GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Earlier this week GM exhibited futuristic display technology currently under development.

The system expands the idea of heads-up display to the entire surface of the windshield incorporating advanced sensor technology to provide extensive safety information.

Current heads-up displays draw images on a small area of the windshield above the driver’s head and may include basic information such as speed. The new system GM is developing in cooperation with Carnegie Mellon and USC draws information on the entire inner surface of the windshield creating an augmented reality version of what is going on outside. Data is collected through an array of sensors and cameras outside the vehicle which feeds into the image the driver sees.

The goal of the system is to enhance safety.

Imagine the scenario of an extremely foggy night or a drive through very dense rain or snow. Driving can be difficult due to the inability to discern the edges of the road or other vehicles. The new system can actually draw the outlines of the road so that the driver knows exactly where they are.

Moving objects such as pedestrians, animals and other vehicles can be visually enhanced on the screen as well. Night vision technology is an important component a well.

GM hasn’t specifically designated a vehicle that will receive this system, and there is still a lot of work to be done. Fully functional units may not be production ready until 2016, but components of the system may find their way into vehicles in the near-term.

“This design is superior to traditional head down display-based night vision systems, which require a user to read information from a traditional display, create a mental model and imagine the threat’s precise location in space,” said Thomas Seder, group lab manager-GM R&D. “We have done testing on a number of drivers and their performance is better relative to head-down systems that are commonly used in vehicles today.”

“It’s a compelling design,” he added.

Check out the video below.

Source (GM)

Profitability is something GM hasn’t achieved since 2004 when it earned $2.7 billion.

The company declared bankruptcy on June 1st and reemerged in 40 days after receiving $50 billion in government loans that made the US taxpayers 61% owners of the company. The company’s books were wiped clean and they were sent on their way with a plan to at least break even if US auto sales stayed stalled at he 10 million unit mark. Projections for March are closer to 13 million.

Greg Liddell is the now new CFO of GM. He was recruited from his former position as CFO at Microsoft, where he drove a Ferrari to work and competed in Iron Man triathalons.

Last year GM lost $1.5 billion in the third quarter, its first quarter after emerging from bankruptcy. Fourth quarter results are expected to be released on March 31st.

Liddell, in his first public appearance as CFO, earlier this week told a group of reporters GM expects to pay back $5.7 billion in government loans this year and is on track for a possible IPO. Proceeds from the IPO would be used to allow the US government to divest its stake, though that process may take years.

“I don’t want to get in the position where we say, ‘We’ve got to do an IPO, we’ve got to do an IPO,’ ” Liddell told reporters. “It’s an important milestone. But we do it when we’re ready — not on some predetermined timetable.”

Lidell also said GM’s new balance sheets were “healthy” and they will likely turn a profit this year.

“We have a reasonable chance of being profitable this year,” Liddell said.

He noted GM was doing very well in China and Brazil, that Europe was “challenging” and that North America was “somewhere in the middle.”

In January CEO Ed Whitacre also said he expected GM to become profitable this year. Since taking over the position from Fritz Henderson, who now continues to work part-time for GM as a consultant, Whitacre has aggressively shuffled executive positions in an effort to boost sales. Liddell is believed by some to be next in line for the CEO position.

The triumphant launch of the Volt into retail markets at the end of this year, though not itself expected to make money for the company at first, is GM’s great hope to improve their image in the eyes of prospective buyers which the company hopes will increase sales through a halo effect. The high-volume high-efficiency compact Chevy Cruze will also be launched later this year and is hoped to play a major role in generating sales.

The fact that the Volt program has managed to stay precisely on track and on schedule through these three years of turbulence is testament to the dedication, commitment and skill of the Volt team.

Source (Bloomberg)

It looks like we may be on the cutting edge.

It turns out only 7 percent of the US population said they would very likely purchase a plugin car in a random nationwide survey performed by Consumer Reports. Over one quarter of the respondents (26%) said they were likely to consider one.

However, 72% of the population said they were unlikely to even consider it.  Consumers appear unwilling to sacrifice performance or convenience.

The study of 1752 purchase-intent people also looked at perceived range requirements and price expectations.

Overall the median electric car range desired was 89 miles. It was 102 miles for men and persons in households earning less than 50,000 per year. Less than half (49%) the respondents felt 75 miles of range was adequate and only 29% would be satisfied with less than 49 miles.

An additional 29% said they needed at least 200 miles of range.  Total range was the consideration, which in the case of the Volt would be gas plus electric or roughly 340 miles.

The median price premium people were willing to pay for an electric car was $2068. One fifth (20%) would pay nothing extra and another one fifth (20%) would be willing to pay $5000 extra, though this was correlated to income.

The majority of people (63%) said they would consider an electric car only if they could charge while at work.

A previous study published by Pike research in late 2009 drew a different conclusion.  It showed 48% of the US population would be very or extremely interested in buying a plugin car with a 40 mile range like the Volt.

So although we may lament GM’s near-term maximum production volume of 50,000 – 60,000 Volts per year, uncertainty of this new market may make planning difficult.

Source (Consumer Reports)

 

2010 will end with the introduction of two eagerly anticipated electric cars, the GM Volt, and the Nissan Leaf.

Perhaps more eagerly awaited than the cars themselves is their MSRPs. More discussion, speculation, and innuendo have been applied to what these numbers will be than almost any other aspect of the vehicles.

The Volt’s final price remains unknown, and will not be revealed until at least May or perhaps later in the summer.  Estimates vary from low to high 30s before a $7500 tax credit.

Nissan has gone on record promising to reveal the Leaf’s official price in April when the company will begin taking $100 preorders. It is expected the car will be offered either as a full purchase or with a separate battery lease in the US.

A new report in the Mainichi Japan claims to have obtained the Leaf’s expected MSRP.

“The automaker has decided to set the sales price of its new model for the Japanese market below 4 million yen,” it is written.

4 million Japanese Yen currently converts to $44,300 USD .

Another version of the report indicates the car will range anywhere from 3.5 million yen to 4 million yen, thus putting the lower limit at $38,600.

Nissan plans to sell 500,000 units globally and 150,000 in the US by 2012.

“My understanding is the article out of Japan is speculative, and we have no comment,” Nissan spokesperson Catherine Zachary told GM-Volt.com. “We have yet to disclose Nissan LEAF pricing in the U.S. or in any global market.”

If the Leaf does go sale in the US for $40,000, that would place it in the same price range as the Volt is expected. Which car would you rather have for that money?

Source (Mainichi)

The hydrogen fuel cell powered car remains an elusive advanced technology transportation strategy that continues to have an uncertain future.

GM has worked for years and has spent over $1.6 billion to develop fuel cells that convert pressurized hydrogen into electricity. Since late 2007 their Project Driveway program has placed more than 100 fuel cell Equinoxes in willing participants’ hands.

Two major problems with hydrogen-powered cars are the exorbitant cost of the technology (the fuel cell Equinoxes are said to cost $1 million a piece), and the lack of hydrogen fueling station infrastructure.

Skeptics argue the conversion of energy into pressurized hydrogen is an unnecessary and inefficient step as the pure electric car simply plugs into the grid for its power. Further it is argued the tremendous cost of building the needed infrastructure isn’t justifiable.

Nonetheless GM continues to work to refine the technology and considers fuel cells the final step in its electrification strategy, even as it readies the Volt’s launch.

Last September GM unveiled a new production-intent fuel cell system that fits in the same size space as a traditional 4 cylinder engine. They claim the new generation fuel cell stack and system is half the size, 220 pounds lighter, and uses 1/3 the platinum as the fuel cells in the current Project Driveway fleet.

On Tuesday they announced that the new systems are already operational and undergoing testing.

“Our learning from Project Driveway has been tremendous and these vehicles have been very important to our program,” said Charles Freese, executive director of GM’s Global Fuel Cell Program.

“The 30 months we committed to the demonstration are winding down, but we will keep upgrades of these vehicles running and will continue learning from them while we focus efforts on the production-intent program for 2015,” he said. “We will continue to use the Project Driveway fleet strategically to advance fuel cell technology, hydrogen infrastructure, and GM’s vehicle electrification goals.”

GM has not announced what if any vehicle the tests are being conducted in, nor its exact 2015 commercialization plans.

GM spokesperson Alan Adler told GM-Volt, “the production intent system is not an extended range Voltec system.”

In 2007 GM showed a variant of the Volt concept in which the gas range extender was replaced with a fuel cell system.

“We are not abandoning the fuel-cell technology,” Freese told Bloomberg. “Through the worst years in this company’s history we maintained the program and maintained the forward progress.”

Freese also told Bloomberg “invested over $1.6 billion in fuel cells. We didn’t do it because people were talking about the technology. We did it because we think it’s one of the right elements to have.”

Lamenting the lack of government-funded infrastructure development Freese added “we have anything but consistent policy in this country.”

Source (GM) and (Bloomberg)

Some expressed concern when GM’s new sales and marketing chief Mark Reuss told GM-Volt he expects pure EVs to eventually obtain a larger market than EREVs.

“As (Volt) technology flows down to BEV in what will be smaller cars to carry smaller packs, that may be the higher volume play over a longer time,” he said.

It seems likely GM is expecting multiple healthy parallel markets including those for EREVs, BEVs, and plugin PHEVs.  As there are many subgroups of consumers each with their own specialized needs, offering options for all of them makes good business sense. This is especially true if costly common denominators such as lithium-ion packs can be eventually be brought to lower price points though economies of scale.

“In the end, the market will determine the winner and the technology that carries the day,” Tony Posawatz told GM-Volt.com.

“Considering the effects of temperature and the real world on pure EV’s, they will be limited for many years to come,” he said.  ”The concept of E-Flex or the flexible extended range electric vehicle will be much more than a bridging strategy.”

“We are happy that the EREV will someday help to launch EVs into the market,” he added.

Of course GM is limited by production capacity which is why multiple Voltecs aren’t yet planned, and part of the reason the Cadillac Converj was cancelled.

Confirming this Bob Lutz conceded in a text message to Automotive News “the Volt and Ampera will use all available capacity for years to come.”