GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

In this final segment of the Volt Nation Q&A, Volt/E-Flex vehicle line executive Frank Weber tells us that the onboard charger, which takes the current from an electric outlet has smart charging capabilities and is able to receive either 110 V or 220 V input. He also mentions that GM has plans under development with utility companies to see about possible V2G applications.

Engineer Tony Posawatz talks about how GM might use OnStar to monitor small fleets of presumably early version Volts to “help solve problems during development” He also mentions the car could send drivers emails so called “green-mails” to tell the driver about energy consumption and fuels saved.

Chevrolet general manager Ed Peper admits that is our word-of-mouth effort, and the work here at GM-Volt.com which will go a long way to help spread the word about the car and increase its eventual sales. He also said GM plans to keep us in the loop in the car’s development as that will help spread the word too.

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An article was just published by Businessweek by way of MSNBC, that discussed automakers’ efforts and requirements to be able to reach the new 2020 CAFE standards.

In it Bob Lutz was mentioned discussing the Chevy Volt. Here is a quote from the article:

“The company once targeted $30,000 as the price for a Chevy Volt. But the cost of developing the technology is making that an unreachable dream. Lutz now figures a more realistic price for the Volt would be about $48,000. He reckons that $40,000 might be possible, without making any profit. Only government tax incentives could take the price tag nearer to $30,000. ”

Source (MSNBC)

Lets not get too carried away because it seems major media often publishes errors about the Volt. In fact, on the same day as well, USA Today’s automotive writer James Healey, actually described the Volt as a two-seater! The article was actually about Mercedes’ plans to introduce electric Smarts into the U.S in 2 to 3 years.  Keep in mind that USA Today is the highest circulation newspaper in the country.

Source (USA Today)

In this segment, the GM execs answer questions about performance, saying it will be stable whether the generator is on or off.  Also discussed is how fun an experience electric driving can be. Weber says “it’s fun to eco-drive”.

The team was asked about roll-out plans, Volt chief engineer Posawatz says first the integrity of the vehicle will have to be “spot-on”, and that the achievement of that goal will drive the roll-out pace .

Posawatz and Chevrolet president Ed Peper acknowledged interest in the GM-Volt.com community’s feedback to them and advises that we may be first to hear about taking early deposits for early production cars.

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This video segment covers question from the attendees of the Volt Nation event and the Volt executive teams answers.

The first question covers electric grid capacity and thermal management.  Frank Weber says the powertrain components are there but its the functional integration that will be solved over the “next couple of months”.

The next question was about pricing and generator operation, and door design.  Chevrolet president Ed Peper took on pricing and noted Chevrolet is an affordable brand and that GM needs a high volume solution to petroleum dependence.  He says there is no exact price answer just yet.  Frank Weber points out that one shouldn’t just look at MSRP but also at “running cost”, and points out that the Volt is not a niche car.

Andrew Farah, Volt chief engineer talks about the generator simply keeping the battery at an even SOC while maintaining the rest of the functionality of the vehicle including the need for going up hills, for example.  He talks about getting the car home at “customer empty”so that most benefit is from charging the car from electricity.

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Frank Weber is the Chevy Volt E-Flex vehicle line engineer for GM. He is an earnest, forthright, and confident man who tells it like it is.

He gave us a 10 minute briefing about where the battery pack, mule, and design development is at the present time.

The video does not show the battery slide Frank refers to, but it appears as the graphic above.

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We are getting more and more clips from the show to share with those who could not attend. The first clip is yours truly giving the opening comments. In the second clip you can see GM vice chairman Bob Lutz showing off some photos of the Continental/A123 pack. He had them safely hidden in a pocket. Having him there was actually a surprise too.

 

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