 and such would be interesting as well, but optional.
#4 – yes
#5 – charge scheduling – big YYYYEEESSSSS
I would pay max $400 for that option as we have different rates at different times
As for external interface, any one of the standard interfaces, whichever is cheaper/easier would work:
1) USB slot
2) SD card slot
3) WiFi HTTP server
In any case, would be nice to be able to export that data into CSV or spreadsheet files that can be loaded at home on a computer. For instance, I would like a detailed numbers of power draw from different components. Then I could see how much is HVAC using during summer at different settings, or what is going on during winter, etc. So I would like to correlate HVAC settings to power draw for instance. Smaller modules likes lights and wipers need not such detailed data, only the bigger ones.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:58 am
I like the idea of wireless networking to collect/share data but am concerned about security and potential for obsolescence. Maybe a base unit or card that plugs into your computer would be good. It could be paired with the car such that the car would only talk to the single device; it would be similar to an electronic key fob. Users could connect to and get data from their cars but it should be harder to hack than an open standards system.
I’d be willing to pay a bit for a wireless option but I think many of the standard data items need to be available on the screen in the car. Fuel consumption, battery status, remaining time til full charge, etc. should be standard items on screen in car.
The option to enter some data into my home computer on gas prices and electricity prices so I could see cost/performance/savings is appealing.
The wireless would be of even more value to me if it could access diagnostic data and trouble codes. It would be easier to maintain the car if I could get more data that a simple blinking light that is tripped by any of six different codes. I’ll pay more for an option that gives me real utility in addition to the nice to have data.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:00 am
GM,
To be a true revolution the volt needs to be made affordable. The base model needs to cost 15K or less.
I would like to see a powertrain that is mountable on a variety of models. It would also be nice if the batteries were expandable. Rather than make one big expensive integrated battery you should consider making a battery compartment with plugabble cells. Make each cell about 5kw, charge $500per cell and make the compartment (or compartments) able to hold 5-10 cells. This could then become an upgrade option and the consumer could select the number of cells and accordingly, the all electric range of the vehicle. Allowing the system to accept "plug and play" add on cells and additional battery capability opens the door to after market enhancements and makes upgrade easy as battery technology evolves.
GM is in a position to set an new industry standard in cell size and format, if you do it right.
The electric drive, controller, and battery should be made in a manner that allows fairly easy backfitting on existing vehicles and these components should be made available to the consumer. You could even sell it through your chains. I can envision a day when ma and pa Gogreen take thier Caddy to the Goodwrench guy and have a couple of hub electric motors, a battery and the necessary controllers backfitted for a couple G’s to boost fuel economy and performance. Many people will buy the hybrid for better economy, but they should also get better performance.
Speaking of performance there are millions of men (mostly) in this world who pay ridiculous amounts of money to add performance to their truck or car. Why dosen’t someone (Other than Tesla) market the performance enhancement aspect of having a couple hundred horsepower and skads of torque immediately available on demand at the electric wheels and, as a side effect, better milage. You need to figure out a way to rope the NAS-craze army into the electric revolution. Sponsor an electric drive or hybrid MONSTER TRUCK, the "GREEN MEANIE", and smash an old, gas, monster truck on national TV with it. Better yet, smash ten PRIUSES (Priuii??). Make an Electric Camaro that beats gas Corvettes one on one in the quarter mile and race them at NAS-craze events (I’ll drive the Camaro for you). Make a 4WD, Diesel, 1 ton, Dually, Hybrid that will pull the regular one backwards with all 6 tires smoking until its rubber melts off, then DO IT, maybe on Myth-Busters. I am sure Adam and Jamie would love to do that episode – electric cars are slow and weak – MYTH – Busted. To win the hearts and minds of America you’ll need to pull off some electric SHOCK and AWE. You can and should show, in dramatic style, that electric is not only more efficient and "green" but that it is also more powerful, faster and MEAN.
The simpler, the better. My Sister In Law recently paid $400.00 to have the plug wires replaced on her Chevy Venture – A mouse chewed the wires- it takes 2.1 HOURS of high priced labor to change the PLUG WIRES on that complicated beast.
Whatever you build, keep it simple please. And don’t make the wires tasty for mice.
R/
Steve
March 17th, 2008 at 8:03 am
1. In the vehicle – I do not need more e-mails! I get enough spam already!2. Should be part of the screen display info already in program. It is with the Prius3. NO – I already know that it emits less than my Corvette or Prius!4. NO – I can figure that out myself – it’s an easy calculation5. Yes – Should be about a $150.00 Option – and relatively easy to do
March 17th, 2008 at 8:04 am
I would love to see this car out as soon as possible. I would buy it tomorrow if I could. It has real advantages over a Prius.
This will be the car that could put GM head to head with Toyota.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:05 am
If ‘they’ put a plug on the Prius first it won’t matter what GM does. Just get a 40mile range phev in my driveway and worry about the gadgets later.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:05 am
To answer the actual questions….
Q: 1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail?
A: 1- In the vehicle is fine, but the option to have an e-mail sent has merit. However this should be accomplished from a "server" in the car that can connect via wireless (802.11 g/n) internet connection to the owners home wireless network. No need to PAY for OnStar (or another service) to make this happen. It is NOT rocket science and could be done very cheaply.
Q: 2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much?
A: 2- NO, see answer to #1
Q: 3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc.
A: 3- Not really, not primary my reason for wanting the car
Q: 4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel?
A: 4 – Now you’re talking, we should be able to tell the car how much we pay for electricity and fuel so it can make this calcuation.
Q: 5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest?
A: 5- Uuummm…. I would not a pay lot for a glorified alarm clock or timer to tell my Volt to start charging. I don’t think my electric meter spins any faster or slower at 3am vs. 3pm so I don’t think I would see any benifit from this option. Even if it was available in my area how long would it take me to recover the cost of the potion. I pay almost .16 cents per Kwh.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:06 am
While all of this proposed technology is cool, I see it as unnecessary. It may put the Volt financially out of reach for so many who would buy it otherwise. Give us some technology, but don’t go over the top.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:09 am
We have always bought station wagons or the equivalent. Presently we have a 1998 Volvo V70 and a 2006 Subaru Forester. It is unlikely we would buy a Volt unles it had a station wagon body style. Why buy a car unless it has all the space it can resonably have within its given envelope?
March 17th, 2008 at 8:09 am
No! No! No! How many times do I have to say NO!
My driving habits and info are for me to know and not GM or Ford or whatever to do with what they please with! Just a little bit more info that any lawyer would love to get their dirty little hands on that will come back a hurt you with.
ID Theif is at such I high now just imagine that your ID for your car is stolen and that info is plugged into another car. Now the police have your info in that other car that was used during a bank robbery or worse place you at a murder. And even if you manage to get out of that situation, cause remember computers don’t lie people do, that erronious info will be with you forever.
Try and get a job or get a credit card after that. Imagine the credit card or insurance companies jacking up your rates because you drive 1 mile above the speed limit anywhere at anytime. Always monitoring you. They are looking for any excuse to charge you more money.
I have driven 30 years without the need for Nav Systems, OnStar and the like. I don’t need them now I will never need them. A paper map and some planning will do just fine thanks.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:10 am
If the automoble exceed $30K it will exceed my desire to purchase — unless it is a quality prodict like my 1992, Oldsmoble 88 which was still going strong at 275K miles (10 years) and getting around 32 MPG.
1. Battery: a. Charging transformer will accept 110v – 220v at 50 – 60 hertz. This will allow charging from most of the homes in the world. Being affiliated with the military I would like to have my car with me when overseas. b. Tracking Kwh used to change battery. c. Tracking battery depletion and estimated distance left on charge. 2. Engine: a. MPG real time measure directly from gas consumption not estimated by mathematical algorithms from engine conditions that are not a direct measure of consumption. b. Estimated distance on fuel left in tank. 3. Estimated distance from both battery and fuel. 4. Solar panel to change battery while parked. I would pay up to $300 for this capability. 5. Having the data available on a plug-in LAN in the automobile would be worth $400.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Kept the base price down. Make the options more of a plug in type that can be added at the dealership or something we can do at a later date Can’t wait to get my hands on the volt. The U.S. needs to take back control of the Auto industry.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:14 am
I love the concept and look of the volt – why is it taking so long to get on the market? I do not want to pay a monthly/yearly fee for onstar so if there is any type of computer-based interaction it needs to be included… please get the car out and keep the cost down. I am a computer geek and would love any pc interaction supplied but not at the cost of delays and cost increases…
Wireless – cool but not necessary – option OK.
Internal access to info via pc interface – excellent.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I would love to own a hybrid that is stylish as well as affordable. The Volt is the best I’ve seen so far. My dad worked for GM, so I would prefer to buy your product. However, if you price this car out of the average persons reach – you will miss an opportunity. All the extra costly tech stuff should be optional.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:16 am
I also see most of these options necessary. Don’t scare off the general public or you’ll have a discontinued failure out of the gate.
I’m for anything that keeps the price of this car low so that as many people as possible can afford it.
I want the Chevy Volt to be successful on a basic consumer level, first. The goodies can come later.
P.S. Install a simply etimer on you home electrical outlet for $7. Don’t build it into the Volt as a $400 option!
March 17th, 2008 at 8:16 am
If some buyers want to pay for such options, then that’s cool. But I think it’s imperative to keep the base price down as much as possible.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:18 am
juat make it affordable
March 17th, 2008 at 8:18 am
With all that DC power in the car, why not have an inverter to provide at least one 120V AC socket?
I’ve lived through the 98′ Ice Storm and had no regular electricity for 3 weeks. To have such a feature would have made this car sell like hotcakes in times of need. For people in a disaster or worried about disasters, the Volt would become THE car to have.
On the lighter side, imagine having a microwave in your car! Being able to power up anything, anywhere: Power tools, computers, etc. all without having to find and buy exotic power converters.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Please, just build the dam thing already. The ecomomy is on the verge of collaspe. Gas at $4.00, the stock market falling, inflation. It’s sad, I have always loved General Motors products. As a kid, I remember my grandfather had a 64 Cadillac. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
GM has the know how, they sometimes just have such bad judgement. "They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" They had the EV1 10 years ago, what do they do. Shred them all. Buy Hummer. Now where are we. Toyota is on the verge of passing GM in production. Use some forsight.
"Build it and they will come" If the Volt will do what they say, people will line up for them. Build them well, and make them in large numbers. Don’t play games to raise the prices. Just for once do something riight. Our country is depending on you. Uncle Sam is in trouble. HELP!!
March 17th, 2008 at 8:19 am
We already have one Prius in the driveway, and in the next 2.5 years will be in the market for our second hybrid. The 48pmg I got on my 320 mile trip yesterday was very nice. My SW2 has 205,000 miles on it, and still gets 30mpg. So, we want the most bang for our buck. We want a mass-appeal hybrid, or electric car, not so many bells and whistles that will price the car out of the reach of most drivers, but one with enough to make the car practical and affordable for the most number of people.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:24 am
I agree with people who say the MOST important feed back is current battery charge & Current "miles per gallon " As an owner of a
Honda hybrid the MPG really helps you see how your driving effects the mpg. Also knowing when & how the battery is run down
would be just as valuable
March 17th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Question 1 – Have the info available in the vehicle, but not constantly/prominently displayed (safety issue)
Question 2 – Should be standard.
Question 3 – No, more interested in money savings, data provided would be of variable accuracy, depending on the source of electricity.
Question 4 – Yes, I would.
Question 5 – No – I can do that myself or get a timer.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:25 am
At this point I am looking forward to commuter transport, on board info for battery condition,distance,maintenance interval,etc is required. E-servers is an option but there are those that may find it useful and there are those who just want to plug and drive .Please keep it simple. (as an option.)
March 17th, 2008 at 8:27 am
I would like to know how many miles were electric only, how many were with engine and overall miles/gal.
Also if we could input our electric cost so we could see an overall cost per mile figure.
This is all I would need.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Please get it into production before I have to buy a new car, and keep it simple and inexpensive.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:31 am
We are trying to implement an evironmentally friendly car.
Bells and Whistles and gadgets do not help in that. Plus, these "innovations" will cerainly increase teh consumer cost significantly. And really, are people that lazy that they cannot go in there car to see the level of charge? Now you need to sent automatically to your cell phone. No!
Remember, we are trying to save the planet, less is more!
March 17th, 2008 at 8:32 am
This could be "over engineering". I work for a manufacturer and see it all the time. GET THE PRODUCT TO MARKET!!! Bells and whistles can be added and fine tuned on future models. GM needs a home run NOW, in order to compete. The US driver needs the Volt NOW. Focus on what is necessary to get this car to market ASAP.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:32 am
I do believe that the inclusion of a remote server would be nice, bu I do not believe it should come at extra cost. This car needs to be afordable. The goal should be to make this the one EV that everybody would be able to get. All the rest is just bells and whistles, and that is not what prospective customers for this kind of vehicle will be looking for.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:34 am
First generation vehicles are always expensive, and most of the value is learning what can be done better in a second generation. Given that this is going to be a relatively expensive car, give consumers more, rather than less. A less expensive model can be manufactured once costs can be engineered out of the vehicle.
The Volt can’t be all things to all people. GM needs to decide whether it is going to be the ultimate "green" car, or compete on price/fuel savings vs. every other model. I’m sure everyone has noted that the Prius accounts for over 40% of all hybrid sales. Never, ever discount the value of the image that you create. People buy NEW cars because it says something about themselves to those that see their car.
It’s obvious where I am going. The Volt should give consumers more information not less. It should be part of the base car – it’s cheaper to build it that way, and the majority of your buyers – those that will pay the price – will want the information. It makes them feel good.
EVERYTHING SHOULD HAVE AN EASILY FOUND "OFF" SWITCH. If one wants to save energy, turn On-Star off, turn the Nav screen off, etc. Yes, make sure we can recharge the battery through regenerative braking. It’ll extend the range in everyday driving.
Build the information right into the ECU. It should be re-used for every other GM hybrid. Get mileage for your investment dollar across your entire product line.
Are you working on your second electric product? Hit another market segment. Go after a performance segment with a Cadillac product. Go after the soccer Mom with an electric Enclave. Then go mass market with a lower priced product. One new introduction each year. Keep the ball rolling fast. Everyone else is chasing you hard.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:35 am
First off, get the car out the door.
Secondly, provide a way (preferably via the dashboard) to "tune" performance and usage of the battery only mode versus hybrid mode. For example, I travel 15 minutes (just under 10 miles) to go to work. I have to go on the highway for a good portion of that trip. I’d like the option to tune the car so that it doesn’t have to run on gas at all during that trip unless the battery gets low (and "low" is adjustable to some extent). Maybe during onramp acceleration it’ll have to, but it shouldn’t need to after that.
Thirdly, the web server is a great idea, but has to be securable, optional, and home network accessible.
Fourth, the clock option has merit, but needs to be very configurable. Specifically, it needs to be tunable to make sense if you have solar power at home. Frankly, if you can figure out a way to make a secondary direct current (DC) plug to connect into a home solar system so that the solar power doesn’t have to be converted to AC and then back to DC to charge the car, that’d be awesome. I would think that the plug could be added to the car for less than a buck or two (OK, maybe $5 once you run another cable to the battery) and third party manufacturers would probably happily produce connection systems to connect to the solar power.
Last, make sure the software managing the hybrid system is easily upgradeable. Option 2, for example, might not be doable when the car first ships, but a software upgrade a few months later is far preferable to needing to buy a whole new car to get features like that!
March 17th, 2008 at 8:38 am
I say no to all 5. I don’t see the point in have wireless communication with a car that I can walk 10 feet to and get the info I want. With that said, I would like to see the following:1. GPS Navigation with touch screen (Optional)2. Bluetooth capability for phones (Optional)3. Miles per batery charge / gas, battery maintainence screen (shows charge amount, any potential faults in the charging cycle, how many charge cycles have been completed, predicted battery usage and output per cycle per cell and as a group vs actual, individual cell charges and total charge, temp), engine mainainence screen (temp, hours ran, recommended maintenance, Optimal engine statistics vs actual), misc essential info via an on board cpu and incoreratied into the dash / navigation unit
4. On Star (Optional)
5. Back up cameras (optional)
6. All wheel drive vs 2wd units
7. extra batteries installed (optional)
8. Optional wheel motors (lo performance, mid perfomance , hi performance)
Well, thats just my thoughts. I just hope GM can deliver as promised. I am looking foward to owning one if the cost is right.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:39 am
I will echo much of has been said already. I am in favor of a wireless solution for communication. I could get information on the charge of the care and keep track of operating costs. I do that for my gas car already. I also like the OBC information that was mentioned. This would give me maintenance information so that the car could be serviced depending on usage. It would be interesting to have information on the price of electricity at charging points.
Cost would be probaby 500 dollars to 1000, considering the environment the system wourld have to operate in . It would be real interesting tbe able to add other modules to it like GPS, compass, temperature, trip information, message feedback, and reminder calendar.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:40 am
As mentioned above, electric propulsion is too important for the Volt to fail. Therefore, I am an advocate of GM monitoring the car, esp. the batteries. OnStar telemetry with a weekly email wouldn’t be too much to ask. Fleet reports from GM would make great buzz. On the other hand, if the car is too expensive and too few buy it, the Volt will still fail. I realize initial costs will be high, but GM needs to work towards a $15K electric car, not a $40K electric car. Therefore I suggest focusing on making it cheaper and more reliable than making an iCar.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Too many gizzmos and GM will blow it again. It has to have the basic electric management system and a 110V plug in so we don’t have to use any gas. In fact, the gas engine needs easy access so we can pull it out and fill it’s space up with batteries.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:45 am
We need to get off oil and NOT just another "toy" for the rich.
Whatever you do, PLEASE start with a basic model with Air, Electric Windows, Power Steering & a basic AM/FM/CD player to keep the resale cost as low as possible ($25-30K range). Let the after-market handle the bells & whistles.
Factory convenience packages are great UNTIL these "gadgets" raise the price so high that the Volt can’t be mainstreamed. The Volt is USELESS if the average Joe/Jane can’t afford it.
My one special request is that the battery pack/range-extender can be used for backup power for my home. That should be a fairly inexpensive and widely requested feature (120/240 outlet accessible from a closed a locked car).
March 17th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Yes I want an OPTION of the web server. I don’t think it should be very expensive, but I would definitely be willing to pay for it.
1– "Email Reports vs. Alerts vs. Manual Retrieval" – Yes: These all should be options. Personally, I don’t want emails from my car, but I could see some people would. I want to simply add my Volt to my secure wireless network and browse to it from my web browser. The data should be available in some standard formats (comma separated variables and others) so that I can view the data however I want to view it.
A standard built in webpage that I could navigate to is a must, however I might want to create a spreadsheet that automatically imports the data, so please make it as open(read/retrieve only) as possible. You can make the browser required to write new data to the system or in-car configuration for security if you want.
2–"Price" – Yes I would pay, however I have looked into micro webservers and they can be built pretty cheaply, so I hope that this option would be in the $300 or less price range. (assuming that the webserver is taking advantage of as much overlapping equipment as possible…ie a small lcd screen was already included in the build-out.) GM should not look at this feature as a way to make tons of extra money, instead I see it as a differentiator: This sort of feature at a nominal charge should help people make the decision to buy this product. I think GM already recognizes that most people that will be buying an all electric in the first year(s) are going to be "early adopters". By their nature "early adopters" usually put a lot of thought and research into something before they buy it. They are the same kind of people that will like to have the data available and have that extra control over their car.
3– "Emission Data" This could be calculated by javascript in the browser… I don’t need this data while I’m driving the car, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be retrieved from the browser or data files easily.
4– "Cost Savings Calculator" – Yes, but again this should be trivial to put in. A simple javascript function can prompt a user for their current kilowatt-hr cost from the electric company and it could also suggest an average if the actual is unknown. This value might be interesting to see while driving, but on the other hand I don’t want to be inundated with unnecessary (unnecessary to the job of driving) data.
Current MPG, Average MPG, Charge State, Charge Capacity, and a few other values are very important indicators of performance and a sudden change in any of these (and some other) values could indicate a problem. Those are the types of values that should be available while driving.
Any values that are more "trivia" related and "feel good" historical data should be retrieved while the car is off or at least in park. I don’t want people driving down the road playing with all the data features when they should be driving! (Perhaps a passenger could be looking through the data, so do like some cars and when in-motion prompt the user to answer if they are the passenger or not… not fool proof, but at least a friendly reminder… you can’t save everyone)
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest?
Yes, but not a lot more. I’m sure the equation for this is already known and the car already knows the time/date. (or it will be easy to program the time/date through something other than the radio) I don’t want to spend so much on this feature that I completely negate any cost savings that I would have gotten in the first year. It should pay for itself quickly.
This feature could be part of the "Advanced Data Package". In that package you get:
A> web server (compliant with all "standards based" browsers including the new IE8 coming out.), data log file retrieval through .csv .txt and other formats.
B> "smart charge" or "eco charge" where the system charges itself after rates are lower. (Keep in mind that some people get up at 5am or 6am for long commutes…I’d want my car to be fully charged by 6am personally…. so in this option you need to allow the user to specify the "ready" time.
Lastly, I seriously hope GM has been taking a close look at the very latest generation of solar panels (example: nano solar or others) and hopefully they can find out the feasibility of adding solar paneling as an option. I live/work out in the desert. There are only a few days a year that aren’t sunny. I would love my car to partially recharge itself with sunlight. The old solar panels aren’t as efficient, but I hear these new ones are between 5x and 10x higher current. Assuming that they are fudging the numbers for publicity, let’s say that they are only 3 to 5x the power… That’s still significant if the whole roof was a solar panel and a simple fold out "sun shade" was manually placed in the windshield area to keep the interior cool while juicing up the batteries during the day.
I don’t expect to fully recharge from my 40 mile commute to work, but after 9 or 10 hours in the sun it might give me an extra 10-20 miles on electric… that would be very cool! Nano Solar is being secretive with their proprietary panels not wanting to give away all the tech specs. If you sign a nondisclosure agreement with them you can find out if their panels could be used in the design.
Maybe Nano Solar and others aren’t the way to go right now, but it would be great if the car was design with the ability to add panels later as they become more efficient. I would definitely pay extra for mounting brackets or efficient solar panels to be installed at the factory if there are real gains to be produced. (Especially since this car, for me, would spend a couple days out in the sun without being driven, I could see this as a way to recharge without hitting the grid for it.)
March 17th, 2008 at 8:47 am
I agree keep it simple and keep the wireless out of the car. If you are really too lazy to write down your info then most likely you are driving a SUV and using the drive thru all the time anyway.
A simple display on the dash for the radio and MPG info would work. Keep GPS out of the car, it’s a local car anyway so it’s not like you are in a strange town where GPS shines.
My guess it would be better to have a smart power meter control when to charge the car vice in the car. Then the owner will always have even if they trade cars.
GM, 2/3rds of my cars are GM, 07 C6 A6 3LT with F55, 99 Formula the other being a 05.5 VW Jetta TDI (43MPG city/highway). It’s a disgrace that I had to look to VW for a good MPG car. I have to drive 25 miles to work one way in stop and go traffic. Don’t loose your focus this car is all about MPG not frills. Nice radio that plays MP3 and Ipod interface.
Bring a great product to the showroom for a good price and don’t let your Stealerships hike the price up and keep them coming, you will put Toyota in the rear view mirror.
Timing is everything, don’t miss the train.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:49 am
For security & simplicity it would make more sense to include a wireless client (not an Access Point) in the car. Then, from within the car, you could search for wireless networks and tell the car to associate (hopefully with WPA-PSK encryption) to your home wireless network whenever it’s in range. Then the car would just be another host on your home network that you could access via its IP address or internal DNS name (if setup correctly). The server built into the car could then publish a webpage containing the statistics being talked about. This setup could also allow audio/video/etc files to be transferred to/from the car.
None of this should be very expensive. Wireless technology is fairly mature and 802.11g client hardware is very low cost. Having a computer with enough processor & memory should not be an issue. Nothing very powerful would be needed to run some basic web & file server functionality. If you wanted to send a lot of files to the car then storage price would vary depending on the technology used (hard-drive vs. solid-state storage). A low-cost hard-drive would work well if it was only used for file storage. The OS/Server functionality should be stored in flash memory so that the system still functions when the hard-drive fails. It’s then a simple matter to replace the hard-drive and have the system automatically format the new one for use. A small Linux kernel with samba & web servers could do all this with minimal customizations.
Also, with a wireless client in the car, you could associate to any wireless network and browse the Internet from the car. A track-ball (like the newer Blackberrys use) or a pointing-stick (like IBM notebooks use) could move the mouse. I would include Bluetooth keyboard functionality, but an on-screen keyboard would work too.
It has amazed me for a while that all of the large-screened factory NAV systems don’t already have wireless clients and a browser built-in to allow Internet access & mp3 imports when near a WAP. Verizon EVDO wireless Internet access (for a fee) via the OnStar system would also be nice.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Remember 8 track? Todays toys becomes
tomorrows junk. I look for quality and not
a lot of fancy over priced gadgets
March 17th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Yes to the options, no to the cost.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Being in the battery business I know first hand how the typical consumer can abuse their batteries. The more systems for monitering the batteries the better.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:53 am
I agree with 190. Please make this an exceptional car- the CTS or Corvette for the envirnoment. Work on extra features in the 2012-14 model years.
Just make it beat the Toyota/Honda competitor. Then sell the heck out of it in ALL markets. With Toyota’s recent quality slips and GM’s lead in Electric technology/r & d – lets make sure that this is a winner out of the gate.
I would hate for a bad router setup to generate negative press for this car.
Ford has the SYNC technology from Microsoft- is that helping them SELL cars?
(I’m a computer professional, and I would be interested in such a setup…later)
First and foremost- Range, reliability, reputation- the three R’s for the VOLT.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Given the current interest in the development of smart grid technology (Boulder, Chicago, southern CA, Mid-Atlantic), I think NOT making provisions for smart charging would be a HUGE mistake.
Our models suggest that electric power providers could pay vehicle owners more than $1000/year to keep their vehicles plugged in and on call as ancillary service providers. If the hardware needed to equip a car to do that runs a couple hundred bucks (once in mass production), who would say no to that?
That seems like a much more important issue that being able to see a nicely packaged information readout of how you’ve driven online (though the information tracking needed for V2G would probably make it much easier).
March 17th, 2008 at 8:54 am
My largest concern is thee cost of this car. If it is not attainable by regular people it will be a flop. It needs to be under 30k as originally promised. Throwing in too many bells a whistles will hurt the price of the car and make something that could truly help the environment and put GM in the running with smaller cars a big flop in a sense. Something only available to the semi-rich.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:58 am
I think adding on anything but truly functional things will simply raise the purchase price of the vehicle. Quite frankly if they don’t keep cost down, it will not catch on and Chevy will have blown it. Honda or Toyota will keep it simple and sell a ton. Don’t blow it guys.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Being in the battery business, I have seen first hand how consumers can forget about their batteries and inadvertly abuse them , so as many battery monitering systems as possible would be a must
March 17th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Addendum:
Instead of wireless, I would be happy with a usb port too. It should be just smart enough to plug in a USB thumbdrive and automatically copy a .csv file over to the thumbdrive automatically with all the data available. If that is cheaper, that would be fine by me. I can toss the data into a spreadsheet program and see what I want to see assuming enough base variables are being tracked. Other values can be calculated as needed.
GM could offer a fancy software program that runs on a PC to reduce the data, graph it, and manipulate it for people that need the simplicity of a GUI.
Ultimately, I think the answer is yes: Yes, there should be data available. Yes, it should be an option. Additionally, YES it should be pretty cheap because there are simple ways of accomplishing this. Don’t spin your wheels on this question too long, build the car, and provide easy access to the data.
Stand-offs for solar panels is a great idea…I just read someone else that had mentioned this as well. Even if I only get a few extra miles per day charging it this way, that would add up over time.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I am not interested in any more electronic gadgets, just keep it simple (like this comment), not too ugly, and affordable to buy and soon.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:04 am
As mention thoughout I’m for tracking idea’s but I’m for the cost of the car to be affordable. I plan to be a future owner of of the Volt when GM makes it available. Allow a low base pricethat would have very nice and usable figures but offer
like other cars upgrades that would let the buyer somewhat
design what they would want their Volt to have ot not have.
I REALLY LOVE THE VOLT SO PLEASE MAKE IT AFFORDABLE…
March 17th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Hi, I am VERY interested in a volt. For me to buy it, it would have to cost less than $25,000. We need it to have a hatch back and be about the same size as a Prius, which we already own; it cost $21,500. I commute 8 miles each way and don’t need to burn gasoline; electric, charged at night would be fine. Dave Cobb.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:04 am
1) There’s no place to actually vote in the poll, not sure how the 926 people actually voted.
2)Electric savings times, will vary with locality. So on/off control of the charging outlet should be controlled, not by the car, but externally. I already have TOU, and the prime time is 1PM to 7PM in the summer here in Nevada.
3)I suspect that GM is smart, and I think they are, will advertise a base car for $30K, and offer many options. My Prius had a base price of $19.9K, but the one I got had $8 in options. Early adopter and techies, will pay for plenty of bells a whistles, the mass market may not.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I would answer yes to all 5 questions. I would pay an annual fee of $79-99 for this ability. I would pay more if the ability to track electricity rates proved to make an appreciable difference in the cost to recharge the battery, or if more features could be added to the system down the road (like traffic, weather, etc.). To address the concerns of those worried that this system could be abused and that their vehicles could be tracked, I would suggest making this an option that is installed in every vehicle, but that has to be activated by subscription. I think those concerns are unfounded, but clearly there are enough people who feel that way that you would want to make sure they had a way of turning the homing signal off. I personally like the idea of the vehicle being able to direct emergency services to the scene of an accident in the event that my pregnant wife is is injured and cannot call for help. OnStar does that currently, so I’m not sure the Volt poses any more of a threat than the vehicles GM already has on the road.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I’d vote for in-car display of any available ECU data (or calculated performance). But I would rather my purchase money go for more magnesium or carbon fiber to reduce curb weight, than towards wireless novelty devices.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:06 am
YES on all 5 – and yes this should be optional and when included we should be able to shut the wireless for those who are worried about being hacked/tracked – I think such concerns are groundless but its a simple matter to make everyone happy by including a off switch.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:07 am
The rumored cost ($30-35k) is already high and by adding more features it only drives the cost higher. To beat the competitors Chevy needs to get their car out into the mainstream even if it cuts their initial profit margins. Saturn back in the day released a vehicle very low priced and as it gained popularity the price went back up once people had a high demand for it. Get the Volt out for $25k and it will sell like hot cakes.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:07 am
For the power outlets inside the car, how about regular, 3-prong receptacles? Then I wouldn’t need an extra charger for my car.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I like the idea of all the i car gadgets, and they are not far fetched, but I would like to see the Volt have options to allow it to come out with a kind of commuter version that gets closer to the $15K market. Afterall, the greatest practicality of the vehicle will be in it’s usefullness to replace the day to day gas guzzlers driving to work. GM could leave an option for all the gadgets and if consumers want to pay for more power, range and luxury – no problem.
Upgrading the car could also be an option with the i gagets. Overengineering the car and making it an expensive toy should not be the main objective for the Volt but, if GM allows the options to be developed then may they could market it like GL and XL or DX and LS gas cars are sold.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Also – work with Apple to use their hardware/softwareMS/linksys etc software is pretty unreliable.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:09 am
1 In vehicle. Bonus points if I can get data out of my vehicle wirelessly.
2 No. Put in the cheap hardware and default interface then open up the API so that tech/car geeks can build their own interface for it and you can incorporate elements from those submissions into future versions royalty-free.
3 Not necessary.
4 No. I’ll smile everytime I pass a gas station. That’s enough for me.
5 Should be a standard feature.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Wow, the responses to this post are pretty amazing.
GM, Execs, Engineers…. I think you have a really solid idea about the direction the Volt needs to take and the speed at which you bring it to market is paramount.
Cost seems to be the over riding concern as well as getting it to market quickly.
If you replicate Henry Fords’ vision of a Model T in every driveway by reducing the cost and ramping up production, you will put GM in probably the most powerful position of market dominance it’s had since the 1950’s and 60’s.
Go do it and show the lead……we’re truly rooting for you!
March 17th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Also – work with Apple to use their hardware/softwareMS/linksys etc software is pretty unreliable.plus – how great would it be to have the car "sync" with my macs?
March 17th, 2008 at 9:11 am
I think all of these should be available as options. The idea of this car, to my way of thinking, is in addition to beinging cleaner, is to be less expensive to run. Adding things that do not directly improve the car’s fuel use just adds to the overall expence up front.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:11 am
I say KEEP IT SIMPLE, and maybe they can actually get a car to market!
Why is it that a couple guys in a garage can build something better than the yet to be built volt in just 6 months? GM can learn something from these guys. Americans will buy an SUV with a 40 mile range on electric only, but unlimited range with gas backup engine. Even better that they are describing it as the SUV that gets 150 MPGs (normal people can relate and understand this better). The videos are worth checking out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-cPHtQ0tTw
They built that thing just by modifying an existing Saturn vue hybrid with mostly off the shelf parts. One thing they are doing that other’s aren’t is the use of super capacitors, this is explained here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YheGphfNHcY&feature=related
From what I understand the battery packs will be available in large quantities by this summer (just months from now).
It can do 0 to 60 MPH in 6.9 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpjxLntmajA&feature=related
This car has been featured on CBS:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhM70MnTIvk&feature=related
And CNN:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v09_uTp08zg&feature=related
March 17th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Hello. I currently own a Mercury Mariner Hybrid. I’m quite happy with the display readouts regarding battery charge and MPG on my vehicle, which came standard.
I agree that the cost on the Volt must be kept down so average consumers can afford one. So fancy displays would be nice as an option, but I don’t think time and energy should be spent on them if this will delay the release date. I want my Volt ASAP!
I do have two suggestions, though:
1. I’d love to see solar panels on the roof as an option. Even if they’re not primo efficient, they’d help those drivers who park their cars outside for the whole workday without a handy outlet nearby. I hear that solar technology is improving all the time, so maybe this will have to wait a few years, but it should be kept in mind.
2. I’d also love to eventually see an SUV version. I know, they’re not as efficient as a sporty sedan, but some drivers (myself included) have grown accustomed to the extra cargo space, higher ground clearance, and ability to go off-road. Not that I’d wait for an SUV version before buying a Volt–I’d gladly give up the benefits of an SUV to own a true electric car (with range extender, of course).
So please, Mr. Chevy Engineer, whoever you are–bring this awesome concept car into the real world for us fast!
March 17th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Price point is becoming a concern for me. Produce the Volt with what are quickly becoming "standard" items, ie. VSC, ABS, traction control, seat mounted side and side-curtain airbags, rear back-up detection (typically camera), hands-free phone, voice controlled Nav, HID headlights, keyless security/entry system, autodim mirror(s), fog lights, CC, power windows/locks, …. for less than $30k or I’ll keep looking (and buying) the competition’s products.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:13 am
I just want o second this option .. I think this would sell the car and I would pay and extra $300 – $500 for solar panels to recharge the cells during the day when my car sits in the sun at work. I think this option is not only revolutionary but it is one of those why did we not think of this in the first place.
The reason that it is so benificial to me is that I do not want a sun roof or any of the sort as I am suseptable to skin cancer but the solar panel option would replace the roof with the panels and block out the sun to me when I am driving.
I hope the GM guys read this as this option would blow me away and I would drive to another state the first year they produce this just to have this car.
GM Guys way to go so far on this car and thanks for listening to us!
March 17th, 2008 at 9:16 am
When you step into this new type of vehicle, I would think everyone would like to know just what is going on and if you are saving money. Also it would teach you how to drive more efficiently. With today’s technology, the extra cost should be minimal.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:17 am
No need to run up cost of the vehicle. Keep the price as low as possible to enable more people to buy. Can be an option for those who want to pay more.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:20 am
It’s important with the launch of the first Volt to keep it as cost competitive as possible. I own an electric car now. It doesn’t take long before the driver is aware of all the parameters mentioned as provided by the screen. Keep the Volt simple and as cost-competitive as possible to build market share. If the screen is offered it should be optional.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:20 am
JUST GET US THE CAR !!!
I’m ready to write out a check now. I may have to buy an inerim car before the Volt is available. My VW TDI with 250K miles is starting to cost me money on maintenance(the turbocharger just failed)Please get the Volt on the market ASAP.
The bells & whistles can be add-ons.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I’m thinking Alice in Wonderland. Don’t put any effort into gilding a daydream. Punt that to aftermarket. Do the car. Do it soon. Price it aggressively. Make money the old fashioned way.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:22 am
JUST GET US THE CAR !!! I’m ready to write out a check now. I may have to buy an inerim car before the Volt is available. My VW TDI with 250K miles is starting to cost me money on maintenance(the turbocharger just failed)Please get the Volt on the market ASAP. The bells & whistles can be add-ons.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I built a 45 mile/charge BEV for less than $3000. Surely you can make a plug in hybrid with 40 mile range for ten times that cost. Not that I’ll buy it. I have no need for a plug-in hybrid anymore. For long trips, I just use my gas car. For 95% of my driving, I use my electric car. Sorry, but maybe if you would have made it a few years ago, I would have bought one.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:23 am
To boost GMs sales and create a demand, as I sit on the side of the new vehicle market until the point in time when I can realize a dramatic increase in fuel efficiency. Though if you do not get off your guff, I might turn to Acura, and their diesel accord, in this day and age you should be more forward thinking company. You are getting your clock cleaned by others. Had you stayed the course, not listened to disgruntled dealers, you would be a leader, not trying to figure out how to stay alive.I used to be a dealer, and quit because I was frustrated with a lack of intelligent dialogue with the dealer body. I did not work with GM, however, though when the EV1 came out, I thought you were going to change the automotive landscape.You should find out who bought out ANUVU, and appear to have shelved their fuel cell technology, as if incorporated into your vehicles, you could change the world. Hopefully the oil companies have not bought their technology and shelved. It looked extremely promising.1–No as this would mean that you are remotely accessing my vehicle.2–I would be willing to pay for a USB access port, so that I could access the information and download it to my laptop.3–I am after a no frills vehicle, that does not cost4–I can do that via my laptop. 5–Yes I would be willing to pay a little extra for that. Though only if my vehicle will sell the power back, up to a point when rates are high. This feature should be attainable via a USB connection with some web interface. We do not need more wireless signals, to cause disruptions in our cellular electrochemistry.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Things should be like my motor cycle if I want it, I add it. Or I add it later when I can afford it. Options are great but you need to get this basic Car, to the market now.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:27 am
There are many options that make sense including available battery capacity, fuel, diagnostics, scheduled maintenance, alarm status, vehicle position. All these options are possible with many vehicles today. One of the best selling points would be to have many of these options be included. As for power rate cycling, I am a member of a co-op that has off-peak power cycling and I am sure I would be able to install a managed outlet that would charge my vehicle during off-peak times when the rates are low.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:28 am
USB or Ethernet cable would be the way-to-go to get car metrics. I like this idea. Wireless access has too many security, efficiency, and cost problems.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I am not to interested in the wireless feature it should be a option from a package; the main thing that would benefit the volt is to get rid of the moon roof thus helping the a.c. in having to cool the car down from all that sun coming in. What would be great is if they add some type of solar panel to help you run longer on the battery so the battery and stay charged longer w/ regenitive braking as well as solar.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Two things,
1. Solar panel the hood, roof and trunk.
2. Engineer a wind powered generator where the spoiler is.
Thanks,
Kurt
March 17th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I agree with RB (#2). As long as there is something to tell you how much battery charge you have remaining and miles per gallon equivalency, there is no need for the other things. People can calculate that stuff themselves if they really want to. No need to increase the cost of the car for unnecessary electronics (my opinion). It seems if you continue to increase cost, then it be an expensive alternative to various other electric/hybrids and diesel/hybrids that will be available by 2010.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Two things,
1 Solar panel the roof, trunk and hood.
2. Engineer a wind powered generator where the spoiler would go.
Thanks,
Kurt
March 17th, 2008 at 9:31 am
I agree with RB (#2). As long as there is something to tell you how much battery charge you have remaining and miles per gallon equivalency, there is no need for the other things. People can calculate that stuff themselves if they really want to. No need to increase the cost of the car for unnecessary electronics (my opinion). It seems if you continue to increase cost, then it be an expensive alternative to various other gas/hybrids and diesel/hybrids that will be available by 2010.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Yes, I like the idea of this sort of data being available as a tool to monitor performance. Life’s busy enough so implementing this capibility following the K.I.S.S. approach is what would be appealing to me. No, not interested in a wireless router and would prefer to simply jot down on a piece of paper historic performance data.
A simple model for tracking daily usage could be a GM/Chevy provided website that allows a Customer to load their individual performance results. A driver owner retrieves details from vechile display, on an ad-hoc basis, then the individual manually loads it into their account via the web. The database is developed by GM/Chevy and crunches the numbers. The types of information stored could be easily tweaked and modified based on Customer interest.
I’d make the annual cost for accessing this "voltnation.xxx" website minimal; $12 to $24 dollars US. Of course the low cost of this service will be paid for by side bar ads placed by GM/Chevy and by building Customer loyality. I don’t mind focused ads on a website as they reduce the cost of use.
I’m looking forward to the day of laughing out loud while humming past a gas station in MY Volt.
John Petti
March 17th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Any two of the five, which can be implemented the quickest, would be fine for the first year production vehicle. The clock is ticking.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:39 am
The essential data needed for the driver should be readily available, e.g., battery charge, current power demand, regen, etc. Too much information available to the driver could be distracting. All of the data that that Belloc listed should be available to download via a USB port; the software to analyze it on your personal PC should be a buyer option.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I was going through the posts, and got around 50, and gave up.. Eyes getting tired. Anyway, my thoughts:
1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail? Have it wireless or not, I don’t really care, but USB is a must!
2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much? Couple hundred.
3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc. Most would say no, either way, it won’t make or break the car.
4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel? Would be nice.
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest? No. The rates here are the same all the time.
Wireless would be nice, at least to those who don’t care who’s watching. Even IF they did install routers, and somebody hacked in, what are they going to do? Change the radio station, or better yet, turn off your AC?
I don’t think the security issue there is much of a threat, you have bigger problems than that. I’ll bet (and can anybody confirm/deny this) they’ll use the same security/keyless entry as the Corvette and CTS. I have not seen, but have heard those systems getting hacked into, it’s somewhere around 40k encryption. Those of us who know about encryption know 40k is WEAK!!! GM, you can do better than that..
March 17th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Yes to all 5 questions. But I suggest that those should not be options. Those should be basic features of the car and they should not add a lot to the price.
Think like the IT industry, not the car industry, provide a lot of IT features because they are not expensive (a computer and a GPS cost less than 1000, but adding that into a car makes the budget jump a lot, that is ridiculous).
More important than the gizmos, you have to create a truly new and amazing car. It’s time for "Creative Destruction" for GM to survive. This should be no "incremental" improvement. This car has to be great, and not because of the IT features, but the car itself.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I want a plug-in, flex fuel, long life battery car. It does not have to look like "future-car". Just attractive.
Since I want to use bio-fuel I guess that means a diesel! Right?
My optimum would be to charge my car batteries using a considerable solar array on my home roof, and make my own fuel using free, abundant agricultural waste available here in central California.
Thanks.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:44 am
1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail?
I could be wrong, but I think that GM already has an option for this included with its On-Star program. I would much rather have the information provided in real time in the vehicle.
2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much?
My current car (07 VW Jetta) had a similar "calculator" option as an add-on. I didn’t opt to pay for it then, but I would pay maybe an extra couple hundred for it on the Volt.
3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc.
I would like the option of turning the aforementioned info on if I wish. By default, it should be off so we’re not overloading the driver with extraneous info.
4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel?
DEFINITELY! It would be a constant reminder I why I was driving the Volt.
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest?
Um, wouldn’t the "paying more" negate the lower rates? Anyway, everyone already knows the lowest rates would be at night. So no, I wouldn’t pay for that.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:45 am
First off, I have to vote "No" to the posted questions. All of those extras will delay production and increase costs. GM was late to the party in regards to Hybrid technology and I believe that they will be late in producing an electric car.
Everyone reading this should realize that if this car becomes a reality, it will most likely cost over $45,000 and will come to market a good 2-3 years after Toyota or Honda begin selling their plug in electric car. The reason for the high price tag is that with supply being only about 100k/yr and demand will far exceed supply, dealerships will raise the price to decrease demand (remember the $10k add on to the price of the Mazda Miata?)
GM hopes to begin selling this car in November 2010? Are you kidding? Given GM’s propensity to delay, I’m guessing it will be well into 2012 before this car comes to market. Gas prices will be over $6/gallon by then (gas prices are already over $5/gallon in California) and electric car owners will be driving a Honda or Toyota because:
1. They will be cheaper (under $30k)
2. They will be the first ones to become available.
Just wait, GM will keep posting delays, cost overruns, problems with the plant, problems with the batteries, more marketing surveys, etc. that will push the release date well into 2012.
Go ahead GM, prove me wrong.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:46 am
1–Only if it doesn’t increase the cost of the vehicle
2–see above
3–no
4–yes
5–this would not help matters. Most people have same rate electricity costs, not matter what time of day.
Just get the car made, affordable, many of them.
You really messed up by offering huge cars at huge profits per for sale, and not caring about the people who wanted a car to get around in and not greedy. We don’t need hummers. We don’t need 3500 sized pickups to go grocery shopping! we need a 2-door, or 4-door hatch, go to work, shop, weekend away. Affordable. Safe. We don’t need muscle cars or trucks. Get that through your Board of Directors’ heads!
March 17th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Get it to the public asap! It needs to seat 5 not 4.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I have fielded many new products, but none as complex as a car. Data gathering from the units in the field is among the most critical parts of any project to determine if the assumptions used in design are valid. Therefore, the On-Star link should be a ‘requirement’ for the first generation. GM needs the data on how the car us used, and how it is charged. There may be (actually, there will be) customize-able options that allow improved efficiency or performance. We geek-types buying this won’t actually save money by buying Volt for a very long time, if ever; the motivation is based on supporting conservation of fossil fuels for either geo-political or environmental reasons. So, folks, give up the data – they will need it to build better cars, and it might even help optimize yours.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I would suggest having some basic functionality as has already been submitted (mpg equivalent, range left, battery state, etc).
What I would really like to see though is a Volt SDK to create my own programs for the screen. Also, an SD memory slot would be needed as the storage mechanism for any programs I wish to load or other data I may want (mp3, pictures, spreadsheets, etc).
To prevent anything bad happening, access to car data would be read-only. Also, all car data possible should be able to be read, not some small subset, all of it! The only write access a program would have is to the SD memory slot, so that you could create tracking reports – such as mpg/day graph for the last 30 days.
With this, anyone could create whatever applications or reports they would want. People could sell these programs, or give them away, or whatever they want.
The only hardware that would be needed is a separate processor and memory space, so that it doesn’t interfere with normal operations like GPS, radio, or whatever they decide to build into the screen.
I figure it this way, this is what Apple is doing for their iPhone (http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/). So, if they are able to offer this ability to their hardware, and the phone costs under $400, then GM should be able to offer the "Programability Pack" on the Volt for $400.
If not, maybe they should partner up with Apple… actually, I would highly suggest they do. I never understand why certain electronic devices cost so much if built into a vehicle, like the $2500 GPS on a Ford Escape. Why don’t they partner up with a GPS company (TomTom,Garmin,etc) to push a more funcitonal $500 unit into the vehicle. So maybe partnering up with Apple would be a good idea, being that they focus on both computer and software technology.
Just my two cents!
March 17th, 2008 at 9:51 am
1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail? By the vehicle, of course! Who wants more SPAM e-mail, especially from your car?2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much? This type of thing is standard on most hybrids. It’s a selling point, and making it an option would be stupid. 3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc. No. 4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel? Maybe. It could be fun, and it would be an easy feature to add, but it is nonessential. 5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest? Would I pay more to know when to charge? Only if the answer would surprise me. If the car’s just going to tell me to wait until after 7 pm I’d feel cheated.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I would be fine with a weekly/monthly email with the info, but it would not be a big comtributing factor for me.
March 17th, 2008 at 9