GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

The President’s Task Force on Autos is poring over thee restructuring plans submitted by GM and Chrysler.  With GM’s auditors recently declaring there is a risk GM cannot proceed as a going concern without restructuring, and with share prices reaching as low as $1.27 ON Friday,  this month of March is very critical indeed.  GM has indicated it needs $2 billion in loans by month’s end and $16.6 billion through 2010 to survive.

President Obama created this Task Force in lieu of an auto czar to oversee the restructuring and to determine if GM is viable enough to keep the $13.4 billion in loans already received.  This decision it to be made on or by March 31st.

On Monday the Task Force will be visiting GM officials in Detroit.  It is reported that GM will be giving the team a close-up and detailed view of and briefing on the Chevrolet Volt.

Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs said “the team is looking through those plans and figuring out how to be the best partner in what’s next for the auto industry.” and “whether the auto industry as we have it now is exactly what we have in a year is something I think is going to be determined by a lot of different factors.”

Our little Chevy Volt has a lot of convincing to do.

Source (Detroit Press)

In case anyone ever wonders, I read each and every comment people write here and learn from and appreciate them greatly. As well, it is a fact that many of GM’s top executives also read this site and the comments daily.

I picked out this particular part of a comment as being interesting. Here we are over two years since the Volt concept has been announced, over 830 articles have been written about it on this site, and thousands more online, in print, and television. But how far has the message penetrated? How many people now about the Volt?

Here is the comment made by solo2500nt :

As far as people knowing about any new electric cars coming out, I doubt it. Only serious car people know about the Volt, plug in Prius/Vue, etc. Everybody I mention the VOLT to look at me like a space alien. I told 2 computer geeks at work (I used to be a computer geek too, by the way) and they were shocked. They thought it must be some golf cart or something. When they read this website they were astonished. I bet today less than 5% of the population know what the Volt is.

I forwarded this to Rob Peterson who is GM’s Voltec communications manager. Rob replied as follows:

While we don’t have data to support your posters claim, we suspect he’s directionally correct. This notion is at the core of our activities to reach out to stakeholders and actively communicate the benefits and attributes of the Volt to the public. Electric vehicles will be a new experience for most – and it will be met with some intrepidation as most new technologies are. The more people we reach in advance of the Volt’s launch, the greater its chances for market success.

Like your reader, we recognize that there are many others who we need to “educate” about the potential of electric vehicles like the Volt. But to be clear, we don’t see this as a challenge, but rather a tremendous opportunity to generate even greater enthusiasm for the Volt and to further demonstrate the important role that GM is playing to bring this vehicle technology to the masses.

It has been my mission all along to have this site serve both a beacon to GM relaying back public opinion on this critically important car, but as well to serve to educate and invite the public into the discussion of and to share the passion about electric cars.

In the comments of this post please share what experiences have you had with people in the real world setting that you tell about the Volt.  What percent of the public do you think know about it?

The collapse of the new car market has been breathtaking and appears to be quickening its pace.

Tuesday all the automakers reported sales that were as an industry down a total of 41% compared to February 2008. GM led the loss with 53%, followed by Ford with 48% and Chrysler with 44%. Toyota posted a 40% drop, Honda dropped 36%, and Nissan dropped 37%.

This pace of sales equates to about 9.1 million vehicles per year in North America, the lowest since 1981. This is down from its peak of over 17 million.

Per Standard and Poors equity research analyst Efraim Levy “We are in an automotive depression amid ‘The Great Recession,’ as shell-shocked consumers fearful for their jobs, the value of their homes, and stock market assets are wary of making the sizable discretionary purchases of new vehicles.”

Along with these sales woes, even Toyota and Honda are now reported to be requesting government loans from Japan. Toyota has asked for $2 billion, and Honda is asking for $100 million (source).

Meanwhile the Presidents Task Force on Autos is reviewing GM and Chrysler’s restructuring plans. They have met with GM’s top executives and will be meeting with GM’s bondholders today. GM needs $2 billion more by the end of March in order to stay solvent. That date is also when the Auto Task Force is expected to decide on whether GM and Chrysler get more loan money, or be allowed to enter into bankruptcy. Toyota too will be meeting with the Auto Task Force (source).

Ominously, today GM’s auditors issued a going concern statement in a 10-K filing raising doubts that the company can survive. They wrote “The corporation’s recurring losses from operations, stockholders’ deficit, and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations and sustain its operations raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”

Further the statement said “If we fail to [execute the Viability Plan successfully], we would not be able to continue as a going concern and could potentially be forced to seek relief through a filing under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.”

Finally it was written “there is no assurance that the global automobile market will recover or that it will not suffer a significant further downturn.”

And all the while we hope for our Volts and a country less dependent on oil.

UPDATE | GM Issues the following statement:

Auditors are required to assess whether there is substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern over the next year. Given GM’s public statements on our liquidity position dating back to the end of 2008 and more fully disclosed in our February 17 viability plan submission, the opinion rendered in our 10-K was not unexpected.

That opinion is dependent on a number of factors including our ability to execute our viability plan, compliance with our U.S. Treasury loans, volume recovery of the industry, and access to additional funding from the U.S. and certain other governments. Once global automotive sales recover and GM’s restructuring actions generate the anticipated savings and benefits, the company is expected to again be able to fund its own operating requirements.

The auditor’s opinion has no impact on the aggressive actions we are taking to restructure our business for long-term viability.

The other day we (and many others) reported on a study from Carnegie Mellon which concluded a PHEV with 7 mile electric range like a plug-in Prius was more cost-effective than a series hybrid with 40 miles electric range like the Volt. The primary reason for the study’s conclusion was the prohibitive costs of cutting edge lithium-ion cells assumed to be $1000 per kWh.

Jon Lauckner is the co-creator of the Chevy Volt and GM’s VP of global program management. In an interview and on GM’s FastLane blog he took the study’s authors to task, blasting the report as flawed and defending the decision-making that led to the Volt.

He cited three primary critical flaws of the study that render it worthless.

1. Cost of Cells . Lauckner said the Volt’s lithium-ion cells do not cost $1000/kwh which is the assumption the study made. He said “that’s very high compared to the cost we’re paying today,” referring to the LG Chem cells the Volt is using, “and very, very high compared to the (battery cost) in the near future.” He wouldn’t say exactly what GM is paying but said  “this cost is many hundreds of dollars per kWh higher than the actual cost of the Volt pack today,” and added “our battery team is already starting work on new concepts that will further decrease the cost of the Volt battery pack quite substantially in a second-generation Volt pack.”

2. Government Incentives. Lauckner noted the study did not take into account government incentives.  The already legislated plug-in tax credit pays a base of $2500 for 4 kwh and $417 per kwh up to a maximum of $7500. The Volt would qualify for the full tax credit.  The PHEV-7 3 kwh battery advocated in the study would qualify “for nothing”.

3. Charging Assumptions. The study assumed people could recharge after every 7 miles of driving. Lauckner said “How many people are going to stop every ten miles or less and recharge for a half-hour?” He concluded “very few”.  He also added the fact he also added that a public charging infrastructure  to do so doesn’t even exist at this time. He also noted “And, if customers don’t recharge during the day, these “token” plug-ins will run primarily on gasoline. How is that consistent with reducing green house gas emissions and our dependence on petroleum?”

Lauckner concluded “The bottom line is there isn’t anything in this study that would change the decisions we made for the Chevy Volt.”

Source (Edmunds) and (FastLane)

Many people continue to debate whether the 2010 Prius or the 2011 Volt will be the better choice. We know the Volt will cost close to $40,000 but be eligible for $7,500 in tax credits already approved.

We now have more information about the new Prius which will go on sale in the US in May 2009. It has the next generation synergy hybrid drivetrain, has gotten official EPA rating of 50 mpg city and 49 mpg highway, and is considered a mid-sized car. Through aerodynamic tweaking including introducing sharp corners like the Volt, the car has the lowest CD of any production car at 0.25.

It will use a larger 1.8 L 4 cylinder 98 horsepower engine which can do 0 to 60 in 9.5 seconds. It uses a CVT transmission with a 80 hp electric motor, and a 200 volt nickel metal hydride battery.

The car will be up against the new Honda Insight set to go on sale for under $19,000. Toyota Manger Bob Carter acknowledges "We will face many challenges when the Prius goes on sale — the economy and the Honda Insight," but also says "We are absolutely confident Prius will remain the hybrid leader."

The car offers high end options like automatic parking and a solar roof that powers a ventilation fan. This might make it more costly. Pricing isn’t set, but when asked whether the sticker for a loaded 2010 Prius will top $30,000, Doug Coleman, product manager for the Prius, said, "I wouldn’t doubt it." Other reports suggest the car will start at $24,500.

Interestingly a new report indicates that Toyota is planning to introduce a limited supply of plug-in versions of the new Prius in Japan later this year and will begin global sales of those in 2010. Those plug-in third generation Priuses will use lithium ion batteries, have an electric range less than 20 miles, and will cost under $42,000. Exactly how much under we do not know.

Source (Automotive News ) , (Popular Mechanics ), (Autocar )

The Opel Ampera was unveiled today at the Geneva Auto Show. As we know, the vehicle uses the same platform as the Chevy Volt and the same extended-range electric drivetrain otherwise known as the Voltec propulsion system.

GM has been gradually teasing images of the car. Now we can see it all including the first look at the car’s interior.

The interior design is the same as the Volt but these photos let us see how the center console will appear in black as opposed to the white color GM has shown us in the Volt. This black coloration is expected as an option in the production Volt too.

I asked GM spokesperson Rob Peterson whether any of this styling could make its way to the Volt. He said “No, the production Volt is the production Volt, and the production Ampera is the production Ampera.”

PHOTO GALLERY BELOW:

VIDEO:

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