GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

The Chevy Volt is now in the pre-production phase. GM has been building about 80 of these fully functional production intent prototypes, and are likely to be finished with this phase within days. Those cars are undergoing extensive testing and the learning and tweaking will be applied to the final production cars.

Part of this test process is seeing how the cars behave in real-world situations.

I received the following note from Volt fan Jim Northrop who lives in Nevada near Death Valley. Since it sent chills up my spine I thought I’d share it here (with Jim’s permission):

It was the best lunch I’ve had in a long time…. It was 11:55 AM. I was waiting for a traffic light in Pahrump, Nevada, on my way home for lunch and what should pass in front of me, headed North on Nevada Highway 160, but five (5) mysterious cars: silver and also white, with strange masking panels, antennae, and Michigan manufacturer plates. The fifth car was lagging and I had a chance to study the grill, gold accents, silhouette, then the rear spoiler. I had seen these features somewhere… they were Volts!! The “Fleet”. I quickly fell in behind, but intervening vehicles kept me distant and I couldn’t pass. I was hoping they would turn on Bellvista which is a popular route to Death Valley Junction and my house. Lucky for me they did make this turn and the chase began. I drove uncharacteristically fast to catch up, passing what I now believe was a large white Chevy “support van” and a few other cars. Finally, the trailing Volt was in reach. I was going way too fast as I pulled up and abruptly slowed next to the Volt–the two occupants didn’t give eye contact–they were probably busy praying they would survive this scary encounter with me (sorry guys). Momentarily mesmerized, I again accelerated, and pulled in front. I was now gaining on the other 4 Volts which were beginning to slow for the stop sign at Leslie. I pulled up behind the fourth Volt (sorry guys, I didn’t mean to scare you, but was completely focused on that round, gray, plug/cap centered low on your rear bumper–darn near caused the first Volt wreck…gasp!) Once I came to my senses and stopped, I honked my horn a few times, and grinning from ear to ear, gave driver and passenger excited “thumbs up”. They both gave me firm thumbs up in return and away they went. I rolled the stop and accelerated to catch them–they easily pulled away from me in my 2005 ,V8 Silverado– acceleration was comparable to my wife’s V6 07 Malibu (I know this as she always tries to beat me home, often from this same stop sign). Noteworthy… they had their windows up which meant they had to have their A/C’s on (in our heat)– strong acceleration!! They continued West, on Bellvista, toward the foothills. So excited, I forgot to eat lunch, too busy calling everyone I know… They are really beautiful, artistically sculpted automobiles. Wow! Very, very Impressive!!! Thanks GM for your commitment to the Volt, and for bringing them through our town today. By the way GM, please send some to Pahrump Valley Auto Plaza, a Volt is on my Christmas list.

Jim, didn’t have a camera with him, but apparently another lucky guy from internetautoguide caught a glimpse of this same fleet in a parking lot (photo above)

General Motors has been working on hydrogen fuel cell technology for a long time, and over a billion in research dollars have been spent on it.

Presently they have a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell Chevy Equinoxes in public hands. These vehicles have been on the roads over a year and have collectively logged over 1 million miles.

Now GM has unveiled its next-generation fuel cell system

The new system is 220 pounds lighter than the one currently found in the Equinox, and uses half the amount of precious metals. It contains GM’s fifth generation fuel cell stack and is small enough to fit under the hood of a sedan occupying as much space as a conventional 4 cylinder engine.

GM says it could commercialize the system by 2015, if the country is willing to set up the infrastructure necessary to support hydrogen vehicles.

“GM has invested more than $1.5 billion in fuel cell technology and we are committed to continuing to invest, but we no longer can go it alone,” said Charles Freese, executive director of GM Fuel Cell Activities. “As we approach a costly part of the program, we will require government and industry partnerships to install a hydrogen infrastructure and help create a customer pull for the products.”

For its part, Germany and Japan have both agreed to build up to 1000 hydrogen fueling stations by 2015.

“Failure to act will insure the U.S. cannot meet its long-term fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction objectives,” Freese said. “We know what needs to be done. Now is the time to get started.”

According to Volt spokesperson Rob Peterson GM still has no plans to put this system in future Chevy Volts as the range extender.

“Our focus remains solely on an internal combustion engine-generator for the Voltec system at this time,” he said.

Peterson also wouldn’t comment on the cost of this new fuel cell system. “As a matter of course, we do not provide cost estimates on our technologies,” he said.

Is it do or die time for hydrogen?  Most people are betting on batteries as A123’s rousing IPO performance today suggests.  The Massachesetts-based lithium-ion battery producer’s stock (AONE) began trading on the NASDAQ today, and soared over 50% from its opening price of $13.50 per share.

Source (GM)

The Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) is according to their website:

The preeminent industry association dedicated to advancing electric drive as a core technology on the road to sustainable mobility. As an advocate for the adoption of electric drive technologies, EDTA serves as the unified voice for the industry and is the primary source of information and education related to electric drive. Our membership includes a diverse representation of vehicle and equipment manufacturers, energy providers, component suppliers and end users.

It sounds like the organization shares our common goals and is in a position to help make them happen.

The EDTA was first formed in 1989 when EVs were little more than a dream, and like us they are thrilled to see the radical transformation underway in the US (and global) auto industry.

Brian Wynne is the President of the EDTA and will be participating in a live chat in the box below at 2PM Eastern time. This will be simulcast on many EV-ralted websites. He will be taking our questions about the progression and future of electrification of the automobile and proving some answers.

Brian has written the following introduction on GM’s website:

Does it seem that suddenly everyone is talking about electric vehicles? Well, that’s because they are. But it’s not a sudden development in the automotive world. At the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), our members have been pushing technology boundaries, building business models and busting myths for a long time. Electric drive is not a fad; in fact, we’ve been at this for 20 years. And, of course, some of the earliest successful automobiles were electric!

But there is good reason why this is suddenly getting lots more attention. Not only has there been a wave of exciting vehicle announcements from manufacturers (check out a list of electric vehicle announcements on our website), the federal government just invested $2.4 billion in electric drive vehicle and component manufacturers, battery suppliers, infrastructure providers, and training facilities. This reflects a national recognition that electrification of transportation can help us achieve our energy, environment and economic goals. It also reflects how far the industry has already come. We are prepared to leverage the investment and take electric drive into the mainstream.

When hybrid technology breakthroughs made commercially viable grid-connected vehicles a possibility, EDTA hosted the first plug-in hybrid vehicle workshop in 2003–for an overflow crowd. In the short time since then, electric drive has come a long way, with the major automakers (and many start ups) developing and testing electric drive vehicles. Companies are going about the challenge in different ways: some are focusing on battery electric vehicles, several are moving on plug-in hybrids, and others are working on battery electrics with range extenders. Many manufacturers continue to work diligently on fuel cell vehicles. This demonstrates the flexibility of electric drive technology, and the innovative spirit which is needed to address the myriad of consumer tastes, and the variety of commercial vehicles in the fleet.

We all know that it has been a roller coaster of a year for the automotive industry, with the recession hurting every aspect of the value chain, from parts suppliers to consumers. But the industry has weathered economic and technology setbacks before and we are positioned to come out on top of this one. Vehicle electrification is not just a national policy goal; it is the foundation of our members’ business strategies. It is not just vehicle manufacturers that are bringing innovation to this game. Electric utility companies and component manufacturers are also investing time and treasure toward a common objective.

EDTA has been a steady voice for 20 years. Today’s unprecedented attention and investment might seem like an overnight success story, but this industry’s success has been years in the making. More to the point, we will be at this well into the future.

So for now feel free to browse the EDTA website, and get your questions ready. Who are they , why are they there, and how can they help us and we help them? Come back at 2:00 and join in the discussion and see how together we can help get this country off of oil.

Zenn Motors is the Toronto-based electric car company that was founded by Ian Clifford.

To date the company has only produced low volumes of low speed neighborhood electric vehicles, but had been planning to introduce a highway capable electric car called the cityZENN.

Zenn has based its future and that car on a partnership with EEStor, which is known to be secretly working on mass producing a new type of battery that would surpass lithium ion in every way. Its far cheaper to produce, several times more energy dense, can be recharged in minutes and has a functionally unlimited lifetime.

Zenn has taken incrementally greater ownership stakes in EEStor based on milestones for producing that battery or EESU. At this point no batteries have ever been publicly demonstrated, but Zenn holds a 10.7% stake.

Clifford has just announced that his company would no longer be pursuing mass production of the cityZENN car.  I had the chance to discuss this with him.

“Our decisions regarding cityZENN continue to evolve in response to advancements in electric vehicle deployment across the industry since we announced cityZENN a couple of years ago,” said Clifford.

He notes the plethora of new EV manufacturers that have exploded on the scene including Tesla, Fisker, and Think, fresh with billions of dollars of government aid.

“Why people would want ZENN to become another OEM is beyond me,” he said.

Instead Zenn will focus on producing electric drivetrains called ZENNergy Drive systems that will be EEStor-powered and would be supplied to automakers.

“Integration of ZENNergy Drive in Tier 1 and OEM product has always been our long term objective,” says Clifford. “The cityZENN program was always designed as a proof of concept for ZENNergy Drive.”

“Now that virtually every OEM around the world has announced some form of battery EV or plug-in hybrid program it makes sense for the Company to focus entirely on ZENNergy Drive’s unique value proposition to maximize ZMC’s penetration throughout the industry, working in conjunction with Tier 1 and OEM’s around the world,” he said.

He is enthusiastic about the potential of that business model.

“Leveraging ZENNergy Drive, powered by EEStor, across the industry is such a massive opportunity,” he says. “Last year 48,000,000 new cars built fit within our 1400 kg exclusivity on EEStor’s technology.”

Clifford denies that there has been any material change in EEStor’s development and assembly of EESUs.

“With respect to the anticipated timeline of EEStor’s technology,” said Clifford.  “EEStor has publicly stated that they expect to complete initial component testing in September 2009 and deliver functional technology to ZMC by the end of the year.”

He clarifies that although EEStor will do component testing in September they may or may not reveal those results publicly.

“With respect to the initial Component testing, it is up to EEStor to announce the results,” he said.  “It should be noted that while EEStor publicly stated their intention to complete component testing, they did not indicate if they would publicly disclose those results. Component testing is not a milestone in our technology agreement with EEStor.”

The US Department of Energy announced that they have awarded Fisker Automotive $528.7 million to be used for the development and assembly of plug-in electric cars in the United States.

The money is coming from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan program. In the first stage, Fisker will use $169.3 million for engineering integration costs as it works with US suppliers to complete and launch its first electric car, the luxurious Karma.

The next $359.36 million tranche will be used to design, develop, and assemble Fisker’s next generation car. This smaller more affordable plug-in hybrid will come forth from what is called project NINA. The goal price for the car is $39,000 after the $7500 tax credit.

Fisker estimates it will be able to sell from 75,000 to 100,000 plug-in vehicles per year beginning in late 2012. They also claim 5000 US jobs will be created and 821 million gallons of gas and 80 million tons of CO2 will be offset by these cars through 2016.

“This conditional loan represents a significant step in America’s future,” Henrik Fisker, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. “With it, Fisker Automotive can rapidly develop affordable, clean cars that satisfy our passion for driving and help restore the U.S. as an auto industry leader.”

“This investment will create thousands of new American jobs and is another critical step in making sure we are positioned to compete for the clean energy jobs of the future,” said US Energy Secretary Chu. “Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could revolutionize personal transportation and cut our dependence on foreign oil, not to mention give us cleaner air and less carbon pollution.”

The Fisker Karma is set to launch in May 2010, and is a 4 seat 4 door extended range electric car that delivers 50 all electric miles, and has a 300 mile cruising range using its gas range extender.  It does 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds, and the gas engine is being sourced from General Motors.

Source (Automotive News)

When the Chevy Volt concept was first unveiled it sometimes referred to as an electric Camaro referring to its very sporty design. In the move to production, that sportiness was scaled back somewhat in favor of more widespread appeal.

The Chevrolet Corvette, however, remains GM’s iconic lynchpin sports car. It is powered by a very highly spirited line of V8 gas engines, though new CAFE rules regulating a fleet average of 35.5 MPG by 2016 have some pundits wondering if the powerhouse’s days could be numbered.

Not so says Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman in charge of product development. In fact, Stephens doesn’t even think the V-8 has to go.

“I don’t believe that we need to do a six-cylinder engine in a Corvette at this time,” he said.

Down the road, he plans to keep the car alive no matter what it takes even if that means hybridization.

“We will only do a hybrid if that is what is required to maintain the vehicle,” says Stephens.

GM has plans to keep the car viable for the near future without resorting to hybridization.  “I think we have a pretty good plan right now that probably will not require a hybrid in the near term,” he says.  These efforts will include reducing the car’s weight, using direction injection, cylinder deactivation, variable valve timing and low rolling resistance tires.

The base 2010 Corvette uses a 430-hp, 6.2-liter V-8 that gets 16 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway.

Looking at the layout of the Fisker Karma, for example, with its 400 horses and sub-6 second 0 to 60, creating a plugin Corvette could certainly be a possibility.  Even so, GM denies it even has such a project on the drawing board.

We have “no plans for a hybrid Corvette at this time,” says GM spokesperson Rob Peterson.

Source (Automotive News, sub required)