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Lutz: Dynamometer Tests on First Volt Prototype Proving Successful

May 9th, 2008 | Posted in: Prototypes, Test drive

Previously we heard that Bob Lutz was about to test drive the completed lithium-ion battery powered Chevy Volt prototype vehicle. This is very true, but it hasn’t happened just yet.

GM vice-chairman and Volt shepherd Bob Lutz tells GM-Volt “we hope to drive it on the road next week.”

Lutz’ enthusiasm is palpable, just like ours! With respect to his and his team’s groundbreaking maiden test-drive he says, “the guys are super-pumped!” and “I can hardly wait!”

Furthermore he advises us that so-far the dynamometer tests on the completed mule vehicle “are going really well.”

Steady as she goes sir, and as I told Mr. Lutz, consider us of the Volt Nation to all be driving with him, in spirit.

Posted by: Lyle

85 Responses to “Lutz: Dynamometer Tests on First Volt Prototype Proving Successful”

Joe Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 6:52 am

I can not wait for next week for the results from Mr Lutz!!!

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Jim Mbongo Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:04 am

Great news !
As said, I can not wait for next week for the results from Mr Lutz!!!

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Rashiid Amul Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:11 am

Finally! This is very exciting. I hope next week doesn’t turn into the week after, and the week after that. I hope for great success next week.

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MarkFLL Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:18 am

Does this mean the test drive for Lutz will be in another mule, or the actual finished design? Either way, it sounds like progress is underway. It’s going to be a long two years.

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o.jeff Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:23 am

“Shotgun!”

o.jeff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_shotgun

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Dave B Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:45 am

I for one half-heartedly hope oil stays high to keep the public interested in this vehicle. If all of a sudden oil tanks below $80 a barrel, the test drive next week won’t sound too exciting for most Americans.

Good question @ 4; is this an actual prototype of the final design?

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Mark Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:47 am

When Lutz says he hopes to drive it on the road does he mean some private GM course or “the road”? Spy photos perhaps?

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Lyle Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:09 am

The lithium-ion prototype he will drive is the vehicle shown above in the graphic, with the late model Malibu skin. It is NOT a final production design Volt, which as far as I know does not exist yet in a driveable form.

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Earl Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:13 am

So has the Malibu prototype w/ lithium pack not been driven at all, or just hasn’t been driven by Lutz?

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Darius Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:17 am

Dave B

After Plug-Ins will be introduced on the market US should chase Europeans on the gas tax policy. The oil exporters for sure will be trying to kill this project by temporary reducing oil prices.

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MarkinWI Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:21 am

Do we have any auto industry folks in the group who could identify what some of the major milestones will be as we drive to production, and put them in some kind of order with a relative time-line? If you had said the word “dynamometer” to me two weeks ago, I would have thought that you were making it up. As always, I’m glad to hear this news, but I do not have a context to put it in.

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ThombDbhomb Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:22 am

Lutz is driving the Volt figuratively. No doubt he is excited to drive it literally.

The Volt mule’s dyno tests must show a very torquey power curve.

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Rashiid Amul Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:30 am

#7 Lyle says, “The lithium-ion prototype he will drive is the vehicle shown above in the graphic, with the late model Malibu skin. It is NOT a final production design Volt, which as far as I know does not exist yet in a driveable form.”

Well that sure dampens my enthusiasm.
I was thinking the Volt production model was frozen and drivable.
Even if there was only one.

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Arch Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:47 am

Glad to hear things are going well.

Take Care
Arch

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Jason Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:54 am

The car pictured is what Lutz will be driving, and it is what is typically called a mule vehicle at GM. In my mind any pre-production vehicle is a prototype and there are several different levels of prototypes. The first and most crude is the mule pictured. They are generally to test powertrains and sometimes chassis/suspension. In this case it is most likely powertrain and associated electronic controls only. The next iteration of prototype should be very close to the final car, with representative powertrain, chassis, exterior, interior, etc. GM typically calls these integration vehicles, and they usually don’t show up until a year or two before production. I wouldn’t expect this level of Volt to be on the road until sometime next year.

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Tim Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 9:27 am

This is very exciting. We’re gaining momentum…

Electricity: Fuel of the Future
Source: Stanford Daily
[May 08, 2008]

SYNOPSIS: Not only does electricity meet the needs of the transportation sector, it triumphs over both biofuels and gasoline in all relevant metrics.

http://www.evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=18193&url=http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/5/8/positiveSustainabilityElectricityFuelOfTheFuture

“…given an acre of switchgrass, and an acre of solar panels, you could drive 70 times farther in an electric vehicle (EV) than you could running on cellulosic ethanol.”

“While it costs almost $1,500 per year to drive the average gasoline car, and would cost about $1,200 to fuel up with ethanol, an electric car would cost just $300 per year to charge from the regular power grid. Charging an EV with residential solar power in California would cost $500. Even in Massachusetts, which has significantly less solar potential than other parts of the country due to its climate and latitude, a solar electric car would cost just $750 per year — half that of your current gasoline car.”

The problem is that most people NEED highway speeds during their commute and the big car companies who can afford to crash-certify new cars have not had the will to REALLY make electric cars because they require less service and repair over their lifespan when compared to ICE smokers. There is just too much profits in service dealer & repairs.

Example: I just spent $500.00 for a starter and $700.00 for an intake manifold PLUS $200.00 to put them both on my 1998 Buick Park Avenue with 150K miles on it. NONE of this would have been necessary if the car were electric.

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George K Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 9:37 am

#14 Jason,

So the mule in the picture has the E-Flex drive system. It also has the prototype 16 KWh battery. And apparently torque/power tests are on track.

Doesn’t that mean we’re pretty far down the road? Will Lutz be driving something else?

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N Riley Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 9:42 am

I hope Mr. Lutz enjoys his drive in the Malibu mule. We wish him and GM all the luck in the world. Just get it done GM!

TIM

If utilization of an acre is that good for solar vs switch grass, think of all the land that is not suitable for farming. That would be a great place to put solar farms while still leaving the tillable land for food production.

To All:

We still have at least THREE years before most of us can expect to purchase a Volt. Assuming a quick release to the “general population” after he November 2010 release to the “smile” cities, it would be six months before general availability. That puts it in the middle of 2011, which is three years. Very likely the general availability may not occur until fall 2011 (three & one-half years from now).

Sorry to throw a damper on things, but let us be realistic.

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N Riley Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 9:46 am

Unless GM has plans to release the Volt much earlier than the November 2010 date, they are going to find the competition will beat them to the punch. Several auto companies are planning late 2009 and early to mid 2010 release of cars with similar traits to the Volt.

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doggydogworld Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 9:49 am

“…given an acre of switchgrass, and an acre of solar panels, you could drive 70 times farther in an electric vehicle (EV) than you could running on cellulosic ethanol.”

Well, yeah. But it costs 10,000 times more to “plant and harvest” an acre of solar panels than an acre of switchgrass.

Example: I just spent $500.00 for a starter ……

Ummm, your starter is just an electric motor. An electric motor failure in an EV will cost you A LOT more than $500. Prius “transaxle” failures (fried MG2 motor windings) cost about $5000 to repair. Such failures are not as rare as EV fanatics wish to believe. Multi-ton Industrial motors run forever, but automotive traction motors with high power-to-wieight ratios are much more delicate.

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Eco Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 10:12 am

This is really significant to me. A dyno test is no small thing.

The difference between a dyno and a street is negligible, mechanically speaking.

It begs the question of “what is the longest dyno test conducted on the mule so far?” In other words, has GM run the mule on the dyno for 3, 5, 9, 24 hours at a time? A week?

Are they doing steady-state, or drive cycle tests?

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Darius Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 10:16 am

doggydogworld

1. This is not energy cost. It is investment cost. photovoltaic power generation still less than bioethanol.

2. Two year ago my Volvo V70 engine failed. I have lost about 10 000 EUR.

3. Of course first plug-ins will couse more problems than later ones. But it is high time to start!!!!

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Jason Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 10:17 am

George K

Yes if this mule has the correct powertrain and electronic controls (and it all functions properly and is durable) then we are pretty far along. However, the real chassis, body, interior, electric HVAC system, etc. all still need to be tooled up and the design is probably not complete yet. There is still a whole lot to be done. It looks like the chassis may actually be tooled judging by the spy shots of the Cobalt, so that may be one more thing already done.

doggydogworld

Don’t get me started on repair costs, I would have had to spend $1500 to get my load leveling rear suspension fixed on my Aurora. My other car is barely worth that much. Even though the OEMs will probably make less money on repairs for electric car (at least for mechanical issues), I GUARANTEE that is not why they aren’t making them. It is simply because the cost of the battery and the limited range. Sure the EV1 had decent range, but GM probably could not have made money selling them and there isn’t much of a market for small two seaters. Not to mention the electrics were only available in the Southwest. Put a battery in a medium or large car and go driving in a Michigan winter with an electric heater blasting and see how far you get. I know everybody loves a conspiracy theory, but the battery technology just isn’t there yet for full feature pure electrics.

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N Riley Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 11:03 am

Jason

I agree. We have a long way to go before fully electric vehicles will be viable in many parts of the country. They will certainly work well for most short commute trips to and from work, shopping, etc.

I can’t wait to see the majority of the personal autos be either a Prius or Volt type of hybrid or a full EV. It will be wonderful.

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noel park Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 11:07 am

#5 Dave B:

“…tanks below $80 a barrel”, LOL. While memory is fuzzy, I swear that I read somewhere the other day that oil was under $20 a barrel when Bush II came into office. Just goes to show you how they mold our little minds.

#9 Darius:

Although it is painful to say so, you are 100% absolutely right.

#17 N Riley:

Too true, alas.

#18 N Riley:

Many have feared this from the beginning. I am not about to buy a car from “the competition” in any case but, as I look around SoCal, it is obvious that I am in a tiny minority.

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Speedy Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 11:31 am

These 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt will start production in July or August of 2009 on these Delta 2 platforum.

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Rashiid Amul Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 11:43 am

Tim #15, That was a great article. Thank you for posting it.
I wish they had said how much it cost to put the solar panel up vs planting switchgrass. Solar is just way way way too expensive right now.

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Speedy Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am

Also didn’t Gm say they were building some Volts without, these generator on it? Yes or No?

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Rashiid Amul Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 11:46 am

Darius #21. I’m with you. My Subaru is on it’s third head gasket.
It needs clutch and the transmission blew in the driveway last week.
The transmission is $3600 USD before installation. The clutch is another $1000. I said forget it and bought a new car two days ago.
An EV wouldn’t need a clutch or a transmission. I’m done buying a strict ICE vehicle.

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srschrier Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 12:22 pm

New photo of Fisker Karma on the test track:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/232668/#

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Tim Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 12:23 pm

The NEXT car I buy will have electric primary drive. I hope it will be the Volt however, if the Volt is over $30K net after rebates and tax benefits I will buy the FIRST highway capable 100-mile range BEV on the market as my primary daily driver and keep my ‘98 Park Ave as a long-distance & large group car.

I’m SICK AND TIRED of Internal Combustion!!!!

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Jim Rowland Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

srschrier,
Nice! what a design…Fisker is best of the best. GM need one of his designs.

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srschrier Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

How about a kit that can make your present car a PHEV for under $4,000?

http://www.poulsenhybrid.com/

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mmcc Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 1:12 pm

Mr. Lutz, How ’bout giving Lyle and the gm-volt community an exclusive first report after your test drive.

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pdt Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 1:18 pm

Regarding PV vs switchgrass:

Industrial PV in a sunny climate is $0.21/kWh, while residential systems raise the cost to $0.37/kWh (http://solarbuzz.com/SolarIndices.htm). For a car with 3miles/kWh, that means you can go 30 miles for between $2 to $4 in “fuel” costs. All this at ~15% conversion efficiency (solar to electricity). Switchgrass will require much more land (and water).

Cloudy climates are 2-3X more expensive. This is all with today’s technology. Hopefully the future will look better.

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Kevin R Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

I can’t wait to hear what he has to say next week. Go, go, go!

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noel park Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

#27 Speedy:

Lyle did a post on the possibility of an all electric Volt a week or so ago. It must still be here somewhere. I don’t think they said for sure, but they are certainly thinking about it.

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N Riley Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

The Fisker Karma is BEAUTIFUL. But, at $80,000 plus it is more than most of us can afford.

I hope the Volt can be as beautifu but on a more economical basis.

Enjoy your ride, Mr. Lutz, but be sure to give us a full report.

I am still wondering what the interior is going to look like. I mean the gauge package. I want it to be informational and in beautiful color.

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N Riley Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

That’s beautiful not beautifu.

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Jeff Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Lyle…are you going on the test drive with Lutz? If not, do you get the 2nd test drive?

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omegaman66 Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm

ONLY ON GM-VOLT.COM!!!! would the fact that Lutz still hasn’t driven a volt make headlines. Don’t get me wrong I am not bashing this website. Just pointing out how enthusiastic people are about such a concept and how far the price of gas has pushed the general public when it come to cars.
.
.
.
.
“”"The oil exporters for sure will be trying to kill this project by temporary reducing oil prices.”"”

hahaha Yep the conspiracy theorist of todays world just never give up. At 125 a barrel and rising I guess they just don’t hear the outcry that is going on right now.

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N Riley Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

The oil exporters and oil traders are doing nicely right now. They have you just where you don’t want to be. The thing is – you can’t do anything about it. Right now, that is.

Let tell all of you one thing that I have made my mind up to. If gas prices were to fall to less than $1.00 per gallon, I would still buy a Volt like vehicle, assuming it was available at a reasonable cost. By reasonable I don’t mean some silly under $15,000 price or over $40,000 price. I mean somewhere between $25,000 and $35,000 with the sweet point being closer to the $25,000 price.

I am not going to continue with the way things are today in the future. We must not let ourselves become slaves to the oil companies, exporters and producers. We must move forward with PHEV. EV. BEV or whatever.

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noel park Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

Well I haven’t found the post on the electric only Volt yet, but I did stumble across one titled “Oil Tops $88/Barrel”. Date? 10/16/07.

#38 N Riley:

Don’t worry about the typos. It’s a blog man. You should see the e-mails I get from my kids. I don’t care, I just feel blessed to hear from them. Plus, in case you haven’t noticed, my typos are 10 time worse that anything you have ever done. Just use the energy to keep the good comments coming.

#40 omegaman66:

No s**t!

Some while ago, one of the bloggers here said:

“Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock.”

That’s my new mantra. I’m going to say it every day:

“Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock.”

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noel park Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

#41 N Riley:

Amen!

We are doing something about it though. We are driving a lot less. Every little bit helps.

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Ruby Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

“srschrier
How about a kit that can make your present car a PHEV for under $4,000?
http://www.poulsenhybrid.com/”

Sorry to fall for the thread hijack, but I spent some time looking into that.

The $4000 for kit+installation is great, with one caveat.
Batteries not included. No joke.
Of course, a few lead acid batteries are pretty cheap, and can be replaced every couple years.
The benefit would be somewhat like a souped up prius.
The lack of regenerative braking is offset by cost savings, which can just buy another battery.
Other possible detriments would be the 38 lbs of unsprung weight on each of two wheels. Do you techies know if that’s a big deal?
Also, it doesn’t seem that the gas engine actually turns off, which would limit gas saving to whatever the reduced engine load would burn.

Thanks for bearing with me.

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akojim Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

This is very exciting and the fact that Mr Lutz will be driving it personally rather than hiring a stunt man stand in is very, very comforting!

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fred Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 4:45 pm

#15, I had similar experiences as your 1998 Buick with other G.M. vehicles, so I bought a Toyota. After 11 years no problems yet. I sure hope the VOLT is engineered to last as long as my Toyota is. Getting back to the VOLT. I would like crank windows with my VOLT. As simple as possible. 4 tires, lights, wipers, horn, maybe air. No radio, silence is golden. I’ll beep if a pedestrian isin’t paying attention.

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omegaman66 Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

The Poulsen system looks pretty interesting. With it you could purchase only enough battery power to get you to and from work. Would like to read more about it as there are a lot of unanswered questions. I would like obviously to talk to people that have installed this and know what they think about it.

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N Riley Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

I would suspect you will see a number of “kits” to convert your gasoline powered car to electric or electric assist. Some, if not most, will not be worth the effort. We should caution ourselves and our friends to watch out for these. Investigate the claims before agreeing to purchase.

It would be better to put that money away in a CD and save it for a down payment on a Volt or similar vehicle.

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demetrius Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

Last year – the Volt was just a flashy concept car that a few of us thought would be nice to have – what with oil at 75 dollars a barrel and CO2 emissions.

But now the Volt is nothing less than the only hope for our country!!! We are bleeding to death shipping a billion dollars a day over to the middle east – it has to stop now.

This is also GM’s last chance to save itself from itself.

This is not a joke. I can’t see any other way out of this mess we’re in.

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Grizzly Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 6:13 pm

This is definitely great news. The Volt can’t come to market soon enough with the price of oil. Every automaker is facing the challenge of meeting the new CAFE standards of 35mpg.

If GM can implement e-flex through a good portion of their lineup, they won’t have any trouble meeting the standard, and I have to think that CAFE is a sort of guarantor.

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omegaman66 Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 6:16 pm

48. demetrius

I agree completely.

And I agree you need to watch out for conversion kit stuff. Lionev.com to me seems to be very reputable and very professional.

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Jason M. Hendler Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 6:48 pm

Thanks to his outstanding leadership, and the “make no excuses” results from his whole team, the Volt is now 2 years ahead of Ford, and who knows how many years ahead of Chrysler. We will see if Toyota is really serious about improving their Prius in time to compete with the Volt.

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demetrius Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 6:54 pm

Wouldn’t it be great to have a president that had a JFK ‘man on the moon’ type speech.

‘Before the decade is out – we will have purchased out last barrel of mid east oil…’

I could follow a man or woman like that. Are any of them even talking this decisively…

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Tagamet Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

Fred @ 47 “As simple as possible. 4 tires, lights, wipers, horn, maybe air. No radio, silence is golden. I’ll beep if a pedestrian isin’t paying attention.”

Ideally, you could get one of thsoe squeeze bulb horns and save a watt (g).

demetrius @ 54 I’m assuming you mean NEXT decade, but even with an effort that did as you say (last drop of mid0east oil), it’s about a 15 year cycle to “turn over” the US car fleet (people buy used cars).
I’d love to see the effort though! Even the current White House spokesperson ***yesterday*** described “cars that get 40 miles per charge and can be plugged in at home!” Sounds familiar….

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Andy Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

I wish educated folks would get off the idea that “BIG OIL” is the culprit, or is able to set the price the barrel of oil. It is nieve and simplistic to say the least.

You guys have been convinced, perhaps by Democrats, that US oil companies set the price of oil. We can talk about the fact that commodity exchanges determine price within certain regimes of supply until we are blue in the face.. The commodity exchanges work on estimating the risks to supply. The more risk the higher the asking price for future oil delivery contracts. Venezuela announced it was going to back rebels trying to overthrow the government of Columbia yesterday. The US said it would impose sanctions on Venezuela if it did. Venezuela announced it would cut-off oil deliveries to the US if the US imposed sanctions. What-do-you-know oil prices go up on the CBOT. The US is trying to convince Saudi Arabia and OPEC to increase the supply of oil to bring down price. It is felt by some that the Saudis would have to increase oil supply 500,000 barrels per day to bring down price. You will note that this is about half the daily supply that could be drawn from either ANWR or a couple of basins in the Gulf of Mexico or off the coasts of Florida or California if drilling were allowed in any of them. The fun of increasing supply by 0.5M BPD is that the speculators on the CBOT and other world exchanges would have to sell fast to not get caught with high priced future contracts. They lose money as they unload these contracts, thus bringing down prices. These guys are investing only 4% and are extremely leveraged. Price can drop fast with the oil spigot turned on just a little. So if you want to fix the high price of oil, chastising big oil is going after the wrong culprits, the real culprits are the congress who refuses to pass legislation to expedite the construction of refineries and the drilling for new oil in the United States.

I am hugely enthusiastic about GM’s Volt – and if GM doesn’t do it, other companies will. It is in the cards. A temporary drop in the price of oil may discourage some electric car enthusiasts, but the idea of our nation becoming independent of foreign oil suppliers is attractive to me and many others. It’s not big oil – oh, the burdens of knowledge and having to deal with idiot liberals. (I give credit for much of the informed commentary here to a an exceptionally smart and savvy 3rd party who I will not name to protect his identity. But he speaks the truth – go research it for youself if you don’t believe.)

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Tagamet Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 7:48 pm

Andy @56

I think that you are painting this whole group with a very broad brush. On average, I’m guessing that there are far fewer conspiracy buff on here than most boards (and far more conservatives too)

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crows Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:04 pm

First of all let’s light a fire under GM and Lutz.Look at oil prices today almost hitting $126.00 a barrel!

Will we get the Volt when oil prices are at 200-250 a barrel?

I’m tired of this dang waiting game.If we dont do something soon high gas prices will ruin us all!!

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BillR Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

Although most people use dynamometers to test a car’s horsepower and torque, I see no reason why GM couldn’t also be using the dynamometers for battery endurance testing as well.

Therefore, successful dynamometer tests would not only mean that the Volt can meet its anticipated power output, but that after 40 miles of simulated driving, the battery packs are still at or above the 30% SOC that would be needed for this AER.

To me, this is an important aspect of the test – how the battery packs are performing with the actual drivetrain (although probably in simulated conditions for now). This is encouraging news!

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Tagamet Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:15 pm

BillR
Wasn’t the drive train running for 6 months in a Malibu before they even GOT the lithium batteries? I may be wrong but I remember beung impressed when I read that.

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bruce g Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

BillR,
That rings a bell, I think they were using a NiCd battery before the Li
battery became available.
I hope there are photographers present when Bob takes the existing prototype for a drive, it is a mile stone.

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BillR Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 8:43 pm

Tagamet,

At VoltNation, one of the GM engineers stated that they had, I recollect, “100’s of gigabytes” of data that had been collected by the Malibu mules driving with NiMH batteries. Note that the drivetrain (electric motor, power electronics, etc.) is similar to the Fuel Cell Equinox, and there are 100 FCE’s on the road today in Project Driveway.

This next step mates the Li_Ion batteries with the powertrain, which should be close to the final product in terms of the electric propulsion system.

My guess is that GM can program the mules with the Li-Ion battery packs to simulate certain driving cycles, like an urban cycle, highway driving, and mixed driving. Then after the cycle, the battery packs can be recharged. All this might be accomplished with a technician at the dynamometer, although with no actual driver. This allows GM to accumulate more data over a shorter period of time for this “near final” system.

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Statik Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 9:02 pm

Just curious, title is, “Dynamometer Tests on First Volt Prototype Proving Successful” does that mean we are excited their Dynamometer is working?

Why wouldn’t it be successful? , We are just swapping out one battery for another? Did they expect to put it in there and it wouldn’t turn over after load/stress testing it the last couple months?

I put a lithium battery in my digital camera for the first time a couple months ago…I give this news about the Volt about the same level of excitement.

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Tagamet Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

BillR,
That’s pretty much what I recall. It’s really tough to quiet that tiny voice way down inside that whispers “Maybe they’ll be ready to release it earlier”

Statik,
I know it’s a reach, but they are testing the battery. That it started the first time is good, now only 9,999 cycles to go. Can you be sure your camera will work on *that* battery 10 years from now?

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ThombDbhomb Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 10:14 pm

Andy @56

“You guys have been convinced, perhaps by Democrats…”

“…oh, the burdens of knowledge and having to deal with idiot liberals.”

Except for the democrat/liberal bashing, you bring up interesting points. Unfortunately, it is hard to get past your intolerance for other viewpoints. Clearly, you’ve got some hate to conquer. Until you do, you’ll come across as irrational. Politically, the country seems normally distributed across the political spectrum. There are probably as many “idiot conservatives” as there are “idiot liberals.” Yet, you focus on the liberals. I guess dehumanizing your “foe” with broad labels gives you a sense of belonging with like-minded haters. It makes you feel superior and burdened with knowledge. It is not knowledge you are burdened with. Your burden is trying to fit some knowledge into a small mind.

The reason I like this blog is that there are people with wide-ranging political viewpoints, all finding common ground with the Volt. There is a certain level of respect that I find noble. I recommend you stop the childish name-calling and offer constructive posts. We need to work together, not take sides. This Volt thing is important on so many levels.

…did I just give a troll a feast? I think I did. I apologize for that.

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omegaman66 Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 12:38 am

One name calling word aside Andy is correct it is the liberals that don’t want to allow drilling. Price would still be almost as high though. What I find sad and discouraging is that Bush gets the blame for the high oil prices when it was the liberals that prevented him from doing anything something about it. Not trying to argue for or against any party or idealogy although I certainly have my beliefs. Just trying to make the point that the average american voter apparently isn’t very smart.

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ThombDbhomb Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 1:16 am

#66 omegaman66

Firstly, I respect your input to this site (despite your political leanings) and I liked your movie (The Omega Man). With that in mind, I’d like to use your last post to make a point about partisanship.

“..it is the liberals that don’t want to allow drilling” is one way to look at things. It shows that you think more drilling is the answer. Another perspective; it is the liberals (i.e., progressives) that want to progress away from our current oil-based energy sources. Not drilling for more oil will get us away from oil sooner. We need to turn the corner.

It is the nature of conservatives to resist change. It is conservatives who cling to the status quo. If the greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, (cold and hot) oil wars, and petroleum-based economic problems are any indication, the status quo isn’t working out so well. That is why the Volt strikes a nerve across the spectrum. The Volt is showing that some conservatives, such as yourself, are turning progressive wrt reducing oil-dependence. Be careful, lest the conservatives to your right start lumping you in with those to your left. They can be like that.

As far as Bush getting the blame, it goes with the territory. If things went well, he’d get the credit.

I’ll agree with you about the average american voter’s intelligence; we elected W twice!

Minor point: Andy issued two aspersions, both of which I quoted in #65.

I’ll close by saying, keep up the good posts. It is good to have your voice heard in this Volt discussion.

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ThombDbhomb Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 1:19 am

…We now return you to our program

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Darius Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 1:31 am

Andy,

This is not conspiracy theory. That is dam real!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by vestaviascott

Well, OPEC and “Honest” together in the same sentence is the classic oxymoron if there ever were one, but here’s the problem: OPEC controls the price of oil via it’s self imposed production mechanism. Basically a group of 12 mostly middle eastern countries get together once a quarter in plush offices in Vienna Austria and they put a supply/demand/price chart up on the screen. They then say, “What do we want to make for a barrel of oil this quarter?” Once that’s decided, they trace up the production scale and the number they land on dictates how much they produce for that given period of time.

If this were to happen in the US (as happened with Standard Oil in the 50’s that lead to the Sherman antitrust act), it would be illegal and the participants of such a scheme would all be hauled off to jail. The fact that OPEC openly conducts in price fixing is a testament to the international power they wield due to our addictive reliance on their petro.

The only way to prevent them from lowering the price to level that makes alternatives unviable from an economic perspective, is to put a floor on the price of oil equal to the point at which alternatives can exist and flourish. This would effectively negate any attempt by OPEC to lower the price (as they did following the 70’s oil crisis) to kill off alternatives.

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Statik Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 7:07 am

Oh…the politics! The thread is doomed!

We need a new thread Lyle! We are outside your house with torches! Rapido, rapido!

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Jean-Charles Jacquemin Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 8:37 am

Statik #70,

Dear Statik, all things are political and all general texbooks on Political science are divided in chapters corresponding more or less to the political categories that appear from time to time in some comments of the threads.

It is a good thing that the different aspects of the discussed items are examined from the four or five general political trends (conservative, liberal, structuralist, environmental, gender minded, etc.) of the current history, so that if there is a consensus from each of those political trend, it is a strong one.

Let’s just hope the opinions and discussions will stay open, polite and respectful.

JC

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Tagamet Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 8:52 am

Note to all:

I hear GM is making a car called the Volt. It sounds really neat.
God Bless,
Tag

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John Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 9:39 am

I do not think drilling for more oil is the solution to our energy problems.
I am looking forward to my electric / hybrid car and the ability to ignore oil in the future .
BUT …
After seeing $ 126 oil headlines yesterday and regularly seeing headlines referencing our national debt , I would be in favor of the US government getting into the oil business for a few years. The US government should begin producing and selling oil from any fields found off the coast of California ( or Alaska ) . These fields should be operated with the best safety equipment ever imagined.
ALL proceeds from the sale of this oil can ONLY be used for national debt pay down . Maybe this is a once in a lifetime chance for for the US to get out of debt without a lot of pain. ( even though we need a little pain to learn something ) . I bet we could sell a lot of it directly to China .
The oil companies would scream and the environmentalists ( including me ) would be hard to satisfy , but the timing is right .

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Tagamet Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 9:44 am

John,
When was the last time you read our constitution?

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Jim I Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 10:41 am

Remember these most dangerous words:

We are from the government, and we are here to help you….

Thank you, but no, I do not want the government in the oil drilling, refining, and delivery business. If that happened, gas prices would be about $10.00 per gallon within a year!

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Jason Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 11:07 am

While I am opposed to more drilling in this country, especially in protected land in Alaska, I do agree that it could temporarily lower gas prices. What would be the point of that? People would start to lose interest in hybrid and electric cars, as would manufacturers because the business case changes. What no one has mentioned is that oil is a finite resource anyway. It is not a question of if we will run out of oil it is when. Most experts predict it will happen between 20 and 40 years on our current trajectory. I think it will be closer to 20 with MILLLIONs of poeple in China and India buying cars for the first time. Personally I think skyrocketing oil prices are great. Sure it is financially painful right now, but look at how fast the auto industry is changing. If gas was under $2 a gallon there would be no Volt or Karma and the Prius would probably fade away after all the greenies got one. I am all for being an environmentalist, but like most people I am not willing to pay a large penalty for it. Hybrids or electrics at least need to have comparale if not better operating costs compared to ICE cars. Now, thanks to skyrocketing gas prices they do.

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John Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

Jason ;
Not sure if your post was a response to the stinker I rolled into the room , but if it was , I too want the price to stay high until debt is reduced / eliminated .
Jim I ;
I agree : less is more regarding government . Stay out of refining , delivery and all production except for 1 limited lifespan production facility .
Tagamet ;
Hope we could vote on any such undertaking . 27 Amendments now. Maybe I ‘ m getting too worked up about our debt and reaching too far , but I see a real threat .

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fred Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

YES! A squeeze horn would be fine with me. What else do i want to be a VOLT hypermiler?

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Tagamet Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 9:59 pm

Fred,
Maybe the instrument panel could be mechanical and analogue. At least the odometer/speedometer could be. With them, if you drive backwards, the odometer spins backwards, so you’d never hit the warranty mileage….
And if they really get serious about a “minimum noise level” you could clip a baseball card to hit the spokes of the wheels.

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Jim I Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 6:35 am

Tape flashlights on the hood, and leave your headlights off.

You should be able to get a few more miles of AER………..

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Ed M Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 12:00 am

As I understand this article, the prototype is ready to go; why does it take untill 2012 to reach the public ?

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noel park Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 11:35 am

George Soros was interviewed on NPR this morning. He said that oil producing nations have learned that, rather than holding huge currency reserves of dollars, they are much better off to hold reserves of oil in the ground. The dollar has declined dramatically in value in the past few years, while the value of crude has done the opposite. Don’t look for them to increase production any time soon to help us to ower the price of gas.

And/or, as Kevin Phillips warns, they will begin to demand payment in euros, rubles, pounds, yen, yuan, or whatever other currency, or basket of currencies, appears to be appreciating instead of tanking. The economic and geopolitical impacts of such a move will be profound. Wait for it.

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N Riley Says:
May 12th, 2008 at 3:35 pm

We sure are a complicated lot. I have been reading this post to catch up since I last was on it late Friday. You guys made me laugh and feel good at times and wish I could have been around to respond timely to some of them. Many good points were made. Both sides of our political spectrum seems to be well represented here. If we have just two sides. I suspect we are all alot closer to each other except for a few nitty points, than most of would expect.

Keep up the good commentary. I am looking forward to reading it and understanding all of you a little better.

Go GM-Volt!

Good work Lyle.

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Jonathan Cassidy Says:
May 15th, 2008 at 7:53 am

If the Volt is not out on time I will be changed over to mass transit. This will happen for others like me. There is a point at which the buyer will change life style and commit to transit rather than personal vehicle. This can often work for one of a working couple.

I am selling this as a concept in the real estate market. There are many acres of available building sites along current transit lines.

I live in Troy, NY, own a Prius. I take local mass transit when ever I can and am probably the only realtor with a bus pass in my pocket at all times.

Jonathan Cassidy, associate broker
Prudential Manor Homes, REALTORS
518.423.3510

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Kevin R Says:
May 15th, 2008 at 8:55 am

#84 J. Cassidy
II for one can’t wait to buy my Volt. However, the Volt is but one answer to our transportation dilemma. Mass transit and light rail is the other. However, we wouldn’t be in this mess had there not been company’s who colluded together to dismantle the nations light rail systems.

It will cost billions to redo what was undone. But as gas goes up it is more attractive to live in urban centers and it stops urban sprawl.

http://www.intransitionmag.org/documents/scandal.html

http://www.baycrossings.com/Archives/2003/03_April/paving_the_way_for_buses_the_great_gm_streetcar_conspiracy.htm

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