The original “BAS” Silverado “hybrid” features 110v outlets in the bed so that contractors and so forth could run power tools. I’m sure that there was enough power to run a Skilsaw. It was a big selling point at the time. I don’t know if the updated “2 mode” version will do so or not.

#39 Michael Brylawski:

Yeah, and if GM dies, and the Volt never happens, people will be lining up to buy US made electric vehicles like crazy. At least I hope so. I would buy an Aptera or a Bright, or whatever before I would buy a Mitsu or a Nissan.

Thanks for replying, it is tough to muck it up with comments section on the internet (mostly my fault), and I can respect that. As for the future of your concept, any eventual production, success for yourself or the company…as I like to say, ‘time will tell.’

I guess you can tell myself personally am a little skeptical about another startup player joining the action out of left field, but I am only all too happy to be proven wrong…especially if that means I am able to buy a electric car from you at some point.

(I must warn you that I probably will continue to kidd you at any random point about your title, lol).

/have a good one

* As for why I sent Lyle and email, I actually met him at a GM Volt event in 2008 and had a great discussion, and since then have read the site pretty regularly. And no, I didn’t like how the press reported on Bright, as it completely missed the mark on our viewpoint on the Volt. We’re very supportive. So I decided to send Lyle a post.

* As for my job title, I like the comments! I do have a sense of humor about my job. Yes, as Will Ferrell put it it’s all about “strategery.” Actually, my job is very substantive and exciting, there is a lot of very interesting moving pieces to creating a new company, and strategy is all about providing quantitative analysis to guide management decisionmaking.

* The best part about Bright (not covered often in the press) is that it’s full of interesting, accomplished, experienced Industry veterans–people like me with startup experience combined with people who’ve spent collectively hundreds of years at the Big Three and know the (tough) realities of bringing vehicles to production. This is a company that is bringing fresh thinking to the EV space with proven experience.

* As for the vehicle, I think a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised based on comments from this board. It will be a nice complement to the Volt. I’ll let people defer judgment until they see it.

* Last, to the commenter that talked about the scope and scale of the problem–yes! That is what’s behind my message. I don’t see this as a bunch of companies (big and small) fighting over crumbs; I see this as the start of a huge, new, 200M vehicle market where we’re going to need to transform our entire vehicle fleet over the coming decades to reduce (and ultimately eliminate) our dependence on oil, which now stands at 20M barrels a day, 2/3 of which is imported.

It’s going to take a huge, nationwide, effort (my “hands on deck” comment) from a lot of diverse companies, organizations, and individuals–pursuing a host of different technology strategies, business models, and approaches–to finally kick our addiction.

Thus, in that spirit, great debate and dialogue is great, but we’re going to need Volt, Bright, and many others (from T-Boone in heavy trucks, Better Place in its markets, Nissan, Ford, Mitsubishi, Tesla, etc.) to succeed if we’re going to actually make a real-world impact on fuel consumption.

* And yes, for those who don’t like my writing, that’s honestly how I write! Check out my article in the upcoming April issue of Solar Today on my vision for the future of electrification. It emphasizes the same themes.

MB

Thanks for the link. That’s exactly what I will get my auto electrician to install in my Volt, 240 VAC though. I would happily pay an extra 1,000 to have this as an option.

The first two day power cut and it’s paid for. With a 10Amp feed I could keep the fridge/freezer and hot water operational, (Not at the same time though) and run the lights at night, sweet.

Obviously, it would be way better if GM did it with the associated generator mode to recharge the battery to full with the Volts generator.

/If I stop the food going off will I get a reduction on my household insurance?

I’m betting they have every expectation of bringing a carbon fiber EV (or plug-in EV or both) to the market that will blow everyone out of the water. They will then license that technology to everyone and all will be good. Amory will then sit back and say, “See, I told you so.”

Simple idea – light, safe, aerodynamic and sustainable. The major missing pieces are high-volume carbon fiber manufacturing technology (they are addressing this with FiberForge) and great batteries (coming to a showroom near you in the next decade).

I still think Alan Mulally of Ford is working on a top secret Hypercar killer and is holding his cards close to vest. Come on Alan, don’t let us down.