GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

The Cadillac Converj was a particularly beautiful concept car revealed by GM at the Detroit Auto Show. The vehicle is a 2 door 4 seater luxury model that uses the Voltec range-extended electric drivetrain with some tweaks to improve driving performance.

It also has a remarkable futuristic interior involving a massive OLED touch screen center stack/console interface, and featuring widescreen screen video camera displays instead of side view mirrors

MotorTrend has reported that GM executives are considering producing a 4-door version of the car. As well a release date of 2013 has been targeted. It was said that the rear doors wouldn’t disrupt the rakish roofline and likely have hidden handles, aspiring to a “four-door coupe” look.

The argument is 2 door cars look “fashionable” and may sell well in their first year, but see sales erode quickly over the next years as practicality takes over from lust.

Of course there’s a lot of financial uncertainty between now and then. GM vice-chair Bob Lutz told me in an exclusive interview that he really wants to produce the car, and that it would retail for the price of “two Volts.” Design executives said they were aiming to build a car that should retail for about $60,000 when creating the Converj.

Lutz also said that there was already a production clay model of the car that could go into wind tunnel testing, but cautioned that the Converj couldn’t be built unless the government considered it as a qualifying product for advanced technology loans.

Source (Motor Trend )

I had the chance to speak with Nick Zielinksi, he is GM’s vehicle line director for advanced technology vehicles. He is doing some of the coolest stuff at GM, developing the engineering for their “way in the future” cars.

Since you are responsible for the generation two and three Volts can you say anything about what ideas you’re considering?
Its far enough in the future that we can’t talk about the details. But we think (we know) from what we’ve learned on the Volt so far, from your site and people that have been exposed to the car, and the mule development. I can say things like in terms of the AER and performance we’re happy about how the vehicle is progressing.

Are you working on any high performance vehicles, like an electric Corvette?
We’re working on a lot of exciting stuff but I can’t go into the details. We’re working on a lot of neat things, a lot of it focused more on efficiency and improved fuel economy as opposed to balls out high performance.

I think people want better prices, so why not make a car with a smaller battery to reach lets say 20 grand?
You’re pretty much describing our plans for Gen 2. Looking to improve efficiency, maintain performance, take cost out of the car and how can we broaden Voltec technology to other vehicles.

Who decides what the future goals are?
The way we did it for Gen 2 is we pulled together the Volt executive leadership like Jon Lauckner (VP of global program development) and Frank Weber (Volt vehilce line executive) and sat down with them to get a vision of where we want to take this car.

What about other models?
We have a future car portfolio planning committee and we’re trying to identify market trends where there may be holes in the market or new markets we can exploit and its their responsibility to come up with cars for those purposes.

And then they’ll ask you if you can do it?
Exactly.

People want a more economical car, and that seems like they way to go.
You’re right on target. We think there’s so much promise in the technology but we’ve got to get the cost down and the volume up and its going to go together.

BusinessWeek has published an article entitled “Automakers Seek Profit in Electric-Car Batteries.” The report discusses how lithium-ion batteries for automotive use are likely to become an important source of revenue for some automakers, beyond just selling cars.

It is pointed out that Toyota is one of the only automakers that produces its own batteries. This gives them a competitive edge when future electric vehicles begin selling in large volumes. If EV battery demand outstrips supply, they could then keep those batteries for their own cars shutting out competitors, or sell them to other OEMs at significant profit. It was also noted that Nissan is in a joint venture with NEC that has plans to produce enough batteries to power 200,000 electric cars within the next few years.

The fact that Telsa will be supplying lithium batteries to Daimler is also mentioned. Those cells will be going into a test fleet of 1000 Smart EVs that will roll out onto US roads in 2010. Daimler itself also owns 90% of a new joint venture with Evonik Industries to build lithium ion cells not only for its own vehicles but for other manufacturers.

Finally it was noted that “GM squandered its first mover advantage.” It turns out, as many here know, that GM began a sideline nickel-metal hydride battery business 15 years ago. Those batteries were used in the original GM electric car, the EV-1. The company, called GM Ovonic, was a joint venture with Michigan-based Energy Conversion Devices (ENER). GM wound up selling their stake to Texaco (later bought by Chevron). Two years after that Toyota started their battery joint venture with Panasonic.

Now GM is simply buying cells from LG and others, and although entering the pack assembly business, has either decided against or is unable to partner in cell production. Is this yet another missed opportunity?

Time will tell.

Source (BusinessWeek)

Last year GM announced they would be building a special engine plant to construct the family 0, 1.4 L turbo and normally aspirated engines that would be used in the Chevy Cruze, and as the Chevy Volt’s generator.

In December, construction at the plant was suspended due to cash flow concerns, but in no way was the Volt production timeline altered.

Today a report out of Michigan indicated that construction contracts at the plant were being canceled. This led some to surmise the plant was no longer going to be built, or that it would somehow affect the Volt program.

I was able to get some clarification on this from GM spokesperson Greg Martin:

This move, as with many over the last few months, is about conserving cash. But, I appreciate the chance to tell you “what this is” and “what it isn’t”:

GM remains committed to manufacturing the Family 0 engine in the city of Flint. We announced in December that we would delay the construction of a new engine plant. At that time, we made the decisions that needed to be made to conserve capital. As we continue to hold our timing, it was necessary to make decisions today on related construction contracts so we wouldn’t incur any additional costs for new floor space. This is a delay in construction of a new engine plant only and our plans remain to bring the Volt to market in late 2010.

Other sources in GM have advised me that the engines used to build the Volt could be obtained from other plants in GMs family, specifically including one in Australia.

Our recent post about GM’s decision to choose LG Chem over A123 to supply the Volts cells led some to speculate that price was an issue. This is not something I directly discussed with Denise Gray at that time. I did have the opportunity to now re-address it with Bob Kruse, GM’s executive director of EVs, hybrids, and advanced batteries.

Did pricing play a role in GMs decision to choose LG Chem over A123?
It was a “multidimensional” decision. Many factors were analyzed. Price wasn’t the overriding issue, although financial considerations were important. We looked at service, quality, performance, price, manufacturing capability, total cost of materials, landed cost, and warranty performance.

To say that price alone was the factor undermines the significant complexity of this decision and why it took so long. It wasn’t a matter of saying ‘lets just start quoting cells’ and ‘lets have an auction.’

It was an extremely complex and important business decision that was an extremely rigorous and fair decision to ensure the success of the Volt.

Of note, Bob wasn’t able to advise me on how cell pricing differed between the two companies or on really any other parameters. He said this information was proprietary, internal to GM, and not for public consumption.

We just found out last night, GM had given its European Voltec-propelled EREV sedan an official name, the Opel Ampera. We also were given a teaser photo indicating that the car had a very similar styling to the Chevy Volt (see above) although when compared directly, seems to have a squatter, wider, more splayed-out aggressive look.

I was able to gain some more information about the car and what it represents from GM sources.

GM wants it to be clear that although the Opel Ampera will indeed arrive first in Europe as a production vehicle, that they also intend to bring the Chevy Volt there as well. This will then give European customers two GM extended-range electric car options for sale.

I was also told that the Ampera will use the same Voltec platform underpinning the Chevy Volt and that it will have the same 1.4 L generator burning gasoline/E85. Specifically, it will not have a diesel generator despite that fact that such a possibility had previously been demonstrated in the Opel Flextreme concept.

Furthermore, Volt vehicle line director Frank Weber wrote a post about the Ampera on GMs Fastlane blog. He noted the Ampera “will be true to its roots by offering the distinctive styling, dynamic efficiency, versatility and affordability European customers have come to expect from Opel.”

He also outlined the similarities of the Volt and the Ampera as follows:

-The Opel Ampera and Chevrolet Volt are production programs designed to meet the needs of thousands of customers (not a modified production vehicle for fleet or demo drives.)

-The Opel Ampera and Chevrolet Volt will meet all safety standards for North America, Europe and Asia.

-The Opel Ampera and Chevrolet Volt will give most drivers a petroleum-free daily driving experience without range-anxiety associated with battery electric vehicles

-The Opel Ampera and Chevrolet Volt will offer a fun and highly refined driving experience

Source (FastLane)