BIG NEWS from Bob Lutz: First Chevy Volt Prototype Hits the Road and Gets 40 Miles Electric!
In the biggest news since the initial concept announcement, GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz confirmed that in fact the first Chevy Volt prototype, with the full lithium-ion battery pack has hit the test track.
He said “It is reliably meeting its objectives. Even with a rough calibration, even with the wrong drive unit, the wrong body, etc. etc., it has been hitting its 40 miles on electric power.”
He specifically confirmed the dynamometer tests have been successful even under various thermal conditions.
He even went so far as to say “I can almost say the battery is the least of our problems,”
He further explains that much of the engineering challenge ahead has to do with software, figuring out how and when the engine should kick in for example.
He notes that he is much more confident in the November 2010 deadline. He talks about Volt vehicle line executive Frank Weber in the following way:
“Three months ago if you asked Frank Weber ’so November 2010?’ he’d get flustered and say he wouldn’t answer until he knew more, now if you ask him the same question, he’s calm and relaxed and says unless we encounter some completely unforeseen obstacle - November 2010 looks good.”
Finally he confirms that CEO Wagoner is as involved in the Volt project just as much as he is, confirming extreme interest in it straight from the top.
Source (Autoobserver)
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Indeed, another great milestone! Thanks (Lyle and others) for helping keep us up to date on the latest and greatest!
On a side note, “pics or it didn’t happen…”
Freakin awesome news. If the mule is getting 40 miles with beta software and the totally wrong body, the battery should provide substantially more mileage in the production model. Go GM go!!!
November 2010…better save up!..
You can do it!!!!!
Now, it’s down to retail price…
I never had any doubt!
Hm, did WonderBob himself drive it?
This is great! Since the mule is hitting 40 miles per charge I wonder if an aerodynamically designed Volt can do better? hmmmm…
Woooohoooo!
I can’t think of any program execution done so well, outside of the defense industry during the war effort. Excellent execution all the way down the line, by GM and their suppliers - all should be well rewarded for their efforts.
I hope they understand how big an impact this will have on not just their company, but on America’s economy, trade deficit, falling dollar, etc.
I find the statement by Bob Lutz interesting when he said “much of the engineering challenge ahead has to do with software, figuring out how and when the engine should kick in for example.”
A recent Technology Review article on Volvo’s plans for a vehicle with electric motors attached to all 4-wheels mentioned software development as one of the most critical issues with that vehicle.
YES!! Great job GM!! Saving up for my Volt! I’d put my money on it that it gets 50+ miles all eletric when it finally comes out.
This is really great news! The Malibu achieves 40 miles in all-electric mode so could this mean the Volt’s range will be even greater?
With the outstanding performance let’s hope GM considers marketing a Malibu plug-in as well as the Volt. Some updated Volt-Malibu test track photos from GM would be welcome.
So the mule with the wrong co-efficient of drag, wrong electric motor, power electronics and everything still made 40 miles electric?
Awesome!
Is that on the 50%DOD though, and what is the #Wh/mile? GM has played it extremely smart by oversizing the pack and giving them some “wiggle room”. I’m just wondering how much they need to wiggle.
Do you know what this means? This means that with the optimized body, drivetrain, power electronics, etc., they’ll be able to have a 40 mile range with fewer cells in their battery. That means a cheaper, lighter car.
Awesome!
This means that they may be able to use smaller (and cheaper) battery packs for the 40 mile target range in the final production Volt.
Well, I’d like a longer range, myself (I drive 70 miles round-trip for work), but a cheaper car with a 40-mile range would probably better for a wider group of potential buyers, I guess. Which means the concept/technology would be more likely to catch on, which is good news for us all.
#12, I’m not sure if 40 miles or 45 miles really makes any difference. Hopefully they can decrease the size of the battery and address (probably) their biggest issue: price.
More details:
What does “wrong drive unit” mean? How does it differ? Was the AC on? Headlights? Stereo? Constant speed or stop and go? What speed? How much is it beating the 40 miles by? Is that using the entire capacity of the battery or the <70%(?) that I believe they have mentioned previously?
I doubt they will change the size of the battery pack since the pack will loose power over time. Don’t they want the Volt to get 40 miles after 10 years and 150,000 miles?
But i was reading a lot of posts form the last article and i agree thye need to use the e-flex system in several models to be successful. but i’m pretty sure we are not telling them anything they don’t already know.
I currently drive an S-10 treat it horrible change the oil every 4-6 months and have had no major problems it is a 99 so maybe the quality has gone down since then?
I’m saving my money!!!
Great news! But, gosh darn it this good news just was not enough for some of us. Come on, guys. This is good news. Thankfully, most of the comments are very positive. I agree we all want more information. Give GM time. They will do this.
Go GM. Go Volt.
To hear they’re having such success with the mule is very encouraging. Now if they can just nail down the price and keep their financial head above water until 2010…
Byron
Every car maker sells a lemon vehicle. Some of us are lucky and never buy one. Some of us are not so lucky. You don’t always hear from the lucky ones, but you darn sure do from the unlucky ones.
I believe, being a Japanese vehicle owner, when an American buys a foreign auto we have a tendency to be a little self conscious of doing so and will not admit buying a lemon or having more problems than we think is normal. One thing I find true is Japanese car companies push maintenance much more than American car companies. Or maybe no more, but we self consciously treat our foreign car better because we want to prove ourselves right in our buying choice. We do some things for reasons that we do not fully understand. I think Ford and GM are a lot closer in quality and value to the Japanese than some of us may want to admit. I know we have better quality and value than most European exports. Ford and GM autos seem to outlast European autos. Or, maybe I am just imagining it.
#21
I understand what your saying!
I’m not going to be in the market for a car until i graduate college in 2010 which sets up well for a new VOLT!!
i hope GM does this well, and paces themselves with PR’s because November of 2010 is a long way away they don’t want people to loose excitement. Although i guess the 4.00 gal gas is the incentive
I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma, it has had break issues since I bought it. It was built in America. The problem is UAW. Union employees expect too much and don’t work with care and diligence. They know they can’t be fired so they work with a piss poor attitude. I will guarantee you Toyota does not have the union problems American car makers have.
I still believe GM can overcome in spite of UAW.
I can’t wait to trade in my Toyota for a Volt.
This is GREAT!!!… Where can I send my deposit????
BigCityCat
The UAW is and has been part of the problem. But all big unions are a problem. Union leaders are like politicians. They want your vote and your money. They then take the money and buy expensive office buildings, cars and jet planes. They live high on the hog while the poor guy on the assembly line only makes $50.00 per hour.
Unions by themselves are not bad. It is the people who run the unions who are bad. The poor working stiff gets stiffed again. Why do you think they call them working stiffs?
Sentinel (and others)
You can send your deposits to: N Riley, P O Box 9999….. AH=h well, you probably would not fall for it anyway.
I agree this is fabulous news, but I’d sure like to know if “40 miles” means…
1. “40 miles at freeway speeds,”
2. “40 miles at low surface-street speeds,” or
3. Some combination thereof.
The improved cD of the final body won’t mean much if the Mali-mule prototype was being tested at 30MPH.
Nevertheless, it’s great to hear! Keep it up GM!
This is great news for GM and for all of us sick and tired of paying through the nose for gas! I bet the production Volt will get 50 miles or better per charge if the mule gets 40. I can’t wait for the opportunity to buy this car!!
Glad to hear that it gets 40 miles on electric, but I really want to know about performance. Can it accelerate to freeway speeds uphill? I would trade range to get a certain minimum necessary performance.
This is great news!!
For months, the biggest concern was always the battery pack, but now, that no longer seems to be the main issue. And in a previous post, Jon Lauckner stated that everything besides the battery pack was well-defined, for instance 90% of the powertrain has been spec’d to suppliers.
http://gm-volt.com/2008/04/28/how-much-will-the-chevy-volt-cost/
Now software development becomes the major task, but I don’t envision it being as complicated as the 2-mode hybrids, where the drivetrain power can come from the electric motors, ICE, or both. And all the reviews that I have read on the 2-mode system indicate that the transitions are very seamless and smooth.
I would say GM is making great progress on this vehicle! Glad to hear it.
#10 Estero,
Yes, the software is a big issue. You may recall when the Prius was in the news in 2005 because a software glitch was causing them to stall, and some could not be started. Media made a big deal of it, and scared away a lot of buyers at the time. It took about a year for it to be forgotten.
That really hurt the Prius reputation back then, even though only 33 out of 75,000 actually had the problem. That’s .00044%.
Bob Lutz said “It is reliably meeting its objectives. Even with a rough calibration, even with the wrong drive unit, the wrong body, etc. etc.,”
I wonder if that include abuse battery as well. That info sure would boost my encouragement if they have said that.
40 miles is the target for end of life. It’s encouraging to see they can get 40 miles out of a Malibu, which doesn’t have particularly optimized aero.
I would really like to know how much further an aerodynamically designed Volt can go.
#25–
$50/hr over a year of 40 hr/wk is $109,000. I wouldn’t quite call that “only” — I’m graduating college (tomorrow! yay) and coming out making $50,000; something about that seems wrong, which goes on to point out how unreasonable unions can be, and the UAW is the poster child of that. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for union workers to pay for part of their health care, have 401(k)s instead of pensions, etc. But every time GM/Ford/whomever wants to make a financial decision for the good of the company, the union is up in arms.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aBZUjbUBbXkk&refer=home
Your $50/hr is actually low; it works out to $73 and change (as of 2006) when benefits and pensions are accounted for.
Further, the Big 3 automakers are paying workers not to work! http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0510/17/A01-351179.htm — of course the UAW would strike forever if that deal was ever considered in a renegotiation.
OK I’m ready to choose a trim and color package…this is going to be a long wait till Nov 2010.
Just guessing the mule is less aero and heavier than the “Volt”, so this is breakthrough news for us fans. Wondering if there is AC on the mule for accuracy in testing and how long does it take to recharge?
Go GM go go go.
An electric motor on each wheel is much more complicated than a single electric motor driving a mechanical power distribution system. It is potentially more efficient too. Each wheel would have to sense traction and be controlled independently with the Volvo. The logic for a good fuel injection is more complicated than deciding when the generator motor should turn on.
I would’t mind making $50 an hour and I have an engineering degree.
I’m seriously worried about heating of Volt in winter climate. It may eat up the battery horribly quickly. Not everyone lives in California, you know. I hope they invent something clever about that.
And then Obi-Wan said, “I just felt a terrible disturbance in the force…almost as if all 20,000 people on the Volt waiting list all just reached out for their Kleenex together”
Oh PLEASE! My 1998 Citroen Berlingo Electrique still goes 60nM per charge on it’s ANCIENT technology NiCads!
SO…… while this IS good news along the ‘road to Damascus’, it’s not exactly a miracle:
Now, Gandalf the Grey returning as Gandalf the White - THAT was a miracle!…….;-)
Alexander,
Sweaters? Just kidding.
Alexander
Don’t you think the ICE could provide heat in extreme climates? It would mean burning a little more fuel when the heater’s fluid (water) became cooler than a certain level. That would not take any battery power and should only be used in extreme temperatures. In the South, where I live, a small electric heater could do most of the job. At times the ICE would have to be used.
…and it’s not even shaped like a brick…it IS a brick!
pete k
Bear with us on this, Pete. This crowd needs any good news it can find.
I’m sure they are being conservative on the 40 mile range. I expect they are shooting for 40 miles under worse case conditions like, old battery, heater/AC on, extreme temperatures, hilly terrain, etc. This can make a huge difference in range. I also think that some companies, like Fisker, probably estimate the best case scenario for range, as in new battery going a steady 50 mph on a flat road in mild temperatures. I don’t know why else range estimates seem to vary so much for all of these much anticipated 2010 cars.
A123 cells are capable of accepting the charge very rapidly. I think the limit will be what your house is willing to give. We use the cells to power model airplanes and charge them at multiples of their capacity. If you roughly estimate that you can go 40 miles in an hour and the battery is depleted, it would be possible to charge it in 15 or twenty minutes, but the amps needed would be prohibitive. It would be like the on demand hot water heaters, 70 amps to charge a 140 amp hour battery in two hours.
So we have just got to integrate the ICE to the drive and it is reams of software?
Well I hope they do that in parallel with setting up the assembly line.
For those of you that remember “Ben Hur”
Lets go to ramming speed.
Awesome! A working electric Malibu with a 40 mile range (plus extender, too). I mean, that’s a pretty cool trick, as the Malibu is not a car that you would normally think to convert to electric drive. It’s big and heavy and kinda blocky… If they can get THAT to work, the Volt (with all their customized design effort into it already) is going to be a big piece of cake.
Also, I’m really glad to hear they’re seriously thinking about the charging algorithms. I mentioned it before during the Pulse&Glide article that I figured the most likely cause of Volt drivers acting weirdly is trying to get thier charger to stop charging as soon as they have enough range to get home!
It’s probably going to be the #1 issue for people with slightly more than 40 mile commutes and could make a huge difference in actual mileage.
N Riley # 19
Agree with your comment about the smaller quality gap now between Japanese and US branded vehicles. Our large company fleet has long been a mix of US branded full size 4 doors with some SUVs thrown in for the more northern locales. In recent years shop time is almost exclusively routine service and inspection vs repair. Turnover mileage was raised from 45K many years ago to about 55K now.
Thinking a VOLT should be in the shop even less…
Bravo People!!!
Hey a quick question,
Is the pure 40mile electric range at 50km/hr, 100km/hr or what speed? Thanks
This is amazing news! I bet when all is said and done the volt will give a closer to 50 mile all electric range. This is gonna be a real winner for GM… Viva La Revolution…
GXT #17. Great questions. I wonder the same thing. What does 40 miles mean? What kind of 40 miles?
Great news.
There is not a moment to be lost.
Time’s a wastin’
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.
Anyone else wondering what the weight differential will be between the production volt and the mule? Will the volt weigh the same, more or less?
My guess is that the mule has been stripped of its heavier unnecessary components in order to more closely match the eventual production volt weight! I’m sure that with the hundreds of engineers and billions of dollars spent the final product will be streamlined to perfection. If they can get forty miles on a full charge from the mule it only figures that the end result will surpass previous conservative estimates. These guys have learned a lot (the hard way) from the EV1 project, they are not about to make promises they can’t keep!
Better open CD account now and save up! great news by the way.
Go GM Go!
#21, N Riley. I will admit it. Up until last week, I had a complete piece of junk Suburu Outback. I was made in Japan. It was a real turnoff for me.
Sorry. I wasn’t made in Japan. The Subaru was.
If this car will be priced around $40,000, it might just be a novelty item which won’t sell well.
We need a volkswagon type electric car that most families can afford. Use it to run errands, make small trips etc. Half of the driving done in the US could be accomplished with such a vehicle.
IMHO
9 years ago i paid €3000 for a 400mhz Pentium 3 computer, it was state of the art then! today you can get get a computer that’s 10 times as powerful for a tenth of the price. The most costly part of the volt is the battery and i predict that with the weight of the major car companies behind this technology, by 2015 you will be able to buy a 200 mile range Ev for the same relative price of a gasoline car!
Keep going GM. Don’t rest. We need to make this happen.
I said this 10 months ago - software will be the long pole in the tent, not the batteries. I hope GM authorizes overtime pay for Volt software engineers…
Gary Goggin #59 -
Anything over 100 miles per charge (MPC) is a waste. Most people will only need 40 MPC. Even if batteries get 10 times cheaper, 200 MPC will still be a significant cost, not to mention weight.
There is also the issue of charging a 200 MPC car. Normal house circuits won’t do this overnight.
I think 2015 will show us plug-in hybrid cars that get 30-70 MPC and don’t cost much more than regular ICE cars. That’s what most people need. There will also be some high-end pure EVs for people that afford another car for long trips.
Several people have mentioned the heating problem. Creating heat with electricity is a sin. Hi quality energy converted to low quality heat is not good. Now back in the 60s I had a Corvair and it never killed me. When I bought it I got the optional gasoline heater. The heater ran on gasoline. I rewired it so I could go out on a cold day and fire up the heater without the engine running. Even later in its life I added a duct so it would heat the engine so that it would start on a cold winter day. I have no idea how efficient they were but they would sure put out the heat. Even very good for a very cold night with your girl parked on a country road. LOL
Take Care
Arch
Dave G
The Tesla roadster can get 200 mpc now! The more major auto companies start pushing Ev’s the more likely we will see breakthrough after breakthrough in both battery tech, ultra capacitors and software advances etc! i believe the volt represents a change in the zeitgeist and as a result it will expedite these technologies. I’m old enough to remember the spectrum 48! typing code for hours from a bi monthly computer mag and then looking on in awe as a triangle appeared on the monitor! I really think we are at the beginning of a revolution.
Now what do you suppose has become of all those claimed skeptics who early on predicted that the Volt was some sort of billion dollar
sleight of hand? Where are those morons and why don’t they have the guts to admit that they were full of it? With their imagination for braindead conspiracy theories (Chris Paine, are you out there?), I wonder which one of them will find some reason for claiming that the Volt is something other than what it so obviously has become. Prepare for another blasphemy against logical thinking.
Way to go Volt Team!!!
Looking forward the greatest car yet!
The scale of the heating problem seems to be what everyone is missing. The Batteries carry enough energy to push a huge car around. Is it 50-60Kwh or something? You can run a 1kW electric fire off that for an hour and use less than a couple of persent of the charge. And with that kind of heat you could cook a lamb roast in the car.
All the President’s Men is a great movie. Non - denial denials, with no one going “on the record.” Did the Volt Mule go 40 miles using less than 8 KWH of battery capacity? That was the implication, but why did they not go on the record? Since the Volt only travels by electric power, any distance over 40 miles hits the mark of traveling 40 miles on electric power, in that it traveled on electric power.
Did it hit the mark of a zero to 60 time less than 9 seconds?
I will wait until Lyle actually drives a mule and reports on its actual performance.
This is all good news about the volt and a chance for America to get out from under the Arab sandal and thumb its nose at Venezuela. If the Volt catches on it will be goodbye to oil imports from unstable backstabbing countries over the next decade.
I hope America shows loyalty to GM buys the Volt and not some Asian knockoff.
I would imagine the volt would use a heat pump system like what was in the ev1 & s-10 E that would cool the battery back while charging and if i recall correctly would also heat-cool the cabin using power from the grid before you unplugged it.
Who knows how we can track the price of Lithium between now and Volt release ? I see that the stock price of one of the 2 domestic producers has roughly doubled in the last 12 months .
This is great news. Too bad I won’t be able to afford one. And now I hear perhaps the 3g Prius is going to be larger (which means more expensive). Of course, I also hear the 3g Prius was going to have 3 models (sizes), small, medium (current size) and large.
Maybe two cars from now I will be able to afford the Volt’s smaller version (not starting any rumors) but makes sense there will be Volt offspring from GM someday.
2010 should be a great year for next technology vehicles.
Lyle — It is really great news. We all are pressing for more details because of our enthusiasm.
#72 Bill — As of now there are no prices. We can remain hopeful.
#17 GXT
I would imagine they used the EPA mixed city and highway cycle during the range test. The testing was probaby also done in Michigan so the temperature would have been in the neighborhood of 60 degrees. They may have simulated an electrical load to mimic using accesories, but the mule car probably doesn’t have the electric heating and cooling that the Volt will have.
This is very good news, no doubt. However, I wonder how much impact certain crtiical components such as A/C, power steering and lighting will have on the AER. GM is reportedly working on replacements for such systems that draw much less power, and lighting is already there with LEDs, but how close are reliable “low power consumption” A/C, power steering and audio systems to reality?
#46 DaveP
I would like to see a switch that would turn on the ice. There are a number of reasons for this. Your example is one. Another is where you want to arrive at a location with a good amount of charge, like a downtown, so you don’t pollute.
Regarding the ice cycling: I would like to see it figure out if you are on the freeway. In that case, after 40 miles, stay on. If not on the freeway, I would like it to cycle on and off.
Also, I really hope the engine is well insulated so it can barely be heard in the cabin. It would be cool to have some kind of small indicator that the ice is on.
Lyle, this is surely good news. OK GM start the tooling. If I can multitask so can you. Build the car. NOW….. Love that VOLT.
#63 Arch - “Creating heat with electricity is a sin.”
Ha Ha! I got a great laugh out of that. Very true and probably only an engineer can appreciate that comment.
I can imagine the ICE contributing to the heating of the batteries. If GM is smart, (and they are) there will be a water loop for the battery pack that can accept rejected heat from the engine.
I fully expect that the Volt will get 50 miles+ when it’s new, and under aggressive conditions. Maybe get 60+ miles under ideal conditions. That’s good news.
As someone mention, using electricity for heating the Volt would be a sin. Electricity is the worst way to heat, period! Whether it’s a home or whatever. Also, someone mention using a gas heater like the one used in the Corvair of years ago.,Now that makes sense. Using fuel is a much more efficient way of heating. This method could be use in conjunction with the ICE. If you driving and the battery is partially depleted, the ICE could kick in to top off the battery and at the same time provide heat the way our present cars do. If the battery is fully charged,then the gas heater would do the job.
When it comes to Air conditioning, the problem becomes more acute. An electric A/C compressor draws a huge load and again, I don’t think GM will go that route. I think GM will use the ICE to rotates the compressor and at the same time, it will generate electricity to charge the battery or for whatever.
The ICE will be tune to it’s sweet spot around 1800 rpm and rotate at that speed. At that speed the ICE lends itself to a new technology called HCCI. If GM uses HCCI the ICE efficiency could increase by 15 to 20 percent.
These are just some of my ideas from a lifetime of experience in engineering.
jscott
Just glad somebody understood what I said. LOL
Take Care
Arch
Dave G #61,
Software is always a challenge on a complicated project, as you know. I have said in the past on this blog that this is probably the most software intense car built to date. So surely GM, in a systematic way, is using software inspections where multiple software engineers inspect each other’s code looking for best design and looking for errors. The more eyes looking at and reading the code the better. I am sure GM management knows that transparency helps produce better code with fewer errors. Even though the code is done by individual programmers the code can’t be “owned” by individual programmers it must be “owned” by the whole team.
This is a great milestone GM, and I wish you the best. We need this car.
79 Joe
Glad to see that somebody else understood what I said. I also agree that the volt needs a SMART computer ti figure out where to switch the loads to at any given time.
Take Care
Arch
#75 Bernie Torbik
“I wonder how much impact certain crtiical components such as A/C, power steering and lighting will have on the AER.”
In previous posts, we heard from GM that power requirements for A/C, power steering, audio, wipers, and the like were issues to overcome. We didn’t hear that in this post. We heard, “He further explains that much of the engineering challenge ahead has to do with software.” So, perhaps, low power consumption doo-dads are not a big enough issue for GM to mention.
Considering the GM (actually Aerovironment) EV1 got 140 miles per charge on older battery technology and older software technology, 40 miles on pure electric is a HUGE step backwards. I have always wondered why they are only shooting for 40 miles. Why not 100? They’ve already done better than that 15 years ago with the EV1. Even the ‘tiny’ Tesla Roadster (now shipping) gets 227 miles on a full charge, and its faster than most Ferraris and Lamborhinis.
start small , forget the computer and put a button to start the engine and a gauge to check battery level and start selling the car next week.
Quote from the referenced article:
“GM engineers are grappling with such questions as: When does the gas engine cut in? How long does it stay on? Is it better to run at lesser power and charge the battery slowly or run at peak power and charge the battery fast? How does it deal with extreme cold days in Alaska or North Dakota, which require the gasoline engine to start the car and warm the battery? If the car’s GPS or OnStar tells the car it is close to home, is there a way for it to tell the engine to charge the engine just enough to get home and plug in versus charging the whole battery using gasoline in the last 15 minutes? How does it handle wide variations in temperatures with accessories on?”
From the above paragraph it sounds like GM has not settled on how much to charge the battery with the ICE. I though it was settled that the ICE would just sustain the battery at about the 30% level while ICE is running. Does anyone else have the same question? When Volt was first announced GM had advertised that you could charge the battery while in Park, but it sounds like GM is thinking of charging while driving, at least in some cases.
Thats awesome! Yah, it may seem like a step backward, but how many people do you personally know that own a EV1?…oh thats right they never sold them to anyone…then crushed them…so its only 40 miles, for now. 40 miles on lectric is much better than say…30 mpg in a malibu at $4.00 freakin dollars a gallon.
This is exciting news indeed!!!
My biggest concern is HEAT.
Ambient heat.
Having the vehicle sitting in the sun in a Wal-Mart parking lot when it’s 117f outside and 145f on the inside worries me.
HOWEVER,
I’m sure that GM would not deliver a vehicle system that would not be capable of managing this heat.
In the past, it’s this heat that has prevented me from buying an AC propulsion’s eBox or others. (They informed me that the battery would not be very happy in this environment)
I’m keeping my fingers crossed and my wallet ready.
40 miles…Common GM lest push it a little harder. This mileage should be doubled. At least.
..another thought on my #83 comment: maybe the prototype didn’t have A/C, power steering, audio, wipers, and the like.
The AutoObserver article said, “the vehicle’s innovative gas-electric powertrain is being test-driven for the first time on public roads.” Is that different from Lyle’s “the test track?”
Paul
I agree if we have power at the batteries then why should we have hot cars to come back to? Give us cool cars to come back to as we leave Wal-Mart. LOL
Take Care
Arch
Dave G #61, C.C. #81
Absolutely correct. Even if the battery right now only using 50% can do 60 miles with A/C, there is still a long way to go.
There will be so many conditions, states, contingencies that will need to be tested, and retested etc regardless of whether or not the battery pans out at this point. However, getting over the battery hurdle this early is definitely a plus, now the real work can begin to get this car working and on the road by 2010.
I NEED this car my propane bill to heat my house now cost 1,000 every 4 weeks i work 43 miles from home. Keep up the good work & don’t over price it or so help me i will buy a mini cooper!
I’ve read several posts about the heating/cooling issues.
As mentioned, a simple gas space heater solves the heating issue without affecting battery range.
To solve the cooling issue, just add an insulated ice-bath and heat exchanger. The ice-bath will provide plenty of cooling while running on batteries, and the water can be automatically re-frozen while plugged-in or running off the ICE. Simple and inexpensive.
As for the software now being a big issue, I don’t think the issue is so much writing the software. The issue will be tuning the 100 or so (that’s a guess) software parameters that will control when things start, when things stop, power delivery, etc. Tuning those parameters will require lots of simulations, experimentation, and driving that take a lot of time.
40 miles with all the wrong stuff is good enough for me. I’d pay $35,000 today for a Malibu with the mule package installed. The software tweaks could easily be downloaded to the car as new releases are tested and finalized. Package up 50,000 of ‘em to sell this summer and let us trade up for the final Volt in 2-3 years when it’s finished. Don’t let “perfect” be the enemy of “good”!
Lyle, has GM set a date to run a mule through the EPA mileage tests yet?
I would think that the EPA tests should be executed with a FULL battery charge and an EMPTY battery charge. Also, I’m wondering about the mileage if the Volt is NEVER plugged into an electrical outlet.
Of course, a software algorithm needs to exist for the ICE cycle for these tests. The GM testers may be just manually turning on the ICE in the mule…or based on this blog, the ICE may not be in play yet.
Gary Goggin #64,
The Tesla Roadster gets around 250 mpc (not 200), but the wait list is around 1 year and the cost is around $100,000. Let me know when you buy one! As I mentioned, there will be a few pure EVs at the high end for those who can afford them.
But speaking of Tesla, their 3rd generation car is supposed to be a $30,000 plug-in hybrid with around 40 MPC. Tesla’s stated business plan is to start with high-end sports cars and then work their way down to affordable cars for the masses. When you get down to $30,000, then a plug-in hybrid with around 40 MPC is the only thing that works.
I would still like to have a chance of a test pilot of the car out here in the dead set Middle of the U.S.A.
Weather conditions here vary and would allow for good test data. Certainly at various times of the seasons. Winter time with the elements will be a real challenge.
94 Ron
I agree…
But any detail news on the rollout plan to the dealers? When will dealer techs start training on the vehicle? Will the sales people know anything about the vehicle when it arrives on the lot?
I would think everyone would like to hear news on the “rollout” plan. Is it premature to ask such questions?
WOW, very impressive!
What can I do to help speed-up the delivery of this vehicle?
We need to propel this concept into reality well before 2011.
Please pool more resources into this project (you are missing the boat as we type)…
This is what GM needs to put them back on top, this is what this country needs to cut the dependency on petroleum. Get in line now. At $4.00 a gallon how can you afford not to buy one. Now, I just want the government to give me a tax credit to put up my own wind generator to make my own electricity for this plug in marvel.
my son is in school right now learning about alt fuel vehicles(ie. electric hybrid) I’m sure the dealerships will have at least one tech that they send for special training if they can’t hire someone right out of an automotive school.
All the work being done on this is a huge step in the right direction. There are going to be failures. That is a part of the learning process. Yes; that 40 miles figure is somewhat subjective. Traffic in Houston at 5pm on a typical 97 degree summer afternoon with pavement temperatures nearing 125 degrees will be challenging. I am curious about the physics though. Heat on a cold day without the 190 degree radiator water will be an even worse battery drain.
To produce a range of 75-150 horsepower for x number of miles will require an awful lot of juice from a typical 15 amp wall outlet even with 70% energy recovery from braking and 85% efficiency in the batteries. Only so much can flow in 6-8 hours. If you want to go even more miles and still charge overnight, I’m not sure how much further than 40 miles all-electric will ever be feasible. The battery pack also has to remain small enough to remain inside the frame rails in order to pass the crash tests without exploding.
I have no problem with a 30amp-230volt charger to get more miles as battery technology matures but that will sure turn a lot of people off initially until those charger outlets are as standard by the driveway as a dryer/stove plug or a stub-out for an air-conditioner . . . . .
Ed M @ 69:
Doubtful. More like making do with our oil quota by utilizing every alternative energy source we can muster.
Also, Americans seem to follow their pocketbook and/or quality issues more so than patriotic allegiance when it comes to their own personal purchases. Most “American” companies outsource parts and labor and even assembly to third world countries, anyway.
This is Great News!!! I want to buy !!!!
I agree with #94 Ron as well. Roll it out, and upload the free upgrades with a drive-by at the dealership when it’s ready. We are all used to Microsoft’s imcomplete products and service packs. We all wouldn’t be on this site if we were happy with the gas prices and/or environmental impacts of regular cars.
GM, you want sales don’t you, get it out there before somebody else over seas steals the scene.
I drive a truck 70 miles each day and plan on upgrading my daily driver this coming fall. GM, you better hurry before I go shopping for something with a little better leg room than a Prius. Hook me up with one so I can test it in this summers heat and humidity in Houston
Hi Robert (101),
The battery systems being engineered by GM and their suppliers do not explode. They use a different safer chemistry than laptop cells.
As mentioned in previous posts, during battery operation, heat could be supplied from a small fuel space-heater, and cooling could be provided by an ice-bath.
Why not make that onboard generator diesel powered and able to run on biofuel or veggie oil then we could be gasoline free! At least make it optional! I am ready to trade up!
A Prius owner
Why is it that GM can make a full production electric vehicle in the early 90’s (close to 20yrs ago now) yet it’s 2008 and they can’t seem to get this thing into production? i originally heard that GM would have an electric car like this around 2007, no 2008, no 2009…wait, now it’s Nov 2010?!?!? that’s a 2011 model…hang on a minute!!! someone’s keeping us low to the ground here….originally i was excited about this…now i think it’s a joke to improve their ‘Humming’ image…”software challenge”…LMAO —-> (if battery=low then start motor otherwise don’t) my optimism has turned due to these stalling tactics of high hopes. What?!?! You’re telling me that google owns every talented software engineer this planet has to offer….i have one thing to say to GM ……… “ooooooooooooookaaaay…..right”
“Why not double or triple the range?”
Because it is not needed most of the time by MOST drivers. Battery supply is possibly going to be a limiting factor. If that is the case GM can sell twice as many cars with a 40 mile range as with an 80 in that case. And did your read all the angry post when the possible price increase was announced? Cost of the battery is currently a huge part of the cars cost. Why compound that cost issue to give more range that will often go unused and push the price into the range of a toy only for the rich!
the system they have to use has prolly 50 moving parts, a batt pak, controler for throttle control-charging-discharging-power distribution,and 1-4 motors ac-inducton 3-phase for generator braking aswell as standard car items window motors turn signals brake light etc. my question is when 8 people can desigh implement and move a vehical on to the market in less than 2 years how many people are working on this how much is gm spending do they have anyone from the old EV1 team on this team why dont they put the ev1 on the market i bet people would pay for a 50+mpg car at 22cents a “charge”
these are the same geniues that invented the modern electric vehical(EV) and then did there damnest to eraticate it they took the EV out of the one they let a musem hav i hate to be negitive but WTF get the lead out i could convert every car in my family to EV with lead-acid batts for they get the fist ev gimic(by the time gas get so expensive it will be to late for this car we’ll all be broke) if GM continous to give this kind of effort watch out were in store for a great dipression(sorry 2nd) with great power comes great resposiblity (corn) get off your @$$ GM
I have great news. My homemade $2000 EV get’s 40 miles per charge! Yay, what an achievement.
GO PAUL!!!!!!!!
start a car CO.
Fantastic , want one now please……hurry up
This is good news indeed…. I suspect GM will be planning for worst case scenario, they almost have to… 40miles of mixed semi-freeway/city/hilly stop and go driving with a lead-foot driver honking it away from every stop light. I see 90 to 100km with steady driving at 100kmph on the open road… the kind of driving I do. Cut back to 90kmph (the speed limit around these here parts) and I suspect you will add 5lkm more to that range. If GM ‘guarantees’ 40 miles, I am willing to bet that many will be able to eke out 30 -50% more range with steady open road driving before the gen-set in the back kicks in.
Hi Paul-R (105) I’m totally onboard with this but there are physics things to be overcome that are being glossed over. I’m going to guess one of the software challenges will be determining the ambient temperature of the vehicle when the driver enters. Most folks don’t realize that car AC compressors can cool a 1500 sq ft house. They just ramp back once the car is cooled off.
It is not just the air in the car that is 125 degrees in that Wal-Mart parking lot. So is the dash and the seats and the glass. You said ice bath. You could set a 50lb block of ice in a car in Texas in the summer and within an hour all you would have is wet carpet and still a very hot car. Users will expect the same ability to remove or add a tremendous amount of heat into or out of the passenger cabin within 5 minutes of closing the driver side door for the vehicle to be viable.
A 3-ton AC unit is about 3 horse power which a 150 HP gasoline engine barely notices but wouldn’t even work with a 15 amp wall outlet the battery charger will use. A regular car has a huge amount of energy it can throw at a really hot or cold vehicle. It wouldn’t be so bad if the gasoline engine had to start to initially heat up or cool off one of these vehicles. Once they are at temperature, the energy requirement is very low.
As for the batteries not exploding; hmmmm, you might wanna read up on that. A tremendous amount of energy will be stored in the battery pack. Probably 10,000 times that of a laptop computer. If you dropped 10,000 laptop computer batteries into a hydraulic press and all of those + and - terminals came in contact with one another creating short circuits, you would be surprised at the fireworks.
I love the fact that GM ate crow and is coming back with a viable ev, even though it will use an ice to extend the range.
Why o Why are they striving for perfection–we need half as much car at half the price. But they still have to make money. I would buy a Volt anytime, and cheer GM on, but cut the deluxe complexity crap and give us a battery Volt NOW at a lower price (since you leave out the ice).
Best wishes, GM.
people won’t buy a city car.
regarding AC, there are glass windows with excellent ability to allow light in but not heat.
By the way, if “Walmart” adds charging stations, your car WILL be climate controlled when you come back out… just like it will be in the morning at home. Beat that!
i’d REALLY like to see 100 miles on all electric… and i’d be willing to pay more for it
would you pay $10,000 more?
that’s about what it would cost…
Great, great news. If it’s cold I’ll throw on an extra sweater. Just keep the windows from fogging up. Got this little thing in my pocket that takes a couple of AA batteries, so hold the boom box.
Aruby (118) - Yes, they make glass that lets little heat in but try smashing it with a baseball bat. It breaks in to jagged pieces that will lacerate you in a crash. Triple pane glass with argon filler is fine for a house where few windows get direct sun. Again, there are physics at play.
Go look at the outside of your house and compare the % of exterior that is glass vs solid surfaces then do the same for your car. Now compare how many cubic feet of air you have inside your house per sq ft of glass compared to your car. BINGO. You have way more glass and way less cubic feet of air in your vehicle which is why a car heats up so fast in the sun compared to a house.
Plus a house has a continuous climate control system more or less so heat is added and removed gradually so you never or seldom have a huge amount to deal with either way. Not so with a car. Open your trunk. No insulation on the lid and very little between the trunk and the back seat. Maybe a 1/4″ of foam between the ceiling and the roof in a car.
Bottom line is it is cheap to heat up or cool down a vehicle with a V8 engine and something similar will need to be possible with the Volt but I’m guessing it won’t ever be feasible to make that huge initial climate change with battery power and still go some 40 or 50 miles.
Oh, and Wal-Mart will be the very very very last store that ever installs charging stations for their customers. What will keep the dude next door at What-a-Burger from charging his car up during his lunch at Wal-Mart without ever going in ???? The logistics of that prevetion would be night marish to inforce . . . . . .
Robert (123)
First of all, it’s nice that we’re at the point where these are the big problems…
Regarding the glass, sorry for being so vague. I wasn’t referring to double pane glass which insulates against conduction.
I was talking about technologies like this
http://www.southwall.com/southwall/Home/Products/Automotive/XIRLaminatedGlass.html
that are already in use in some cars from Renault and Mercedes. They reflect much of the sun’s heat, stopping “radiation” heat.
My general point is that once you’re running an energy efficient car, you start to look at ways to use energy efficiently. Using an ICE to heat and cool works very well, but it’s like using a sledgehammer on a fly. Also, I doubt EPA MPG tests are run in the baking sun, which would demonstrate the substantial loss of efficiency AC’s can cause in a mobile greenhouse.
Example: in the above link, a test car with reflective film was found to be cooler- plus a 3% fuel economy improvement.
An extra MPG might not sound huge, but it certainly will make a difference when running an air conditioner off of batteries.
Regarding WalMart charging, how about a Charging meter? (like a parking meter). A couple quarters should go a long way!
FYI,
see http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid192.php for a great look at many different areas that can be improved.
With a regular car, you don’t see exactly how many MPG you’re getting, but with the Volt, you’ll know exactly when you’re battery is low. Your actual mileage is the key, not the EPA’s mileage.
BTW, Another development that may also help is “self-inflating” tires with a built in peristaltic pump http://www.selfinflatingtire.com/
(or something similar). This would also save about 3% of energy, but wouldn’t help Big Auto on the EPA test.
The software issue sounds a bit of a crok to me. What inputs do they need to look at? Throttle posn, speed. accel/decel, power demand, wheel distribution (related to turning radius), battery state of charge. It’s not rocket science. To that end, NASA put a man on the moon with a computer with the processing capacity of a digital. They should use the KISS principal and keep it simple stupid. I’m sure battery technology really IS the problem of all EVs if they are only prepared to admit it.
I would bet a modern car is more complicated than a 60’s moon rocket…
Aruby (124) - OK I read your link and it says at best this vastly more expensive glass reduces heat influx by 33%. Since about 1/3 of the heat that enters a car in a parking lot comes from the glass, 1/3 of 1/3 means that after say 10 hours in the sun, a normally 140 degree car will only be about 130 degrees.
I’ll admit to being the only frigging stupid nubie many of you have made me out to be but not knowing what in the world you are talking about when you say you can heat and cool a car with something you people call an ICE.
I assure you if it worked 5% as much as many of you think it will it would already be in service. Why is it when I enter 15 variations of ICE - heating - cooling - vehicle in Google all I get back is stupid stuff and nothing even remotely in reference to a practical automobile heating and cooling technology ????
when can i buy this car?
Excuse the abbreviation. I.C.E. = Internal Combustion engine.
Great news GM. I wonder what GM’s stock price would be if all their dealerships had E-flex vehicles on the lot.
#124 aruby… Re: Charging meter — I like that idea.
I still think they need to ditch the 9V battery they are trying to use and put some real juice in it. Maybe take the engine all the way out.
Thanks Aruby. Use “Ice” as in the cold stuff in a sack to cool a car in Houston ???? BA-HaHaHaHaHaHa. My bad. I’m up to speed now.
Yes. Charging meters perhaps on their own row someplace in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Anything that would take cash would get stolen. Perhaps a pre-paid tap-type card like a Kroger key chain deal-ey plus a keypad where you can key in the maximum amount.
To my knowledge we aren’t importing actual electricity in from the middle east yet so all of these are good ideas . . . . . .
mmcc: thanks
GM: keep the patent 
Hey Robert, I looked into more of those numbers, and this is what I understand so far.
The specific product I linked to reflects 94% of infrared radiation. It is 35% more efficient than “tinted glass”. Regular glass lets in much more infrared, about 80% of total infrared shining at it. (Infrared is what mostly makes us hot from the sun).
Also, the main reason cars get so hot is because of the windows. Whatever the percentage of area windows are, I think we can agree that the reason the car gets hot is mostly the “greenhouse effect”. Better windows would help a lot.
Bernie Lewis - #106
The volt runs on electricity, gasoline, or E85. E85 is mostly ethanol, which can be made from any sort of biomass. In the U.S., emissions standards for Diesel engines make them more costly, heavier, and less efficient than European Diesel engines.
Robert - #115
The Volt doesn’t use the same battery chemistry as laptop batteries, so they wont explode. A good example of this is the recent KillaCycle accident. I believe the battery pack was ruptured, shorting the + and - plates, and nothing happened. By contrast, Tesla is using laptop batteries. They say their pack cooling system will deal with thermal events, but I wonder what a real crash would do. As for AC, the Volt design guys have already told us 40 MPC is with the AC off, and it looks like there will be a 20-30% hit on MPC with the AC on.
nate - #120
100 mpc would cost around $10,000 extra, and you would lose the back seats and/or the trunk. The good news is that your 0-60 times would be much faster. More batteries not only makes more range, but more horsepower as well. Do you still want 100 mpc?
Ian P - #126
There is a ton of software for just the AC induction motor. There are also a lot of battery management issues. Don’t underestimate software.
Great Job GM!
I wish they were selling a Malibu Volt. I’m 6′5″ and the Volt’s going to be too small in the first version.
For now I’m just glad a company is building a car the right way.
Everybody knows that GM can build the VOLT. They built the EV1. The question is: Will they actually do it? Is this just a tease? After all, if you ever saw the movie “Who killed the electric car”, you will know that there are many factors at work against building such a car.
My prediction is that some other car company (Not beholding or intimidated by OIL) will build that functional and reasonably price electric car long before GM will.
Look at what Renault is about to do in Israel?
The shame of it is that GM, if they were truly sincere, could do a lot for America, Americans and to the glut of BIG OIL and the politicians that keep helping them. Wake up America… WE own the OIL in Iraq (and what a price we are paying there), and OIL companies still stick it to us.
Zeme
I’ll believe it when I see it…on a lot.
If GM was capable or interested in a vehicle like this they would have worked directly off of the EV1 project long ago. The minute the lobbyists overturned the CA requirements for EV production, they pulled out.
Why in the world would they build themselves out of jobs with cars that last long and work cleanly? Why would they build themselves out of big oil lobby money?
They want you to drive a car that will break and need things. Thats business. Same as your appliances.
Cable companies are glad to give you a FREE box, the cell phone companies are happy to give you FREE phones… because they know you’ll need services and want for more and more. They can keep you paying a bill for years to come.
This thing will have issues built right in to keep you on a string.
Take all of this fake press release non sense with a grain of salt.
Insist that you see it before you fall for it. The only thing that matters is mass production, not a fancy skin or a test mule or a battery. In 1897 the first commercial application (of EV) was established as a fleet of New York City taxis. Over 100 years ago people. We can send satellites to space and see 100 million light years away.
For more information on the history and past capabilities of Elec. vehicles please cut an paste the link below to the US department of energy.
Question Everything! We are not sheep or cash cows.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/avta/light_duty/fsev/fsev_history.html
Congrats GM and the entire Volt project staff.
Now…don’t put a Cavalier body on this chassis. Stick to the car show design package and you have a winner.
oh please! The critics here are completely clueless. They have no idea that it all has to do with technology and making money. The EV1 didn’t have a chance because the technology cost too much back then, no matter what you thought. In case you didn’t know … technology is what transformed the world into what it is, and will continue to do so.
Frankly I can’t believe GM was so jaded against Advanced Li-Ion batteries in the the first place. It’s like they never read any of the technical journals.
The actual software coding work is probably not as big an issue as determining the algorithms which that software will use. Algorithms are the math used to set things like when the ICE comes on and what the most efficient and battery-friendly discharge depth should be. Finding the optimal values for this math will take a good deal of research and old fashioned testing.
Would it be possible to install a solar film in the roof to assist in charging the battery. Solar film has come a long way recently. I don’t know if this would be practical, just an idea. Tha car may be parked for 7 to 8 hours in the sun and could be recharging. Any thoughts in this regard?
GM would say- maybe as an add-on. We won’t get involved…
Now it’s time to start the Manhattan type project to build many nuclear power plants on the “design once, copy exactly” principal to power these babies with “carbon free” power!
Hey GM…a willing Minneapolis driver with years of R&D test experience is waiting! Get off yer butts, build that thing and get your cold-weather data here!
#142 Mikel
The soon to be released Aptera has a solar panel in the roof that runs the A/C unit while parked to keep the interior of the auto cool.
For us in the deep south, this is a great feature. We have already reached 100 + last week. I’m sure GM is looking at all options. We’ll just have to patient and wait for the final VOLT product.
Tom
Sure the automakers might lose money from replacement parts (they build in foreign countries) on EVs but they have huge potential to make money on software updates, part upgrades, even newer better batteries (make em last only 8 -10 years then well have to buy newer ones) and many of these things are best built right here in the U.S.A. Instead of forming alliances with Oil Companies they need to focus on Software companies, Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Apple etc. Soon we might be able to have tons of technology in our cars. There will be shift in the way money is made but it can still be made.
Good to get 40 miles from the battery. The Chevy Sprint consistently got 50 miles per gallon. I drove one for 10 years without any repairs, (until the carburetor died). I loved that little car but couldn’t get another one because the Sprint was discontinued. If the Volt is to get 55 mpg, that is not very spectacular in light of the mileage gotten by a car 20 years ago.
#138 Arc
And people people think I’m pessimistic!
/you have so much to teach sensai!
I think the difference is “NO” sales of gas guzzlers for GM and Ford etc. and most models on the road to-day.The New tech to replace the old tech is now, as Prius at 1,000,000 sold proves.
Oil is not going to get cheaper and the only way to deal with this is don’t buy it.
GM,Ford and the rest start again with a level playing field and see if the Asian market can keep up. All things being equal I would buy North American everytime. Technology is where North America shines and the everybody else either buys or steals it….this time around lets keep it.
If there is a lot of software to control the car, then there will be opportunities for bugs to exist. GM may need to have an easy way for drivers to download authorized patches directly to the car. Similar to what Microsoft does to our Windows machines about once every other week or so.
I would assume that the heater would not be resistance based. They will almost certainly use a heat pump for both heating and cooling.
I drive a 03 jetta TDI. It gets about 50mpg. Also had a 1985 Rabbit diesel that got about 47mpg.
THERE IS NO COMPARISON.
The Jetta is a real car, solid built with real safety features and roomy, with reasonably clean emissions for a non-filtered diesel. The Rabbit was a smoking tin can, noisy, chintzy, dirty, slow…in comparison, it was a toy.
55mpg with today’s construction and standard level of refinement is a definite improvement over the craptastic ****boxes of the 70’s and 80’s, even if they got the same MPG.
IS THAT THE NEW 2009 YUGO?
Although I am a huge Volt fan, I was very dissappointed to see the unquestionably UGLY body in the attached story. Could GM have possibly pick an uglier color? Within my circle of Volt followers, I was not shocked to see how many stated “if that is what is is going to look like, I won’t buy it”! It’s kind of like “Bait and Switch.” The picture looks like nothing more than an updated Cavalier…..and we all know how attractive they were. Tell me they won’t look like the Maroon Bomb above, otherwise I may have to look at the Honda FCV or the BMW Hybrid. Styling is important, especially when you are trying to sell the gas-loving American public on a green electric vehicle. I want the Silver Volt with the Classy futuristic styling!
I expect the Volt to be a reliable work horse of a vehicle. A 40 mile charge is a huge achievement! Why stop there? Maybe the battery can be improved to get more more MPC (miles per charge) by the time we are able to purchase this thing. The body style definitely needs improvement. I do however, look forward to purchasing this vehicle, if it delivers at the very least 40 MPC. We do most our driving within 40 miles of our home, so we will get a lot of driving time just on a charge. Once we are finally off the grid, the driving will be even more affordable. Kudos to you for not only helping us clean up the environment but helping our country be that much closer to being less dependant on imported oil. Won’t it be great when our country finally moves to clean energy and energy independence.
I have a business opportunity — parking meter style charging stations. Wal-Mart could indeed have charging stations in the parking lot if they were set up like parking meters — pump in your quarters (or slide your visa card) for them to operate and you pay by the charge you take. Heck, I can see having these things at office buildings for companies — particularly any that are environmentally conscious; reserved spots for electric cars. Put an awning over the spots to keep them cooler in the summer…
This car is truly the giant killer! The one that will work and break the chain that has America choked by the OPEC.
I cannot wait to have one, not only from the savins, but the design is awesome. I have a restored 75 vette and the Volt looks just as good.
Good progress…looking forward to seeing more.
Software upgrade will likely all be done through an OnStar-like service without the car owner even knowing it happened.
I hope the series alternator will be flex fuel. Also a switch to start the alternator when leaving on a longer than 40 mile trip. This car will do more for our energy independance than the goverment has ever done. Try to beat the Nov. 2010 date. Thanks.
Georg K #31
Personally I do not believe software issue is serious. It’s 2,5 year from now for adjustments. Moreover you can update your software whenever a problem occurs. There are lot of small ventures which can adjust motor capacity, ignition angle or other things any time you want and how you want and even make your family car roar as Formula 1. It sounds to me as well known 2000 Y “problem”.
Nice to see encouraging progress. Keep plugging away GM!
Power… energy? Still, where will it all come from? Fill’er up or plug it in and charge it up. Hybrid green? All electric? Which is the mean machine.
The volt is truly a beautiful way of approaching the necessities of modern human survival… but, until we find a truly beautiful renewable resource… we’re all still in the sam