GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Some of the premier green blogs gathered some great new information from our Volt Nation event and have posted it for the world to see. We had in attendance AutoBlogGreen, GreenCarCongress, and Treehugger.com.

GreenCarCongress was told by Frank Weber that GM actually possesses a total of 10 battery pack from both teams. We also heard from Frank that those packs will be in mules within weeks.

Treehugger video producer George Spyros caught some hi-def footage of Bob Lutz holding up special pictures just for the Volt Nation attendees of the CPI/A123 pack, which is shown above.

That’s what I call spreading the word! And to any new readers coming from those sites, welcome, and join us in the Volt revolution.

This video segment features GM vice chairman Bob Lutz taking questions from the Volt Nation attendees. He talks about the rationale for GM taking a risk on the Volt. He also discusses how GM made a mistake in not developing hybrids at an earlier time as Toyota did. He describes the Volt as a performance car, and mentions possible aftermarket chip changes to incerase the car’s acceleration for those who might want that, and talks about what kind of engine sounds the car might make.

He also takes on my how confident are you question.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rcsd6NWqas]

This is the section of Volt Nation where GM vice chairman Bob Lutz made some comments to the crowd about the car and the event.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJKEv6Ve9XA]

Soon after the Volt concept was first announced in January 2007 GM vice chairman Bob Lutz told the world he was 90% confident it would be built by 2010. This has become my favorite question to ask him each time I get the chance because it is a good gauge of the programs development and momentum.

Having the spectacularly cool opportunity to share the stage with him at Volt Nation, and getting to be the last one to ask a question, guess what I asked?

This time he upped it to 94.5%. He also said there is a zero percent of it never getting built. Vehicle line executive Frank Weber chimed in the background “100%”, for his confidence level.

You will soon be able to see all of this, including the Q and A and other interviews beginning tonight on video. Our videographer’s having some “technical difficulties” but assures me progress is being made.

Another great outcome of the Volt Nation event is that we are getting considerable press coverage. This will help spread the word. It is interesting to see how reporters describe our efforts.

First up, Katie Merx at the Detroit Free press wrote this article on how the Volt fans are energized.

She noted how Bob Lutz sensed our energy, and how chief engineer Tony Posawatz hopes to learn from us. I got called a cult leader again..oh well.

Next there is a piece from ABCnews.com. This one showcased Mr.Lutz’ answer to one of our readers questions, about how GM was wrong in not producing a hybrid at the earlier time as Toyota did, he conceded that GM already had the technology to do so but did not want to take the financial risk at the time. They do plan to take that risk now on the Volt, which is the headline of the third article from The Detroit News. They also reported that GM hopes one day to build a million Volts. Unfortunately that report didn’t mention this site.

Welcome to any and all new readers of the site…please join us in the discussion, the debate, and the revolution.

Video is forthcoming.

Hats off to nasaman, Tagamet, and GeorgeK who all were interviewed in these articles.

We did it!

I just got back from the Volt Nation event at the Jacob Javits Center and I believe it was a smashing success. Over 200 people braved the rains and traveled by car bus and plane from as far away as Chicago, Arizona, Minnesota, and California to take part in this historic event.

It was truly a pleasure and honor to meet you all in person and thanks again for coming.

We got to check out the car and had the chance to ask the executive Volt development team questions both in a town hall setting as well as mix and mingle one on one sessions. I would like to ask people who were there to please record anything your heard or discussed, in the Volt Nation section of the forum. You can also post pictures and video there.

E-Flex Vehicle Line Director Frank Weber showed us some new pictures of the two LG Chem packs undergoing testing and some shots of the early mules being tested, and we discussed everything from drivetrain and batteries to pricing.

We even got a special guest appearance and Q and A with none other than GM vice chairman Bob Lutz himself, pictured above with me on the stage.

It is clear that we are on to something here. The grassroots development of the site has become too large and loud for GM to ignore, so it seems we are now guests at their house. We are making a difference here, this type of direct access to regular folks like us to high level execs is unprecedented.

Look forward to other Volt Nation events like this and more opportunities for direct access to the engineers behind the car and ability to give direct feedback to them through this site

Also, the entire event was video recorded and as soon as I get access to the video it will be shown here for all to see.

Oh yeah if anyone knows someone who is a php and wordpress expert send them my way..need some help here (remember the recent crash).

I’ll roll out all the news I can over the next few days, hopefully along with a lot of the mainstream media helping us get the word out.

Here’s the first mention of us.