GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

People often speculate, wonder, and hope GM will surprise us and launch the Volt sooner than the publicized November 2010 date.

I had a discussion with the Volt’s lead engineer Andrew Farah about that.

Is it possible you could go to production and begin to sell Volts before Nov 2010?
I don’t think we can get the assembly plant cranked up before that. We will do our presaleable validation builds and all that, but we time it so that all our tooling and the investment is available just in time to meet the schedule.

Right now to make a major pull ahead on all of the tooling would be unlikely. Could I speed up all the tooling and pay four times as much for it? Sure. I think we’ve got other things to do. We need some time to do the development.

By the end of 2009 we’ll have over 80 IVers. We will continue to build the vehicle in volume, by early next year we will surpass some startups and have more out on the road and built. We need all that feedback to come in to get refinement up to the last minute.

GM has not let any of the media including myself experience driving in the charge-sustaining or generator mode in the Chevy Volt mules. There might be some concerns about how it will be experienced possibly leading to some negative press.

While I was at the Milford Proving Grounds I was told that many people who drive the car through the transition often don’t notice the engine going on and that it is not abrupt. Once running, RPMs are known to operate at several fixed points not matched to the accelerator and thus theoretically the engine could feel unnatural.

Car and Driver took its turn at a Volt mule wheel and though they too were unable to experience the generator mode, were able to get the following comment about it from Tony Posawatz, the Volt vehilce line director:

The work being done by the development guys as we speak is to create a gentle feathering of engine rpm, so you don’t even notice that the engine kicks in. And to try to operate at the right points and to transition the rpm points depending on the load you’re getting—to behave like someone would want it to behave.

You may get into a position under an extreme grade or hill climb, where the engine rpm will be pretty loud—running pretty hard. At a certain point in time that rpm will be relatively unpleasant. This is the challenge of different road loads: how can we keep the NVH reasonable for a customer?

Source (CarAndDriver)

The New York Times has published an interesting article outlining how the government may use the Chrysler bankruptcy process as a learning tool for how to reshape GM.

It is pointed out that the two companies are rather different. GM has three times the employees and twice the number of plants. According to Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s chief of staff, “G.M. is very different than Chrysler, but I suppose the one lesson for G.M., and all the other players, is that this is a moment when a Democratic president said, ‘I am really willing to let a company dissolve, and there’s not going to be an open checkbook.’ There’s got to be real viability.”

If the ongoing Chrysler bankruptcy works out well, it is likely that option may also be applied to GM. It is already a given that GM will not be liquidated and will survive.

GM’s most recent plan to cut 47,000 jobs, 12 plants, 4 brands, and 2600 dealerships has not yet been approved by the government and some fear may still not be enough to allow profitability in the current automotive market.

Chrysler’s secured bonds are expected to be covered by $2 billion in cash through bankruptcy which will be paid out to a total of 46 lenders. GM on the other hand has about 10,000 unsecured bondholders. The plan is for those debts to be traded not for cash, but for pure stock, 225 shares for each $1000 in debt. Beyond that, 55% of GM would then be owned by the government and 40% by the UAW.

The government now has all the leverage against bondholders who would otherwise be paid very little in bankruptcy court. Indeed, the fear of bankruptcy now hangs heavy over those bondholders heads as the government has already revealed its willingness to let Chrysler go that route.

Though Obama has stated he has no interest or skill in running car companies, he will have no choice as a 55% owner, though he hopes the government’s stake could eventually be sold for a profit.

However, Obama’s expectation for GM to produce low emission high-efficiency cars like the Chevy Volt may conflict with those profitability expectations. It is already well-known the Volt may not lead to profits for two or three generations and potentially hundreds of thousands of vehilce sales.

How the government will handle that dilemma remains unclear.

Source (New York Times)

Well it seems Dave Letterman’s thoughtless and derogatory Chevy Volt remarks didn’t just get our dander up, but has ruffled the feathers of the Father of the Volt himself, GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz.

Though moving towards retirement, Letterman’s derision of his brainchild has stirred the fighting spirit in our favorite ex-Marine.

Lutz wrote back on his blog how that clip of Letterman and Musk we showed here has “made the rounds” at GM, though he himself didn’t watch the show.

Lutz accurately pointed out that “Mr. Letterman made some gratuitously derogatory remarks about the Volt’s range, calling it ‘insane’ and ‘ridiculous,’ and in general appeared woefully uninformed about the Volt.”

He took responsibility for Letterman being so uninformed saying it was GM’s fault if he didn’t have the right information by now, but pointed out that if it had perhaps been supplied by Drew Barrymore, maybe Letterman would have noticed.

Finally our fearless leader did what he does best and challenged Dave.

He offered to give Dave a ride in the Volt mule and to appear on the show. And although he noted that worrying about Dave Letterman was obviously not among GM’s “Top 10 Most important things” right now, it sure has them charged up.

We’ve got your back Mr. Lutz.

Source (FastLane)

Newspapers may be slowly dying, but USA Today has the highest circulation in the country with a daily circulation of 2,113,725.

Jim Healey is their automotive journalist and often comes on a bit harsh towards GM. However, after getting his Chevy Volt mule drive he has penned a rather glowing report. Take that Dave!

Healey writes “based on the thin evidence available, folks who buy or lease the Chevrolet Volt electric car — scheduled to go on sale in November 2010 — should be surprised and pleased.”

He believes the car will have a “remarkably punchy performance,” and “a level of quiet refinement that appears to lead the industry.” I would have to agree.

He notes “the Volt motor has some serious guts” and that drivers will be able to “embarrass muscle-car drivers when the light turns green.” He also noticed as I did, there are none of the “whines” nor “howls” typical for most electric cars.

He thinks that the “super-green, super-geek people” will be the early adopters buying Volts as soon as they hit the market. Is he talking about us? More importantly he mentions what it would take for the car to go mainstream. To do so he writes, as GM believes, the car will have to appeal to people who “want a car a lot like the one they’re driving now while using less gas.”

Healey also didn’t test the generator mode but notes GM’s Tony Posawatz promises “it’ll avoid the shudders common on some hybrids.” He adds that GM is considering how to run the RPMs in that engine. Should they be programmed to match the accelerator or not?

He also hints the engine will automatically come on now and then to move the lubricants and stir the fuel a little. That seems like a good idea.

He also writes “GM says it’s unclear whether most Volt customers would prefer to buy the car or lease it and whether the battery pack should be leased or sold separately.”

But the bottom line is this story will have a positive impact on public perception.

Source (USA Today)