Grab our RSS Feed
Follow us on:
   AND    

Archive for December, 2008

« Previous Entries

10,000 Camaros Have Been Pre-Ordered, How Many Volts Will Be?

December 31st, 2008 | Posted in: Marketing with 125 Comments

GM is now in an improved financial position compared to earlier in the month.  Primarily because of the first installment of federal loans received Monday, they can continue to operate.
In addition, the federal government just gave $5 billion to GMAC, GM’s financial company, and have allowed them to become a bank holding company. With this [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 125 Comments

How Will Air Conditioning Affect the Chevy Volt’s Electric Range?

December 30th, 2008 | Posted in: Climate, Efficiency, Engineering with 175 Comments

The Chevy Volt has been designed to be able to drive for 40 miles on stored electricity when starting from the point of a fully charged battery. GM has specifically engineered the car around that goal. That range is based on a certain set of assumptions, which includes reasonable driving aggressiveness. Severe [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 175 Comments

Volt Chief Designer on the Public Reaction to Chevy Volt Redesign

December 29th, 2008 | Posted in: Design, Public Opinion with 129 Comments

I recently had the chance to ask Bob Boniface who is the Chevy Volt’s design chief about how he perceived the public’s response to the cars redesign from concept to production form.
How do feel about the public’s response to the unveiling?
It depends which day. When the Transformer photos leaked people went crazy for it, [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 129 Comments

US Battery Companies Seek Government Funds to Establish US-Based Lithium-ion Production Capacity

December 28th, 2008 | Posted in: Battery with 81 Comments

An electric car future is inevitable. Instead of running on gasoline, of course, those cars will be powered by grid-charged lithium-ion batteries, as shall the Volt.
Currently, Asia is already far ahead of the US in lithium-ion battery production, and if that trend continues will assure future US dependence on Asia for batteries to run [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 81 Comments

Toyota E-REV? Not

December 27th, 2008 | Posted in: Competitors, E-REV, Hybrid with 97 Comments

Toyota has recently announced its intentions to unveil an all-electric car at the Detroit Auto Show in January.
The only information Toyota has confirmed is that the car will be a new and original subcompact design and a limited range vehicle meant only for “town” driving, unable to handle longer driving needs.  Reports say it will [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 97 Comments

The Chevy Volt Now a Transformer Called Jolt

December 26th, 2008 | Posted in: Public Opinion with 54 Comments

A few weeks before GM unveiled the production version of the Chevy Volt, some spy shots got leaked from the set of the upcoming film, Transformers 2, which is expected to premier this summer.
It is now apparently confirmed that the Volt will indeed be a transformer by the name of Jolt. Some transformer fan [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 54 Comments

Happy Holidays 2008 From GM-Volt.com

December 25th, 2008 | Posted in: Volt Nation with 49 Comments

On this holiday season of a very dramatic year, I would like to wish everyone and their friends and families peace, joy, and happiness, everywhere in the world.
It is hard to believe its been nearly two years since I started this blog, and better yet less than two years until the Chevy Volt reaches production.
As [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 49 Comments

Future Volt Generations Will Offer Cheaper, Smaller Batteries, Not Longer Ranges

December 24th, 2008 | Posted in: Battery with 130 Comments

GM is confident about being correct in choosing the 40 mile electric-driving range the Volt offers.
They decided upon this range based on a Federal study showing that 78% of US drivers drive less than 40 miles per day.
Since the concept’s announcement in January 2007 we’ve had countless spirited debates about that range. To this day [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 130 Comments

GM Does Not Plan to Manufacture its Own Lithium-ion Batteries

December 23rd, 2008 | Posted in: Battery with 112 Comments

If the Volt and E-Flex vehicles eventually become widespread and popular, it is imaginable that GM could consider pursuing its own internal manufacturing of advanced batteries. This could conceivably be another source of revenue, significant as well since E-Flex vehicles figure so importantly into GMs future plans. Indeed it is well-known that other [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 112 Comments

Preview: 2010 Chevy Equinox Will Get 30 mpg Highway Even Without a Hybrid Drivetrain

December 22nd, 2008 | Posted in: Efficiency with 164 Comments

GM just released pictures, video, and specifications on its newly designed 2010 Chevy Equinox.  They plan to exhibit the car at the Detroit Auto Show in January. The car is a compact crossover expected to go on sale in mod 2009 and comes with two powertrain options.
The most most intriguing powertrain option is a [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 164 Comments

EEStor is Granted a New Patent on the EESU Revealing Extensive Details

December 21st, 2008 | Posted in: Battery, Research with 115 Comments

Cedar Park Texas-based EEStor Inc. is an intriguing though secretive company to those who follow the development of electric cars. Although no known prototypes exist, they claim the ability to make extremely lightweight highly energy dense electric storage units (EESUs) that could revolutionize energy storage in electric vehicles. Indeed they have an exclusivity agreement to [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 115 Comments

GM Has Selected Alcoa Forged Aluminum Wheels For the Chevy Volt

December 20th, 2008 | Posted in: Production with 81 Comments

A very common mantra heard around these parts is “Lets Get the Volt Wheels on the Road” originally coined by GM-Volt.com member Larry G (Tagamet).
Well apparently GM has moved one step closer to that symbolic goal, they’ve actually sourced the wheels.
Well known and world leading aluminum supplier Alcao has been officially chosen by GM to [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 81 Comments

RSS Recent Posts

RSS Recent GM-Volt Forum Posts