GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

General Motors has graciously offered members of the GM-Volt.com community the opportunity for an exclusive test drive of a pre-production Chevrolet Volt.

Space is being limited to only 10 participants and the event will take place at the end of March in New York City either on the 29th or 30th. The final date, time, and location will be announced shortly.

In addition to the opportunity to drive the car around a half mile track, and experience both EV and generator mode, executives from the Volt team will be on hand for discussion.

I wish I could invite everyone who reads this site to be there, but at this time it is unfortunately just not possible. The most equitable solution I concluded was to hold a contest.

Starting today, if you are interested, submit either an essay up to 400 words, or a YouTube-hosted video up to 2 minutes, entitled “Why I Want a Chevy Volt.”

You must send your entry or its url to voltnation@gmail.com for it to be considered.  Writing it in the comments section of this post will not allow it to be considered.

The top ten entries will be chosen from all essay submissions and videos submitted by March 12th. The overall best submission will also have their travel expenses up to $500 paid thanks to GM-Volt.com site sponsor NetLook.com.  Entries will be judged on their creativity, passion, quality and entertainment value.  Other factors such as GM-Volt.com site participation may be considered.

The winners will be announced and posted here as soon as they are determined.

Good Luck!

Its happened before, but this time its for real.

Outspoken father of the Volt and ultimate car guy “Maximum” Bob Lutz will retire effective May 1st.

Lutz, who just turned 78  has decided to end his 47 year career as an  automotive executive.

He is credited with first envisioning and pushing GM to develop the Chevrolet Volt concept in an effort to leapfrog the Toyota Prius for green appeal and has stewarded the program all along, calling it his proudest achievement.

His fascinating and often brutally honest quotes and quips have spiced up this blog as well as the greater media throughout the past 3 years.  I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting Mr. Lutz on several occasions and have even sat down for dinner with him.  He has responded to every email I ever sent to him, and for that I am grateful.

“The influence Bob Lutz has had on GM’s commitment to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles will last for years to come,” said GM CEO Ed Whitacre in a statement.  “I, along with many other men and women in GM and throughout the industry, have greatly benefited from his passion, wisdom and guidance.”

For his part Lutz says it is time to go because his work is done.

“I can confidently say that the job I came here to do more than nine years ago is now complete – the team I have been fortunate to lead has far exceeded my expectations,” Lutz said.  “Our product lineup is as strong as it has been in GM’s history.  The perception of our products and brands is beginning to catch up with reality. And most importantly, the absolute commitment to being a product-driven company is ingrained throughout the organization – from the top down – and I am confident that, under Ed Whitacre’s leadership, the straightforward, singular focus on product will endure.”

I sent the following message to Mr. Lutz:

Thank you for the Volt and all the interesting news and comments of the last three years.

I and the GM-Volt fanbase wish you all the best and a very long and enjoyable retirement.

To which he replied:

Thanks, Lyle. I do hope they extend an invitation to me for the big launch ceremony!

Though Audi President Johan de Nysschen famously went on record calling the Volt “a car for idiots,” apparenly the allure of the EREV was just too compelling.  The German automaker has pulled a complete 180 and has just unveiled an interesting extended range electric car concept of its own that shares surprising similarites to the Volt.

Based on the compact A1 platform, the Audi A1 e-tron is a 4 seat 2-door premium class vehicle that always drives by way of its 75 kw (102 hp) peak, 45 kw (61 hp) continuous electric motor.

It contains a “T-shaped” 12 kwh lithium ion battery pack that contains enough energy for 31 miles of all electric range.  After that, an on-board range extender kicks in to produce electricity for continued driving.

Audi is using a very small 254 cc single rotor Wankel engine for electricity production, running at a constant 5000 rpm for peak efficiency.  They have included a tiny 3.17 gallon gas tank and the option for drivers to manually switch the generator on and off as desired.   GPS is also used to determine from the route and destination whether to activate the generator which can output 15 kw of power.

Audi notes its use of the tiny engine generator and gas tank along with the required power electronics, thermal management and exhaust only weigh 154 pounds collectively.  The small single RPM generator operates nearly silently and vibration free.  ”The Wankel engine in the back can barely be heard when it is running,” Audi states.  A brake by wire system is employed and recaptures kinetic energy when slowing.

The 2600 pound car can do 0 to 60 in 10 seconds and has a top speed of 80 mph.  Total range with a full tank of gas after the battery is depleted is an additional 124 miles.  Audi reports this translates to 123 mpg combining the two modes using the current draft standard for EREV fuel economy.

The car can be recharged in 3 hours at 380 Volts.

Lighter and slower than the Volt, with less electric and total driving ranges, the A1 e-tron is specifically suited to the big or “mega” city environments.

Source (Audi)

The Cadillac Converj was a stunning extended range concept car GM first unveiled an the January 2009 Detroit Auto Show. The luxurious stylish vehicle was to utilize the same Voltec propulsion system as the Volt though specifically tuned for increased performance and luxury.

GM vice chairman Bob Lutz has long been a proponent for the car whose pricetag and market segment was purported to be better able to absorb the added cost of the electrified drivetrain.

Bloomberg reported that the program has been cancelled specifcally so the company can focus on bringing out lower cost plugin parallel hybrids for the Cadillac brand.

Apparently GM’s internal research concluded that GM could not produce the Converj with sufficient features and performance to be compelling enough to buyers at the same time producing a profit.  This information was obtained from two GM executives who asked not to be identified.

To have made the Converj perform as intended, faster and smoother with heavier seats and larger wheels, its range would have been halved to 20 miles, while at the same time increasing its price by $30,000.

The decision to kill the Converj was made at a late January meeting even though earlier in that month Lutz had said the car was cleared for production.

“As we took a look at our available capital and engineering resources, we decided that there were things that were more urgent than doing a Cadillac version of the Voltec architecture,” Bob Lutz told Reuters. “We had originally had a time slot for the Converj and that has been put on hold.”

GM still plans to electrify Cadillacs, only relying on lower electric range plugin parallel hybrid technology, like the plugin 2-mode drivetrain recently previewed in the XTS concept.

According to analyst Eric Noble, president of CarLab, an automotive consultant, GM’s decision to kill the Converj is “a tacit admission from GM that they over-batteried the Volt.”

“The future lies in plug-in hybrids with smaller electric range,” he said.

Voltec/EREV now seems dead to the Cadillac brand, at least using today’s lithium ion batteries.  Does it also speak to the Volt possibly becoming a one-off model?

Source (Bloomberg) and (Reuters)

Upon taking the helm, GM CEO and Chairman Ed Whitacre recognized the tremendous value and importance of the Chevrolet Volt.

He has admitted he wanted the Volts to roll out prior to the planned launch date of November 2010, even in small numbers. In an exclusive one to one interview with him, Mr. Whitacre told GM-Volt “I did ask them (the Volt team) ‘If I gave you another billion dollars could you get it out sooner? They said no because its all about testing.”

Even though full scale rollout couldn’t be done, Whitacre still wanted at least a few cars to get in the hands of the public early on. “We’re going to have a few out early,” he said

However, the Detroit Press has just learned that the company is becoming fearful about even letting a few cars into the public early.

Though some executives still want it to happen there are apparently obstacles. The plan has “a number of problems, and the car isn’t one of them” one source told the Free Press.

The Volt team is concerned the cars will still need routine “tweaks and changes” that go on right until rollout, that early cars won’t have in place. The could result in creating public misunderstandings that could lead to a public relations problem. The Volt is after all GM’s most important public relation move in decades.

Some executives therefore don’t want to chance any potential for a flawed launch and are strongly considering sandbagging the early Volt plan.

“There’s a lot of hard work that needs to be done between now and November, but the team remains on target to deliver,” GM spokesman Rob Peterson told the Free Press.

Source (Detroit Free Press)