GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

There is ample evidence that the US electricity grid can handle substantial numbers of electric cars. A study by EPRI and the NRDC determined that there is enough excess capacity to assimilate up to 50 million electric cars with out building any more capacity, assuming charging is done at night.

Some automakers and other stakeholders are concerned not so much with this big picture, but are concerned about smaller sections of the grid

Bill Reinert is Toyota’s outspoken national manager of advanced technology.

In an interview with Autoblog, he predicted that plugin cars “are going to cluster by ZIP code.”

“The Prius has…all hybrids cluster by ZIP code and you can assume that EVs will cluster by ZIP code,” he said. “They tend to cluster in affluent neighborhoods.”

The problem as Reinert sees it is that those affluent neighborhoods where most early adopters live contain older homes with older local electricity and transformer infrastructure.

“A lof of these neighborhoods…have undersized transformers,” he said.

He believes this highly focused high intensity electric demand could spell disaster.

“You can have a situation where you have three electric cars on the same transformer and all start charging at the same time on Level 2, 220-volt charging and you can bring down the transformer,” said Reinert.

Britta Gross who is GM’s director of infrastructure doesn’t exactly agree.

“I’m just as concerned about clusters of plasma screen TVs, air conditioners, pool heaters, etc,” she said. “This is what utilities do…they make sure that the electric grid keeps up with load growth in their communities.”

“The good news is that large numbers of plasma screen TVs and PEVs don’t get installed in a single night and surprise the utilities – the load growth happens over a time frame in which utilities can respond,” she said.

If you are reading this post, please watch the 3:39 minute video below. After watching the video please share it with everyone you know either by email, Twitter, facebook or any other means.

This is a micro-documentary I have produced that strives to send a clear message to everyone who sees it why they might want to drive an electric car.

You may not agree with everything in the video, but hopefully there is something in it for everyone. You might not think its great or even very good, but at least its better than the Chevy Volt dance!

If we can get this video to “go viral” there’s a chance millions of people could get this message.

If you are the creative type, feel free to make your own.

Thanks for your support.

The Chevrolet Volt will be an expensive car to produce.   Cutting edge technology and large proprietary lithium-ion battery packs make up the lion’s share of cost.  Another speculated element of cost is factoring in the possibility of some degree of warranty-required battery replacements.

Long one of the most talked about Volt topics is what its price will be when it arrives later this year.

In the very early days of 2007, GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz had mentioned a goal of under $30,000.  Eventually that target appeared to be moved higher, though never official confirmed by GM.

Along the way, the federal government passed legislation that will give initial Volt buyers a $7500 tax credit, and more recent media speculation has put the price closer to $40,000.

However, there have been new reports that GM may surpise the world with a lower number.

Also, though GM has plans to take the cost out in coming generations, it is often reported that the automaker will have to take a loss on each car of the first generation.

Now in an exclusive interview with GM-Volt.com, CEO Ed Whitacre speaks frankly on how much the Volt will be priced at, and for the first time ever says GM will actually be able to make money selling them.

He was asked whether it was true that GM will lose money on every Volt they sell.

“We’re not in business to lose money,” he said. “We did enough of that already.”

The Volt “is going to sell in the low 30s,” said Whitacre. “We’ll get a margin on that.”

I am a lifelong new Yorker, born in the Bronx.  It is important to me for my state and city to play a leading role in our country’s exodus from the gasoline-powered automobile.

Part of my effort has been to meet with utility company and government officials to help find and promote ways to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles.

In December I attended a stakeholder meeting at Con Edison (NYC’s utility co) headquarters in Manhattan which was coordinated by Britta Gross, GMs director of infrastructure.  The intention of the inaugural meeting was to see what is needed to get New York City ready for plugin vehicles.

Earlier this week a report was issued by Mayor Bloomberg’s office as part of what is known as the PlaNYC initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 and ensure a sustainable city.  The report looked specifically about how electric vehicles would be adopted by New York City.  It was created by McKinsey and Company.

There were 6 major findings:

1.  There is a large early adopter group in NYC who are willing to making lifestyle changes to be able to own electric cars

2.  The early adopters’ demand will outstrip supply for at least 5 years.  14 to 16% of all new vehicle purchases in NYC from 2010 to 2015 are expected to be electric cars.

3.  Policies should be developed to help early adopters enter the market

4.  Early adopters will not require high density public charging nor special tax incentives

5.  The expected level of EV adoption will not threaten the stability of NYC’s electric grid, as the early adopters expect to charge at night

6.  Automakers and utilities have an opportunity to prepare for and  enourgage EV adoption over the next 5 years.

For those that like math, 16% of all cars purchased by New York City amounts to 70,000 electric cars over the next 5 years.

It looks like New York is ready for the Volt, is GM ready for us?

[NYC Electric Vehicle Adoption Study 2010, PDF]

It may surprise you that considering how important the Volt is to General Motors, the company does not build its electric motor.

Clearly GM played a major role in designing and engineering that motor as it appears to be unique in the industry. It is actually composed of two motors.  The more powerful one acts as the primary driver traction motor, and the other acts as a generator to retrieve kinetic energy during braking and coasting. At times, if needed, both motors can act in parallel, and the system has an electronically limited 111 kw maximum output (150 hp).

The company supplying the Volt motor to GM is unknown. “We haven’t announced that yet,” states Volt spokesperson Rob Peterson.

GM is very serious about the future of electric cars, and doesn’t plan to source its motors indefinitely.

According to a report in USA today, later this month GM will be announcing plans to build or operate its own plant to build motors for electric cars. This announcement will possibly take place at the Washington DC Auto Show which opens on January 27th. Likely the DC initial market announcement will be made then as well.

GM already has opened its own battery assembly plant. Electric motors, according to GM vice chairman Tom Stephens is the “second leg of the stool” for electric cars.

The third leg is the power electronics that control the manner in which the battery and the motor interact.

Stephens didn’t specifically say if GM plans to build those in house as well, but presumably they will.

“Electric motors, batteries, power-control electronics — you need core expertise in those,” he told USA Today.

Source (USA Today)

When the Volt concept was first unveiled it was met with significant skepticism, especially from competitors.  It was believed at the time that lithium-ion technology was not ready for the mass production automotive application.  One of the strongest naysayers in those days was Toyota.  GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz even promised Toyota they would have ‘egg on their face’ after GM proved it could be done.

He was right. Three years later the Volt battery production plant has begun operations, and even Toyota itself has committed to lithium-ion powered plugin Priuses that will roll out later this year, and go on sale next year.  Countless automakers have either shown concepts or committed to production electric cars.

Nissan and its CEO Carlos Ghosn has been particularly bullish about electric cars.  However, their focus is on pure electrics, forgoing range extenders and plugin hybrids.

“This is about preserving the planet,” Ghosn was reported as saying by Bloomberg Markets magazine. “If we start being skeptical, nothing is going to happen.”

“We aim to be the global leader in zero-emission mobility,” he said.

Even Toyota thinks the Nissan LEAF’s 100 mile range will be a significant shortcoming.

“One hundred miles covers most daily trips but not all,” Bill Reinert VP of advanced technology of Toyota told Businessweek. “How many people can afford a specialized car that can’t be used on vacation?”

Bob Lutz who is the principle architect of the Chevy Volt does not think the LEAF will be a winning bet either.

“He’s rolling the dice,” Lutz told Businessweek about Ghosn. “I don’t see it happening.”

Even still, Lutz was recently quoted as saying GM will build a pure electric version of the Volt, though GM spokesperson Rob Peterson is playing that claim down.

“In essence he was stating that it could be done,” said Peterson. “It is not currently on the production timeline.”

If it were true, I guess thats what you call covering your bets.

Source (BusinessWeek)