GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

As the momentum builds towards Chevy Volt production, the competition are apparently not sitting by idly.

Autocar (UK) today reported inside information that Mazda has secretly been developing its own extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV).

The article reports "Mazda engineers are hard at work trying to develop a rival to the Chevrolet Volt." Inside sources claim that prototype trials are already underway using MPV bodyshells that use a rotary engine to charge the battery.

Source (Autocar )

On another front, Toyota’s president has just told reporters his company plans to move up the launch of a test fleet of plug-in Priuses to 2009, whereas previously these were expected to arrive in 2010. He also indicated Toyota is planning for mass production of electric cars in the "early part of next decade."

Source (Forbes )

Leftlanenews.com had the chance to interview Bob Lutz and included some Volt talk.

The GM vice-chairman confirmed that the prototype batteries have been tested both in extreme cold and extreme heat conditions, and aside from some solder failures on the prototypes he said that in terms of the lithium-ion chemistry, there has been an “eerie”, “almost scary absence of problems with the battery.”

He noted that one of the major challenges in the vehicle is to write computer code for the “zillions” of possible interactions between the driver, electric drive, battery, and regeneration and when the combustion engine should come on.

With respect to that, he describes an interesting scenario where its 40 below in North Dakota and the battery needs to be warmed in order to function properly. He notes this would be a big challenge for a pure EV, but in the Volt the car would start out with the combustion engine on and “run for a few minutes to warm up the battery so that the battery can take over.”

He also indicates that the OnStar navigation system will know how far the driver is from home and if the car happens to be at the customer depletion point, it could calculate and to provide just enough charge to get the driver home.

Finally Lutz also denied that there have been internal discussions about sharing E-Flex technology with Ford but states it his impression that “the whole worldwide industry is converging around this Volt concept as the intelligent way to go.”

Source (LeftLaneNews)

[NOTE: For those who may be interested I will be appearing on FOX Business News at 7:15-7:30 PM EST tonight 8/27 for a live interview]

People often ask how the Volt’s combustion engine will run after the first 40 EV miles have been driven. It seems that if the generator runs at a fixed RPM, the efficiency of the system will be greater than if it is allowed to vary. Since to this point GM has never publicly told us whether it will be fixed or varied, having had the chance, I asked Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah.

Will the engine run at a fixed or variable RPM depending on the amount of power you need at any given time?
We’re going to tune the system to operate efficiently at a few points. The RPMs of the engine aren’t going to follow your throttle pedal as they do in a typical car. It will run at some various RPM speeds.

So these various possible levels the engine will run at wont be determined by the pedal, but by the needs of the car as a computer calculates?
Yes.

So the answer sort of is, both.

GM has previously unveiled a concept car called the Cadillac Provoq. It was meant to demonstrate an E-Flex platform using a hydrogen fuel cell range extender in the form of a crossover.

As far as anyone at GM would say at the time of the unveiling, that vehicle was not production-intent.

From early on, considering the cost of lithium-ion batteries, there has been speculation that the Cadillac brand would be getting an E-Flex car. At first some thought the Volt would wind up a Caddy, but of course that has not turned out to be the case.

Automotive news is reporting something that they seem to know but aren’t willing to fully disclose.

An article was just published today about how GMs product line-up is changing for the smaller. They interviewed Bob Lutz who noted that Aveos may be getting larger and Cadillacs smaller. Lutz also noted that several vehicles could be built on the same Delta platform the Volt will, indicating a belief consumers are looking for small but well-appointed cars.

It was the last line in the article though that seems to catch our attention:

“There is talk that Cadillac will get the next vehicle to use the Volt technology. Stay tuned.”

I checked in with GM sources who would not confirm this possibility.

Source (Automotive News, subscription)

The way the Volt is designed, the first 40 miles of driving are powered by the electric energy stored in the battery. After that distance from full charge, somewhere around 30% state of charge, the on-board generator kicks in. The generator’s job is to keep the battery at that 30% level all the way until the driver can get to where he or she will begin charging again. That level is called the “customer depletion point”. Below is Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah explaining how the Volt will behave at and beyond that level.

How will the vehicle’s propulsion system work when you get to the customer depletion point?
When you get to the customer depletion point, the engine will come on seamlessly as it’s supposed to. But when the engine comes on to spin the generator, it does so with the idea that we’re generating electric energy to drive the wheels, not to charge the battery. People say the engine comes on to charge the battery, but that’s not what really goes on. The engine comes on to make enough electric energy to turn the wheels, because the wheels are always turning electrically.

Now comes the fun part. Remember the electric generator is about half the size of the motor. So you say, how come you don’t have performance problems if you’re trying to go up a hill with only basically half the power capability? That’s where the battery comes back into play. Because the customer depletion point is not full depletion, there’s still energy available. That’s by design. The idea is during certain other peak situations such as climbing a hill or merging into traffic, you will actually take some more energy out of the battery. So you may actually come down a little bit below customer depletion level.

And then when you take your foot off the gas, as an example when you’re done doing the merge, we had taken a little bit out and the battery has a little less in it. So what we’ll do then is we will opportunistically put that energy back into the battery either through regenerative braking or if we have to we will take some of the energy that’s not needed to turn the wheels and bring the battery up to the customer depletion level.

So we don’t recharge the battery. The customer wont actually see any of this, as their electric range indicator in the car will only say zero.

We are actually using that battery at that point as a peak buffer and we will keep trying to recapture energy as the opportunities allow.

Is the customer depletion point going to be exactly 30% state of charge (SOC)?
We are continuing to tweak and tune and develop exactly what that number is.

The other day, GM hosted a live online chat with about 50 people and Volt chief designer Bob Boniface. Some of the discussion highlights follow.

Asked what his favorite exterior styling feature is, Bob said he “loves the headlamps.” He addresses how different the Volt will be than a Prius saying “there many ways to make a car aerodynamically efficient, not one size fits all, all E-Flex cars will be unique from one another.” He assures us the Volt will beat the Prius in “efficiency, looks, and handling.”

He noted that surprisingly, aerodynamic performance is critical even at city speeds.

Our reader TallPete asked about maximum driver height. Bob noted the Volt (like all GM cars) can accommodate up to a 6′4″ male (95th %ile) in the front and rear, and assured him that even larger occupants will still fit.

Our reader Nasaman asked whether there would be movable front grill louvers and Bob noted that the grill panels are fixed.

We also found out that Volt weight will be slightly heavier than comparably size cars due to the “additional mass of the batteries” but that mass has less impact than aerodynamics on range.

Bob said the interior is “FANSTASTIC,” and indicates there will be ipod connectivity, USB audio ports, and bluetooth provided.

I asked if the bowtie was specially aerodynamically tweaked and Bob replied that the bowtie is “nicely integrated into the aero grille.”

Bob noted GM has developed a “good strategy” to address the stale gas issue.

I also asked whether future E-Flex vehicles might have different battery shapes so that 3 people could fit in the back seat. He said somewhat cryptically “obviously we’d like to use the battery in its current configuration in other vehicles where it fits.”

He mentioned the Volt will have a folding rear seat creating a flat cargo area. He also said seating comfort and entry/exit were definitely a priority and will be competitive with others in the market.

I asked about the percentage of components that have been sourced at this point and he said “many of the major components have already been sourced.”

Asked about the tires he said “low rolling resistance tires will be used” and that he’s not sure on their cost, “but to keep in mind that it has to be a vehicle for masses”