GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

As we recently heard from Chevrolet manager Ed Peper, GM is working on a dedicated non-plugin hybrid vehicle that would get high EPA fuel efficiency ratings.  This is a new approach from GM’s previous strategy to offer hybrid versions of standard gas models like the Malibu, which was discontinued due to poor sales.

Indeed GM has public plans to launch 14 hybrids by 2012 and 26 by 2014.  The next question is whether these dedicated hybrid or hybrids should have unique and distinctive styling as does the Prius or the Inisght.  Though the Prius’ design is clearly polarizing it obviously attracts some buyers who want to display to the world that they are driving a hybrid.

Ed Welburn is GM’s VP of Design and I had a chance to ask him this question on a web chat.

Do you think hybrid vehicles should have unique designs like the Prius and not simply be versions of standard cars like the Malibu was, and are you developing new unique dedicated hybrid designs for your 2 mode hybrid system and BAS+?
That is a subject that we debate in the studios every day. I believe it can be an advantage to give a hybrid vehicle a unique asthetic. Volt (an electric vehicle) has a unique asthetic because of its aerodynamic characteristic and the creative design ideas involved. But the debate goes on…

So it looks like this may be a hot button issue in the conference rooms of General Motors’ design studios. Maybe we should help them out with a poll.

Nissan has announced that it will be unveiling a global pure electric vehicle in Japan on August 2nd. The yet-to-be-seen 5 seat compact car will begin mass production in late 2010 and will be available in the North American market. It will have a 100 mile electric range. The image above is the mule using a Cube body, and has nothing to do with the final design. I had the chance to discuss this upcoming vehicle and strategy with Mark Perry who is Nissan’s director of product planning.

Other companies are doing gas plug-in hybrids and EREVs, but Nissan has put its money on the pure electric, why is that and what do you think of the Volt?
I only will talk about us. The whole issue on our mind is zero emissions. The only way you can achieve zero emission at the tailpipe is in a pure battery electric vehicle. You’re zero emission all the time, you don’t fall off the wagon after 12 miles or 40 miles. When you make that commitment you’re looking ahead not only to the regulatory pressure that’s coming but the consumer and environmental pressure that’s coming. To achieve zero emissions you have to do it with electrification.

Now you can still do fuel cells or plug-in battery electrics. Every manufacturer has those same two options. But fuel cells and hydrogen are a lot longer away than a vehicle you can plug into the existing electric grid.

I assume Nissan isn’t going to change its whole fleet into electric cars, so why not have a car in between? Obviously there are range limitations.
Again what you’re talking about is, he who wins in the zero emission race is he who gets his costs down and his manufacturing scale high. So how do you start, you start now. You make investments in assembly plants globally. Building hundreds of thousands of vehicles is what we’re setting out to do.

Now we’re not saying that the internal combustion engine is disappearing but long-term to achieve the 90% reduction in CO2 that all the policy makers, all the regulatory folks and the scientists are all calling for, the only way you can do it is through electrification. You cannot improve the combustion engine to achieve a 90% reduction in CO2.

There is also the rational issue and the emotional issue. The rational issue is 98% of the population drives less than 100 miles per day. That’s a fact. Volt has picked 40 because that number is 72 to 76%. So if I have 100 miles of range I’m more than covering people’s daily commuting and transportation needs and allowing them to charge overnight and become zero emission all the time.

The question always comes is this my primary or my secondary car? The answer is what’s your definition of your primary car? If your primary car is the vehilce you use every day you go back and forth to work in you do your chores and your shopping, then this is your primary car. The car you take on vacation or carry seven people or tow your boat with that’s your other car.

So you’re aiming at a very specific market with this vehicle?
Not a specific market, it’s the mass market.

What about range anxiety?
Thats a behavioral issue. People today are used to having no restraints. So you can buy as big a house as you want and spend as much money on credit cards as you want and continue to pollute and drive around in a 5000 pound vehicle with 350 miles of gasoline in your tank. Those things clearly are charging. We know from all the consumer research we have done that there are plenty of people that are looking for that alternative and want it, and are just waiting for somebody to come with a mass market affordable electric vehicle for them to drive. Not some neighborhood electric vehicle or something with 20 miles of range, but something that they can use every day. That’s what we’re looking to do.

Frankly, GM’s experiment in mild hybrid sedans didn’t go so well. The automaker had produced a mild hybrid version of the popular Chevrolet Malibu, but sales volumes were low and the program has been discontinued.

Chevrolet manger Ed Peper admits GM learned its lesson.

“One of the issues with the Malibu hybrid has been that the four cylinder 6 speed transmission Malibu gets 33 MPG on the highway,” he said. ” It has the best fuel economy of any mid-size car out there for a normal gas engine, so it makes it that much tougher to make a hybrid that gets significant better gas mileage than that.”

The 2009 4-cylinder Malibu has an EPA rating of 22 MPG city | 33 MPG hwy. The 2009 Malibu hybrid gets 26 MPG city | 34 MPG highway. It uses GM’s first generation mild belt-alternator-started hybrid system.

“Consumers are not going to pay for it unless they can get significant better fuel economy,” he said.

Peper disclosed to GM-Volt.com that GM is now working to develop an extremely fuel efficient dedicated hybrid besides the Volt.

“What we are trying to work towards is ‘Yes,’ we will have other hybrid vehicles (besides the Volt) but we are trying to work towards a dedicated hybrid,” he said. “We think that’s probably a better way for us to go longer term.”

“I think when we bring out a hybrid, and I think its very important, we’ve got to make sure it has significantly better fuel economy than a non-hybrid,” said Peper.

What started as a concept and dream 2 and 1/2 years ago when the Volt was first unveiled has now evolved into an all out race to build the winning mass production electric car. At this point there are three major players in the field and a lot of smaller ones. GM, Nissan, and Ford are each betting heavily that people will mass adopt electric cars. Yet all three automakers are approaching it differently.

GM

We here are quite familiar with the extended-range electric car design that the Volt employs. GM is using its negative experience with the EV-1 and the notable range-anxiety customers experienced to improve on the electric car.  By adding a gasoline generator and an electric range that will satisfy 78% of the population’s daily driving needs, GM believes it can offer consumers the best of both worlds.  The Volt will allow for the pure electric driving experience and gas-free driving while at the same time eliminating range anxiety and the potential for limitless driving.

The company has been working hard to perfect the car’s engineering and for the most part has been doing it all transparently, magnified I hope by this site.

Nissan

The Japanese company is the recipient of $1.6 billion in federal loans for the purpose of retooling a plant for EVs and building battery assembly facility in the US.  They will be globally launching a mass production electric car at the end of 2010 around the same time the Volt arrives.  The car will be a 5 seat four door compact pure electric sedan with 100 miles of driving range.

“We’re going to the end of the spectrum, believing that is the way to go,” said Eric Noziere, Nissan North America’s vice-president for product planning.

Nissan doesn’t think range anxiety will be an issue.

Ford

Ford, also a recipient of DOE retooling loans ($5.9 B), as well  plans to mass produce a pure electric C-class car with a 100 mile electric range in 2011. They are sharing the risk with partner Magna International.  Ford is also currently producing a strong hybrid Ford Fusion, and will bring out a plug-in hybrid Escape for the mass market in 2012.  The company appears to be diversifying its electrification solutions in case one category doesn’t take off. Their plan it seems is to let the people decide.  The company has specifically criticized shortcomings of the EREV design and has no intentions of making one.

So who will be the winner here, and is there room for them all?

Source (CNN)

It’s hard to believe, but we are finally here, the light at the end of the tunnel has arrived; its the first full day of the new post-bankruptcy GM. After 8 months of intensively following the company’s fall from grace, it’s all over, they are saved. Now we can get back to business only “not business as usual” as GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson has said.

As we heard in CEO Henderson’s conference, our favorite tell-it-like-it-is, shoot-from-the-hip, pink-tie-wearing, global-warming-crockin’, Letterman-schoolin’ automotive icon Bob Lutz has been “unretired” and will remain vice-chairman of GM. Only with the executive reshuffling and attrition, Lutz actually has more responsibility. The 77 year old Marine is now in charge of all “creative elements of products and customer relationships.” He will oversee marketing, communications, design, and customer relationships.

And right away he was out there making news on national radio.

Another tidbit from Henderson’s news conference was that GM will be trying out a new experiment shortly in selling cars in California through online auctioning company eBay.

In this scheme, dealers will place their cars on eBay for auction. A buy it now option will exist for those who do not want to bid. The experiment would allow consumers to research cars across all dealerships simultaneously, and get the best deal possible.

“The power of the eBay brand mated up with the four core brands from GM could be a really good thing,” said Susan Docherty, general manager of Buick-GMC. “It takes the shopping process online up about 4 notches because you’ve got a lot more information at your fingertips.”

Bob Lutz went on NPR news and gave his thoughts on it:

Lets face it, all of these online experiments will purely be for the customer to make her pre-selection of the car and ultimately that vehicle will still be delivered by a dealer.

There is no model which can legally permit automobile companies to sell directly to the customer.  That’s just prohibited by law in almost all states.  But what we hope to do by this is…the dealer puts up the car on that Internet auction and then the customers can bid on them. Once the bidding is successful, the customer then contacts that dealer for the pickup…Then there’s always one issue that can never be dealt with on an Internet sale, and that’s the question of the used car that the customer wants to trade in.

Every 10 or 15 years or so, and Ive been in this business since 1963, in sales and marketing, some genius invents a system that’s going to eliminate car dealers.  Everybody always gets excited an sometimes Wall Street puts a lot of money into it and it always fails because the franchise independent retailer is always the way to go.  It always works best.

So is Lutz saying this is a good idea or a bad one? And will this be applied to the Volt? Stay tuned for the next era of GM-Volt.com.

PRESS PLAY BUTTON BELOW TO HEAR LUTZ ON NPR:

After a lightning fast 40 days, GM exits bankruptcy protection today by successfully selling the best assets of the old company to the new GM. And so on this day the new GM begins.

The new GM has only four brands; Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick. Its footprint is drastically reduced with less dealerships, plants, workers, and assets. Most importantly the old GM’s outstanding debt has been reduced by more than two thirds, and its balance sheet starts anew. $50 billion in new government funds are also on hand to send off the new company.

Though the majority owner, the US government wants a quick exit from the car business, and an IPO is planned for next year.

Fritz Henderson will remain CEO, and the executive workforce is being trimmed by one third. And in a surprise move, our favorite car guy Bob Lutz will stay on after all full-time and defer retirement. Lutz will oversee marketing, product design and communication.

“Today marks a new beginning for General Motors, one that will allow every employee, including me, to get back to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks and serving the needs of our customers,” said Fritz Henderson, president and CEO. “We are deeply appreciative for the support we have received during this historic transformation, and we will work hard to repay this trust by building a successful new General Motors.”

The Chevy Volt, and what it represents, independence from oil, is now the centerpiece for the new company. What started as a concept and a dream 2-1/2 years ago embodied by and encouraged by all of us at this site has now become the shining beacon of the new company’s entire future. We followed GM down from boom to bust and we’re still here, still waiting for our Volts. Good luck new GM, don’t let us down.

Below is the video of CEO Fritz Henderson’s press conference that started 7/10 at 9AM in which further details are provided:

Full Press Release:

The New General Motors Company Launches Today

* GM gets back to the business of building great cars and trucks, serving customer needs
* New company created from GM’s strongest assets
* Four core brands backed by the nation’s largest and strongest dealer network
* Streamlined organization on a global basis for faster decisions, sharper focus on the customer
* Commitment to open communications

DETROIT – The new General Motors Company began operations today with a new corporate structure, a stronger balance sheet, and a renewed commitment to make the customer the center of everything the new GM does.

“Today marks a new beginning for General Motors, one that will allow every employee, including me, to get back to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks and serving the needs of our customers,” said Fritz Henderson, president and CEO. “We are deeply appreciative for the support we have received during this historic transformation, and we will work hard to repay this trust by building a successful new General Motors.”

Created from the old GM’s strongest operations in an asset sale approved by the bankruptcy court on July 5, the new GM is built on:

* Four core brands in the U.S. and the largest, strongest dealer network in the country,
* A fresh lineup of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC cars, trucks and crossovers, each with leading-edge designs and technologies that matter to both consumers and the environment,
* A competitive cost structure, a cleaner balance sheet, and a stronger liquidity position that will enable GM to invest in new products, key technologies, and its future,
* A winning culture focused on customers and products.

“One thing we have learned from the last 100 days is that GM can move quickly and decisively,” said Henderson. “Today, we take the intensity, decisiveness and speed of the past several months and transfer it from the triage of the bankruptcy process to the creation and operation of a new General Motors.

“Business as usual is over at GM,” said Henderson. “Today starts a new era for General Motors and everyone associated with the company. Going forward, the new General Motors is fully committed to listening to customers, responding to consumer and market trends, and empowering the people closest to the customer to make the decisions. Our goal is to build more of the cars, trucks, and crossovers that customers want, and to get them to market faster than ever before.”

Committed to great cars and trucks

The new General Motors launches with a clear and simple vision – to design, build and sell the best vehicles in the world.

“A successful auto company needs to focus on both the cost and the revenue sides of the business,” said Henderson. “Success on the revenue side means building the stylish, high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles that customers want – and getting them to market fast.”

Despite the recent downturn, GM has maintained its cadence of strong new products. In the U.S., for example, the Chevy Camaro has surged past its rivals to lead its segment, while the new Chevy Equinox, Cadillac SRX, and Buick LaCrosse are earning strong initial reviews. Later this year, the Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon and GMC Terrain debut, followed next year by the Chevy Volt, Chevy Cruze and Cadillac CTS Coupe.

This emphasis on great new products is also reflected in the Chevy Agile now launching in Latin America, in the Chevy Cruze and Buick Excelle in Asia Pacific, and in the new Opel Astra in Europe.

Just last month, GM announced its intention to build a new small car at a plant in Orion Township, Michigan, which will add to GM’s growing portfolio of fuel-efficient cars and restore approximately 1,400 jobs.

GM also has moved aggressively to develop a full range of energy-saving technologies, including advanced internal combustion engines, biofuels, fuel cells, and hybrids. The company is also a leader in the development of extended-range electric vehicles, with its first model, the Chevy Volt, currently undergoing road testing and scheduled to launch in 2010. The new GM is also taking steps to make advanced battery development a core competency, and expects to make additional announcements on this matter late this summer.

“The success of our recent launches and the exciting new vehicles and technologies we have in the pipeline are evidence of our ongoing commitment to excel at everything we do,” said Henderson. “Our goal is to make each and every General Motors car, truck and crossover the best-in-class.”

Stronger brands and dealers

As part of its reinvention, the new GM has also focused its resources on four core brands and a stronger, more effective dealer network.

General Motors’ core brands – Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC – will have a total of just 34 U.S. nameplates by 2010. This emphasis on fewer, better entries will enable the new GM to put more resources into each nameplate, resulting in better products and stronger marketing.

In May, the company accelerated its dealer consolidation efforts, with the goal of reducing the number of GM dealers in the U.S. from 6,000 this spring to approximately 3,600 by the end of next year. Even so, GM will still have the largest dealer network in the U.S. and GM dealers have committed to continue to improve the total customer experience for GM customers.

“We’re also working on new ways to make car buying more convenient for our customers, including an innovative new partnership with eBay in California to revolutionize how people buy vehicles online,” Henderson said. “Customers will be able to bid on actual vehicles just like they do in an eBay auction, including the option of choosing a predetermined ‘buy it now’ price. We’ll be testing this and other ideas with our dealers over the next few weeks, and hope to expand and build upon them in the coming months. In all cases, our goal is to make the shopping and buying process as easy as possible for GM customers – on their time and their terms. Stay tuned.”

A pledge to regain trust and confidence

General Motors Company is primarily owned by the governments of the United States, Canada and Ontario, and by a trust fund providing medical benefits to UAW retirees. Specifically, common stock will be owned by:

* U.S. Department of the Treasury: 60.8 percent
* UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust: 17.5 percent
* Canada and Ontario governments: 11.7 percent
* The old GM: 10 percent

“We are very appreciative of the support provided by the stakeholders through the transformation process. Though General Motors Company will not initially be publicly traded, we will be transparent in our financial and other reporting to further strengthen trust and confidence,” said Henderson. “We expect to take the company public again as soon as practical, starting next year, and to repay our government loans as soon as possible. We are required to pay off the loans by 2015, but our goal is to repay them much sooner.”

Stronger balance sheet

General Motors Company launches with a strong balance sheet, a competitive cost structure, and a strong cash position, enabling it to compete more effectively with both its U.S. and foreign-based competitors here in the U.S., and to continue its strong presence in growing global markets.

The new company acquired old GM’s strongest operations and will have a competitive operating cost structure, partly as a result of recent agreements with the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Canadian Auto Workers (CAW).

In the U.S., the new GM will be a far leaner company. By the end of 2010, the company will operate 34 assembly, powertrain, and stamping plants, down from 47 in 2008, and capacity utilization is expected to reach 100 percent during 2011. Overall U.S. employment will decline from about 91,000 at the end of 2008 to about 64,000 at the end of this year, creating a company sized to respond quickly to changes in the market, while still retaining the global scope necessary to develop world-class products and technologies.

The new GM will begin with a much stronger balance sheet, including U.S. debt of approximately $11 billion, which excludes preferred stock of $9 billion, and could change under fresh-start accounting. In total, obligations have been reduced by more than $40 billion, representing mostly unsecured debt and the VEBA trust fund that provides medical benefits to UAW retirees. The stronger balance sheet and lower break-even point will allow the new GM to reduce its risk, operate profitably at much lower volume levels, and reinvest in the business in the key areas of advanced technology and product development.

GM’s subsidiaries outside the United States were acquired by the new company and are expected to continue to operate normally without any interruption.

A new way of doing business

With the launch of the new General Motors, company leaders will work to change the culture of the company, making the speed and decisiveness that GM demonstrated over the past several months the new way of doing business, and adding an intensified focus on the customer.

Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., who oversaw the creation of the new AT&T, will serve as chairman of a GM board with a number of new directors. Henderson will continue as president and chief executive officer, working closely with Whitacre. He also will take responsibility for GM’s operations in North America, eliminating the GM North America president position.

To speed day-to-day decision-making, two senior leadership forums, the Automotive Strategy Board and Automotive Product Board, will be replaced by a single, smaller executive committee, which will meet more frequently and focus on business results, products, brands, and customers.

Bob Lutz has agreed to join the new GM as vice chairman responsible for all creative elements of products and customer relationships. Lutz and Tom Stephens, vice chairman, product development, will work together as a team, partnering with Ed Welburn, vice president of design, to guide all creative aspects of design. GM’s brands, marketing, advertising, and communications will report to Lutz for consistent messaging and results. He will report to Henderson, and be part of the newly formed executive committee.

“I am pleased to announce that we are ‘unretiring’ Bob Lutz so he can fill this important position in the new GM,” said Henderson. “He has a proven track record of unleashing creativity in the design and development of GM cars and trucks. This new role allows him to take that passion a step further, applying it to other parts of GM that connect directly with customers.”

General Motors will also end its regional operating structure, moving decisions closer to the customer. This eliminates the regional president positions and the regional strategy boards. Nick Reilly will be named executive vice president of GM International Operations (GMIO) which will be based in Shanghai.

GM is also removing layers of management – reducing the number of U.S. executives by 35 percent and overall U.S. salaried employment by 20 percent by the end of this year – flattening the organization and speeding decision making.

Additional details of the new structure and leadership moves will be communicated later this month, said Henderson. “These and other actions will simplify our organizational structure and reduce the level of bureaucracy that, in the past, has prevented GM from moving faster.”

More direct communications

Henderson also announced initiatives to open more direct communications between customers and GM employees at every level. “Beginning next week, we will launch a ‘Tell Fritz’ website where customers, or anyone else, can share ideas, concerns, and suggestions directly with senior management. I will personally review and respond to some of these communications every day.”

Henderson and other General Motors leaders will go on the road regularly to meet with consumers and others with a stake in the new GM. “In August, we’ll begin regular visits with customers, dealers, suppliers, employees and others – in the U.S. and abroad – who impact our relationships with customers. We’ll be listening to their ideas, and acting on the ones that will improve our ability to serve our customers better. And of course, other executives and I will continue to reach out to customers through our ongoing web and Twitter chats.

“Today we launch the new General Motors, and our promise is simple. We will be profitable, we will repay our loans as soon as possible, and our cars and trucks will be among the best in the world,” said Henderson. “We recognize that we’ve been given a rare second chance at GM, and we are very grateful for that. And we appreciate the fact that we now have the tools to get the job done.

“To our current customers, we appreciate the confidence that you have placed in us, and going forward, we’ll offer you nothing less than great cars, trucks and crossovers, with unmatched customer service. To those who have supported us through this challenging time, we are deeply grateful,” said Henderson. “And to those who have never tried a GM vehicle – or who have tried one and been disappointed – we look forward to the chance to win your business and earn your trust.”

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