GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

I will be the first to say, the Volt has been vindicated in a most wonderful way.

A few weeks ago Tesla CEO Elon Musk brought the Model S on Late Night with David Letterman and Dave misrepresented the Chevy Volt, calling its 40 mile range “ridiculous.”

Last night after having issued a challenge to do so, Letterman invited Lutz on his show along with the Chevy Volt show car. The result, in my opinion, was wonderful.

First Letterman gave a five minute monologue explaining how he wants to see this country achieve energy independence (FIRST VIDEO BELOW). He admitted he bought and drives the Tesla Roadster. He described himself as not being particularly tech savvy, and went on to say that when he derided the Volt and laughed about it with Musk, he was actually “woefully ignorant.” He admitted that he didn’t realize the Volt has a range extender. He even said he hoped he could get a free Volt.

In the next segment Lutz and Letterman had a seven minute interview (SECOND VIDEO BELOW). It was clear that Letterman as a car buff has a great deal of respect for Lutz and it showed. He was kind, quiet, and polite and Lutz spoke most of the time.

Lutz talked about the EV-1 and why GM cancelled it, he talked about what hybrid technology is, and he explained how the Volt works.

Lutz again admitted it is his best estimate the Volt will cost “right around $40,000″ before incentives which would bring it to $32,500, and that it won’t be in showrooms en masse until 2011 although will be available in late 2010.

Dave asked for the first one. Lutz said there are 7 or 8 others who want it (I believe I am one of them).

The Volt was rolled out on stage and Dave seemed to like it, of course he did his obligatory electrocution bit.

Personally, I don’t think this could have turned out any better. Kudos to Letterman for admitting his mistake. Long live the Volt!

VIDEOS:

Dave’s mea culpa:
[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gjWgix2ebQ]

Dave, Lutz, and the Volt:
[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwjep5po7QU]

Several news agencies now have had their chance at the wheel of the Chevy Volt Mule.

1. Jalopnik – the tongue in cheek and heavily prolific automotive blog had a mule drive with Bob Lutz riding shotgun. They called it “utterly unremarkable” to GM’s delight because that is the goal. Making a car that doesnt use gas seem the same as cars people are used to. They timed the 0 to 60 at 8 seconds letting them call it “peppy”

2. Automobile Magazine – the author seemed pleased by the silence not only at low speeds but of course during acceleration, quite distinct from current hybrids. They wrote “the mule feels like a normal, if slightly pudgy compact.” The also advise us “the team says it hopes to have closer-to-production prototypes for us to drive by fall.” That would be the IVers.

3. Detroit Free Press- Title says it all “Volt is sporty, fun in test spin.” The author experienced a “fast, smooth blast from 0 to 70 mph.”He quoted Volt executive Frank Weber as saying “People must understand that you don’t have to give anything up to drive an electric vehicle, this is something you will really like and enjoy.” A pedestrian alert signal will be installed due to the car’s silence. He noted “the electric steering was responsive and well balanced,” and that the car hugged the road well.

It was also noted, and this I am sure, the true Volt prototypes (and actual Volts) will be sleeker, faster, smoother and better handling. I can’t wait to see.

Also by now its no secret that GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz will be a guest on the David Letterman show tonight. He will be there to redeem the image of the Volt which was maligned and misrepresented by Letterman a few weeks ago when Elon Musk was a guest.

It has also come out that comedian Stephen Colbert with be joining Lutz and Letterman on the show as part of the discussion. Lutz made his famous “the Volt will get you chicks with hairy legs” comment while on Colbert’s show. The Volt will be onstage too, and no doubt this will be an event to remember for us Volt enthusiasts.

In preparation for this historic segment the Detroit Free Press’ Mark Phelan decided to see Mr. Lutz off from Detroit to New York with a Chevy Volt top ten list for Dave to study:

10. With 40 miles of battery power, it’ll clear a driveway that stretches from Times Square to Piscataway, N.J.

9. About 80% of Americans drive fewer than 40 miles a day, so they’d almost never need the onboard generator.

8. For longer trips — say to Muncie, Ind., for Ball State alumni weekend — the Volt’s gasoline-powered onboard generator keeps the batteries charged for up to 400 miles between fill-ups.

7. Jay Leno wants one.

6. The Volt accelerates fast enough to put Letterman back on the New Jersey State Police’s radar.

5. The Volt will be built by UAW workers in GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

4. Danica Patrick will look great in one.

3. The Volt has an unofficial fan Web site, www.gm-volt.com, just like Dave. (my personal favorite)

2. Entering “Chevrolet Volt” on Google produces 3,460,000 hits. Entering “Late Show with David Letterman” gets 1,320,000.

1. Putting your tongue on the terminals of its lithium-ion battery pack would be a really stupid human trick.

What is your number one reason for wanting to buy a Chevy Volt?

Call for Help from GM-Volt.com: Can someone please upload the segment to YouTube tonight and email me the link or video to: chevyvolt@gmail.com

Source (Detroit Free Press)

Toyota has been known to throw water on the fire of Volt enthusiasm ever since the concept was first unveiled.

Speaking to a National Academy of Sciences panel, Bill Reinert, who is Toyota’s U.S. national manager for advanced technology, said the annual demand for plugin electric cars could be 50,000 at the most and even as low as 3500. Toyota sold 159,000 Priuses last year.

Reinert said he believes a market for plugin cars could develop but that to do so “depends on advantages over existing hybrids.” He noted “There is a great deal of variation on how current PHEVs perform in real-world conditions.”

Field tests by Google.org on plug-in Priuses outfitted with Hymotion/A123 add-on lithium ion packs only returned mpg estimates in the mid to low 50s up from the base of 46. Toyota still has not committed to mass producing plugin hybrids although they will deploy a global test fleet of 500 beginning later this year.

Reinert drew on Toyota’s experience with the RAV4 EV. He said Toyota spent 15 times as much marketing per vehicle as traditional cars, yet only 300 were sold in a year. “These marketing efforts were successful in generating high awareness, as shown in our Web site traffic data, but sales remained low and did not increase over time,” he said.

Mark Verbrugge, GM’s director of the materials and processes laboratory, was also in attendance at the meeting which took place to generate a report for the Transportation Department on the market-readiness of plug-in vehicles.

Verbrugge said Volt cost projections have actually come down, but not as far as GM would like. He noted the plan to launch Volt remains intact at the present time. However, he said the market would determine for GM how far it would pursue the Volt versus traditional hybrids. “If you don’t see that down the road you’re going to make money, it’s not in anybody’s best interest,” he said.

Source (Bloomberg)

CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fleet Economy and applies to the federal fuel efficiency requirement automakers are mandated to adhere to.

Currently the CAFE standard is 27.5 mpg for cars and 24 mpg for light trucks.

For many years California has pushed for automakers to adhere to its own state standards which are much stricter. The major automakers including GM have fought against this, arguing that the cost of creating cars specifically for individual states is not justified and that there should only be one national standard.

It turns out President Obama has decided to take up the automakers on this issue. Indeed, there couldn’t be a better time for the government to make such mandates as the automakers very survival is dependent on it.

On Tuesday President Obama will announce a proposal to make California’s emission requirements the federal standard and cut automotive emissions by 30% by the year 2016.

To achieve that goal the CAFE standards will have to be significantly more stringent as the primary determinant of vehicular CO2 emissions is miles per gallon.

The new requirements will be total fleet average of 35.5 mpg breaking down to 39 mpg for cars and 30 mpg for light trucks by 2016.

Although meeting these standards will be costly, those companies with electric car programs could be at a significant advantage. After all the Chevy Volt is likely to get an official EPA efficiency rating significantly greater than 100 mpg, although the exact rating methods and how they may affect the CAFE are still being worked out.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson has issued the following response to the Goverment’s announcement:

General Motors commends President Obama’s leadership to establish a harmonized National Program to improve vehicle fuel economy and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy security and climate change are national priorities that require federal leadership and the President’s direction makes sense for the country and the industry. Harmonizing a variety of regulations will benefit consumers across America by getting cleaner, more efficient vehicles on the road quicker and more affordably. In turn, GM and the auto industry benefit by having more consistency and certainty to guide our product plans.

GM is fully committed to this new approach. As the President has previously said, all stakeholders must come together and act with a common purpose and sense of urgency to address the nation’s energy and environmental priorities. We agree and this collaborative spirit is reflected in our viability plan. Delivering innovation and solutions that will strengthen America’s energy security, economy and competitiveness are a central part of GM’s reinvention.

The Volt is different than traditional cars on many levels beyond its electric drivetrain.  One way is that its battery can store 16 kwh of energy, enough to power the average US household for about half a day.

People ask if they will be able to access that energy to power their home during a blackout, or for camping, by attaching an inverter to the Volt.

“This capability won’t be available on gen 1,” says Volt spokesperson Rob Peterson, “At this point, our priority is getting the vehicle right and delivering on time. This type of functionality would likely be considered for future gen vehicles.”

People also ask whether the Volt could be used to jumpstart another car.

I had the opportunity to pose those questions to Andrew Farah who is the Chevy Volt’s lead engineer.

Will the Volt be able to jump start another car? Does it have a traditional 12v lead battery too or will drivers have access to the high voltage terminals?

These are very interesting questions. About a year ago we worked through them and here is where we are…

1.  Customer access to High Voltage
The customer will have no access to high voltage. In fact, if the customer accidentally takes some action that might get them close to high voltage (e.g. disconnects a HV connection) then the system will cut off that voltage up stream of the potential breach. As with all systems, “nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool”, but we have a number of layers of HV protection for the customer, the service technician, and the vehicle assembler.

2.  “Jump” Start
We had also wrestled with this issue on the EV1. Answer there was no jump start of any kind, but the EV1 had a different electrical architecture that offered other remedies. For Volt the answer is a bit more conventional. Yes, we have a 12v battery. It is not a typical automotive “flooded” lead, but a sealed “acid starved” type…. and it is capable of providing enough power to jump start another vehicle.

Facing a fast approaching deadline of June 1st by which GM either restructures or enters bankruptcy, GM CEO Fritz Henderson took to he web to field questions from the public.  There are more Q and As on the Fastlane site, but the following exchanges were particularly interesting.

Henderson was asked by one consumer who needs to replace his first generation Prius, why he should “wait” for the Volt.

Henderson responded “I would love to take you out of your prius! so why wait for the volt? the car will be beautiful, a great driving experience, and if you commute less than 40 miles per day, the car should deliver a totally electric experience to the owner without using any gas at all.”

Next he was asked what GM has planned for its next green initiative beyond the Volt and 2-mode plugin. Henderson wrote “the volt needs to be launched by year end 2010, which means we still have work in front of us. we have a separate team looking at gen II erev technologies while looking at other potential vehicle applications. alongside the volt we have a host of other technology initiatives underway, from second gen biofuels, to hybrids, etc.”

Finally Henderson was asked about how GM will flesh out its new lower number of brands and what each brand’s flagships might be.

He replied “We have big product and technology plans for all our brands. Chevrolet is already loaded with great cars, crossovers and trucks with a lot more coming like the Cruze, Spark and Orlando – and of course, the Volt. And we’ve got some great new Cadillacs, as well as Buicks and GMC cars in trucks in the works. Each week I join our Design chief Ed Welburn, the head of GM Product Development Tom Stephens and a few others to tour GM design and look at future cars and trucks. It’s great to be reminded what this business is all about, and it fills me with optimism about the new GM. I promise you that we have new vehicles that will blow you away.”

Source (GM)