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Archive for May, 2009

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From the Collapse of the Auto Industry Shall Rise the Electric Car

May 31st, 2009 | Posted in: Public Opinion with 130 Comments

Close observation of recent developments in the automotive sector leads to a certain conclusion; financial collapse is necessary to bring about needed change.
We are bearing witness to a catastrophic rupture of the car industry as we know it.  Not only in terms of the economic machinery upon which it is run, but more so upon [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 130 Comments

Bondholders Agree to New Terms, Setting Stage For Quick Orderly GM Bankruptcy

May 31st, 2009 | Posted in: Financial with 92 Comments

Saturday at 5PM was the deadline by which the majority of GM’s debtholders had to either agree or disagree with a new “sweetened” deal.
Originally, the plan had called for GM’s bondholders, who are collectively owed $27 billion by the automaker, to receive a 10% stake in the new company. Less than 10% agreed to [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 92 Comments

GM Agrees to Build 160,000 New Small Cars in the US Instead of Asia and We Brace for Monday

May 30th, 2009 | Posted in: Financial with 112 Comments

On Friday, GM stock traded for less than a dollar a share, and the day also brought some announcements from GM.
In the first announcement, the company stated it intends to bring the production of a new small car to a currently shuttered US assembly plant.
GM would not say what car they intend to build there but [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 112 Comments

Frank Weber Says Chevy Volt is Necessary and Relevant For Energy Independence

May 29th, 2009 | Posted in: Public Opinion with 168 Comments

Frank Weber is GM’s Volt vehilce line executive, an extremely bright mild-mannered and humble German engineer with laser beam precision accuracy and vision. After visiting the EVS24 symposium in Norway he was so inspired to pen a piece about the relevance of the Volt.
Frank had the feeling many of the world’s brightest minds think [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 168 Comments

GM Reportedly Planning to File For Bankruptcy on June 1

May 28th, 2009 | Posted in: Financial with 103 Comments

The title may be frightening but it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. GM’s financial position has been declining for years and despite all efforts to avoid it, a court-mediated process appears to have nearly no alternative.
According to Bloomberg, citing persons familiar with the matter, the 77 year old company plans to [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 103 Comments

Chevy Volt Mule in Generator Mode Already ‘Prius Quiet’

May 27th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Generator, Performance, Test drive with 164 Comments

General Motors has allowed the Cruze-bodied Chevy Volt mules to be test driven by more than a dozen journalists and various others including myself.
They have strictly restricted those driving experiences to the vehicle’s charge depleting mode. Outsiders thus only have the experience of driving the car in pure electric mode without the gas generator [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 164 Comments

Assembly of the First True Chevy Volt Integration Vehicles Begins Today

May 27th, 2009 | Posted in: Production, Prototypes with 141 Comments

Exactly nine weeks ago we were shown a countdown clock in front of the office of Andrew Farah, the Chevy Volt’s chief engineer.  That countdown clock was clicking off the days until the start of the first Chevy Volt integration vehicle build.  The integration vehicle, or IVer, is an actual full functioning Chevy Volt with [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 141 Comments

Volt Chief Engineer on Chevy Volt Gas Tank Size and Stale Gas Management

May 26th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Fuel with 211 Comments

An unknown area about the Chevy Volt is how much gas the tank will hold and how the possibility for stale gas will be dealt with. It is known the first 40 miles of driving will be from the electricity of a fully charged battery. After that the car will get 50 MPG.
I [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 211 Comments

Toyota Reportedly Planning to Give its Hybrid Technology to GM

May 25th, 2009 | Posted in: Competitors, Hybrid with 104 Comments

An unconfirmed report appears in the Japanese newspaper, the Daily Yomiuri, citing senior executives which claims Japanese automaker Toyota is prepared to give its core hybrid technology to GM.
Toyota supposedly wishes to offer GM the technology that underlies the Prius and other Toyota vehicles should GM go into bankruptcy.  The intellectual property under consideration is [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 104 Comments

Obama Says GM Will be Strong, Leaner, and Meaner, and Rick Wagoner Sends Us His Regards

May 24th, 2009 | Posted in: Financial with 59 Comments

President Obama was interviewed on C-SPAN on Friday from which the following comments were derived.
The President told the reporter he wanted the government to get out of the automotive business as soon as possible, and said the government would help any auto workers who lost their job to be effectively retrained.
Obama was not asked whether [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 59 Comments

GM Committed to Study the Application of Ultracapacitors to Future Chevy Volts

May 23rd, 2009 | Posted in: Battery, Gen II, Research with 83 Comments

Argonne National Laboratory has been pursuing a research project since mid 2007.  The idea is to blend ultracapcitors with lithium-ion batteries in the energy storage system of a PHEV.  Lithium-ion batteries are particularly good at energy density whereas ultracapacitors are best in terms of power density.  High energy density is needed for traveling long distances, [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 83 Comments

Report: White House to Send GM into Bankruptcy Next Week

May 22nd, 2009 | Posted in: Financial with 169 Comments

The Washington Post is reporting that “sources familiar with the discussion” say the Obama administration is planning to send GM into bankruptcy as early as the end of next week. The government also expects to lift Chrysler out of bankruptcy at the same time.
The plan for GM bankruptcy would also give the automaker just short [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 169 Comments

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