GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Nissan came along with its LEAF EV after GM introduced the Volt and has been racing well to catch up to the public buzz and interest.

GM has not yet made clear the Volt purchase process or pricing, though they have acknowledged the car will rollout in November in California, Michigan, and Washington DC simultaneously, with other markets to follow.

On Thursday Nissan completed its national tour of showing the LEAF showcar at 63 stops in 24 cities when it arrived in New York. Coincident with this, the company announced more details about the LEAF’s purchase process, and released a teaser ad.

Nissan is now saying consumers will be cable to either purchase OR lease the LEAF in ” a single transaction that includes the battery.”  ”When you buy the car – you are buying the battery,” a Nissan spokesperson told GM-Volt.  ”When you lease the car – you are leasing the battery”.

The steps to acquire the car will be to first register on the official LEAF website, then to reserve the car with a refundable $100 deposit in April, and finally place a firm order in August.

The car will rollout to “select markets” beginning in December followed by “all major launch markets quickly thereafter.”

Nissan says they have nearly 50,000 people registered as showing interest in the car on their website.  They have also said the price of the LEAF will be made public in April.  Nissan remains hush on the exact price, but a spokesperson did quote executives are saying “there will be a ‘wow’ factor with how affordable it is.” The $7500 tax credit will apply.

Nissan’s Americas chairman Carlos Tavares indicated that Nissan expects to sell about 20,000 LEAF EVs in the first year.

“The Nissan LEAF purchase process is effortless, transparent and accessible, offering value with a one-stop-shop approach for everything related to the car, including the assessment, permitting and installation of in-home battery-charging units,” said Tavares.

“It’s not a car just for early adopters or green addicts,” he added.

The initial markets are going to be the ones from The EV Project, where they are putting in public infrastructure: Seattle, Oregon, Tennessee (Knoxville, Nashville and Chattanooga), Phoenix/Tucson, Ariz., and San Diego.

Below is a teaser video of Nissan’s new “The New Car” ad campaign.

As should be exceedingly obvious by now, GM-Volt.com has undergone a significant design transformation.

Just like model years of cars, and nearly everything else we interact with on a regular basis, so this site too has to evolve.

I realize that this change might upset some who are used to “calling this place home,” but the redesign is really a way of showing hope for the future.

We have come a long way since I first set this blog up on a small hosting plan using a free out-of-the-box theme in January of 2007. In January 2008 the previous custom design was implemented, and the site runs on its own dedicated servers.

This newest design actually has taken months of planning and required hiring a team of designers and programmers who took my vision and translated it into reality.

The plan was to create a simple, clean, fresh design to rapidly convey the best and latest news with a strong sense of optimism.  This is the year of the Volt, and as cars actually begin hitting the roads new people may come here in droves to find out more about it.

The dark days of bankruptcy, uncertainty, and doubt are behind us and the future looks bright.

Please look out for any bugs or flaws you find in the new site, and feel free to email me at chevyvolt@gmail.com should you find any.  I would be glad to hear any and all feedback you may have for new features you would like to see here.

Please bear with us as there may be bits of tweaking going on the next few days, and if you are using Internet Explorer 6.0 you may have more trouble.  Also check out the forum redesigned too.

Thanks for your continued support. Enjoy GM-Volt.com v 3.0!

General Motors is putting its best foot forward with the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car.

From their experience with the EV-1, the company has decided a 40 mile pure EV range with a gas range extender is the best solution for mass adoption, allowing the most gas-free driving while at the same time eliminating range anxiety and the need for charging infrastructure.

However, many car companies are choosing to produce pure EVs. Which approach will gain greater public appeal is unknown at this early stage, though the next few years should clarify things.

Thus GM isn’t resting on its heels but is continuing to study a pure EV launch in the US.  They have already joint ventured with Indian electric car maker REVA to produce a pure electric Spark for the Indian market this year.

Vice chairman Bob Lutz was reported as saying an electric Volt would be easy to build.  “Once you’ve done the Volt, pure electric is trivial,” he said. “You just leave some parts out.”

Pete Savagian, GM’s director of hybrid and EV engineering recently admitted that GM has “been studying (the BEV) internally really intensely.”

“Since we see electrification as the long term evolution of the auto, and there is so much going on in the industry,” he told GM-Volt.com. “We study various electrified vehicle options on an ongoing basis to evaluate the merits of how such a vehicle might perform in a particular market and segment.”

When asked specifically about a US pure EV Chevrolet Marketing director Jim Campbell said “thats not something I have a lot of comment on.”

“Its possible but we haven’t made a commitment on it one way or another,” he said.  “Were looking at a whole range of possibilities and that could be a possibility in the future.”

Though vague about the US market, GM’s electric plans for Europe are now more concrete.

In a recent statement on their five-year plan, Opel anounced it would be spending €11 billion to develop advanced technology vehicles.  Included would be the launch of  ”an extended-range electric vehicle in addition to the Ampera,” and “pure battery-electric vehicles in smaller-size segments.”

Opel President Nick Reilly indicated GM will be unveiling a new green car concept at the Geneva Auto Show next month.

“Using green innovation and alternative propulsion,” Opel told Auto Car the concept “is proof that size and comfort do not need to be sacrificed for a vehicle to be environmentally efficient”.

Aside from the Chevy Volt which it could be argued isn’t a hybrid, GM has not released any public plans to produce a strong hybrid sedan.

At present the company produces 2-mode hybrid trucks including the Tahoe, Escalade, and Sierra models.  These vehicles have a 25% higher fuel efficiency than their non hybrid counterparts, yet their $10,000 price premiums have resulted in very limited sales.

GM recently announced they were investing in their own dedicated electric motor assembly plant, which would produce the motors for the next generation of 2 mode hybrids.

Vice Chairman Tom Stephens told Automotive News that the next generation would be the first to appear in rear wheel drive sedans.

Though Stephens did not say which models weer slated to get the powertrain, he did say they would utilize a new GM designed electric motor that;s 25% smaller and 20% more powerful than the ones curently found in the 2-mode trucks.

“The new motor will be lighter,” said Stephens. “It will be more affordable.”

These attributes he said would make it better-suited for a sedan.

Automotive analyst named Jim Hall concluded the vehicle most likely to get the new hybrid drivetrain will be the next generation Cadillac CTS and the new upcoming smaller Cadillac ATS .

The ATS is expected to go on sale in 2011, and the next generation CTS is scheduled for 2012.

The new compact and affordable hybrid powertrains won’t appear until 2013.

GM has not yet released images of the ATS which will be about theh same size as a Honda Accord, and share styling cues with the Voltec-powered Converj.

“We’re finalizing the four-door showcar of the ATS first,” a  source told Edmunds Inside Line. “Then we’ll follow quickly after with a wagon, a coupe and a convertible.”

Source (Automotive News)

It was only a matter of time.

On Tuesday the Japanese automaker officially issued a recall of the 2010 3rd generation Prius hybrid for a braking flaw.

A software glitch mishandles the switch between regenerative and friction braking when anti-lock brakes (ABS) are also being activated, leading to a perceived loss of control which for some can be harrowing.

The recall is global and affects over 400,000 Prius and other hybrid cars including 133,000 Prius and 14,500 Lexus HS 250h sold in the US.

Dealers can fix the problem in about 40 minutes.

The recall was announced by Toyota president Akio Toyoda (shown above) who admitted his company was not failure-proof and committed to “redouble our commitment to quality as the lifeline of our company.”

The company denied that the braking flaw was dangerous but was fixing it to allow customers to feel more comfortable.

“We’re committed to doing everything we can – as fast as we can – to restore consumer trust in Toyota, and these recalls are part of this effort,” said Jim Lentz, President and Chief Operating Officer, Toyota Motor Sales. “We regret the inconvenience this recall will cause to Prius and HS 250h owners, and will do our best with the support of our dealers to make sure that it is conducted in the most trouble-free manner possible.”

Source (Toyota)

The Ford Motor company has just unveiled its first commercial electric vehicle.  The Transit Connect Electric Cargo van will go into production in late 2010.

It is a small van weighing in at 3948 pounds with a wheelbase of 114.6 inches and a length of 1806. inches.  It can hold from two to five passengers and a 1000 pound payload.

It is a pure electric vehicle utilizing a Siemens 3 phase AC induction motor and single speed transmission that offers 235 Nm of torque and a top speed of 75 mph on flat ground and 60 mph up 3 percent grade.  It will do 0 to 60 in 12 seconds based on curb weight and 15 seconds based on gross vehicle weight rating.

Power comes from a liquid-cooled 28 kwh Johnson Controls-Saft lithium-ion pack that can be recharged in 6 to 8 hours at 240 volts using the industry standard J1772 SAE coupler. It has an 80 mile target driving range.

The vehicle is intended for commercial fleet use and is “well-suited for commercial fleets that travel predictable, short-range routes with frequent stop-and-go driving in urban and suburban environments and a central location for daily recharging,” said Ford in a press release.

The “Force Drive” electric powertrain is manufactured and integrated by specialty upfitter Azure Dynamics.

“We’re excited about the potential for our electrified vehicles,” said Praveen Cherian, program manager for the Transit Connect Electric, who added that today’s electric vehicle buyers are similar to early adopters of hybrid vehicles. “People were a little hesitant about hybrids at first, but now they accept it and embrace it. We expect the same will be true of electric vehicles.”

Ford says the vehicle will offer lower cost of operation than a comparable gas vehicle due to the low cost of electricity versus gas  fuel and low cost of maintenance.

The vehicle including the battery pack is designed for a lifetime of 10 years/120,000 miles.

The current gasoline powered Transit Connect van won the 2010 North American Truck of the Year.

According to Ford spokesperson Jennifer Moore pricing has not been announced and will be “primarily for commercial use.”  Ford  ”would not exclude retail sales,” she added.

Ford has not yet determined whether the vans will be leased or sold.

“Volumes will be low to begin with to determine how the emerging market shapes up,” says Moore.  ”Up to a thousand will be produced in the first full year of production.”

Ford also plans to bring out a pure electric Ford Focus in late 2011, and in 2012 they will produce their next generation C-class hybrid and plugin hybrid.

Source (Ford)