GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

An interesting attribute of the Chevy Volt is the fact that gas in its tank may rarely if ever get used. GM has recommended the tank be kept about half full though some people who drive less than 40 miles per day may very rarely if ever experience the generator going on.

Gas doesn’t last forever and has a tendency to go stale.  One way GM has dealt with this is to require the use of premium gasoline, which takes longer to go stale than regular gas.

Another method is keeping the tank water tight.  The presence of water in gas accelerates the aging process.

Autoblog may have uncovered a third mechanism GM is planning for the Volt.

Application 20100186702 was filed to the US Patent Office on January 29,2009 by GM.

It is a for a system that delivers fuel additive on-board a plugin hybrid having both an electric and hybrid mode of operation.  The system has a reservoir to hold the additive, a pump and conduit to deliver it to the fuel tank,  and a controller.

“The systems and method minimize spoiled fuel and fuel deposits, and therefore minimize damaged fuel system equipment for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,” the author writes.

The controller uses sensors to detect several properties of the fuel; “elapsed time interval since previous fuel additive addition to the fuel tank , temperature, fuel quality, level of the fuel tank , and/or level of the reservoir.”  The system would then determine if additive to prevent spoiling needes to be pumped into the tank.

The system would also detect if no fuel had been uses for a period of 11 month inwhich case a dashboard display would light up, telling the driver the fuel needed to be replaced, as the limetime of fuel is considered to be one year.

The patent application also proposes the system could be used to work with diesel, hydrogen, bio-diesel, and ethanol, pointing to GM future ideas for  Voltec propulsion.

The additive reommended for use in the application is STA-BIL.RTM., commercially available from Gold Eagle Company of Chicago, Ill.

Now it looks like we know what Volt vehicle line director Tony Posawatz meant when he once said “there will be a few that will have their gas go bad, we have ways to address that as well.”

It is unknown if this system will be employed in the first generation Volt, though since the patent is not yet granted, probably not.

Source (USPTO) via (Autoblog)

Along with pricing and ordering information, GM recently announced that fact that premium fuel will be required for the Volt. Although the engine-generator may be used on few or no occasions, it is designed for maximum efficiency.  According to vehicle line director Tony Posawatz premium fuel allows the 4-cylinder engine to operate most efficiently, adding 10 to 15% more fuel economy than if regular gas were used.  He notes that the additional cost of premium fuel would be almost exactly offset by the improvement in fuel economy.

Posawatz also explained that premium fuel would last longer before going stale, and issue for an engine that is rarely used.

A more recent report on Autoblog citing GM spokesperson Tom Read exposed that fact the the Volt’s engine also comes equipped with a knock sensor.  The Volt’s 1.4L engine is calibrated for use with premium fuel meaning it uses extra spark advance to optimize effiecy.  If, however, regular fuel is used, the knock sensor will detect it and adjust the spark advance to avoid engine damage.  Thus in a pinch, though sub-optimal, the Volt could run opn regular gasoline.

“Premium fuel is required,” says GM spokesperson Rob Peterson.  ”However, it will operate on regular gasoline in an emergency situation.”

Source (Autoblog)

The saga of the EPA determining the Volt’s fuel economy sticker winds on. We’ve heard the EPA may or may not make the deadline of issuing a sticker by the time the Volt launches in November. If they don’t make it it will be the first time in recent history a car went on sale without an official government-sanctioned fuel economy.

This speaks to how disruptive Volt technology is.

At the recent CAR conference in Michigan, a reporter from the Detroit News asked GM’s executive director of EVs and hybrids, Larry Nitz, what the current status was.

Nitz first of all conceded that the famed 230 mpg highway fuel economy GM announced last summer won’t hold up.

“It will never show up on the label,” he said.

He also admitted GM has submitted a confidential proposal to the EPA, but wouldn’t disclose the details.

“The (EPA) is not close to finalizing the label. They say the end of the year, but that’s the general label. What they’ve agreed to is to work with us on a specific label” for the Volt, he told the Detroit News.

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has agreed on a method to calculate the fuel efficiency of a PHEV, and the EPA may release that draft to the public later this month.  They won’t have it finalized though until the end of the year, perhaps or perhaps not in time for the Volt.

GM has already committed to supplying the car with a table illustrating fuel consumption across a range of scenarios if the final EPA label isn’t ready.

Meanwhile Nitz made clear what should be pretty obvious to all of us by now.   “Let me put it simply: If you don’t have a way to plug in this vehicle, don’t buy it,” he said.

He also made it clear it is his opinion that the Volt is a superior solution to the present state of pure electric vehicles.

“(The Volt) is a practical EV for America,” he said.

“The idea that I could come from work and I got a sick kid I can’t take to the doctor because I need to plug the damn thing in just doesn’t play in this country, I’ll tell you that right now,” said Nitz. “We live in a drive-through society that has to have flexibility.”

Source (Detroit News)

Ed Whitacre is GM’s CEO. He took over last year from Fritz Henderson who had replaced Rick Wagoner who himself was replaced by the Obama administration. Whitacre used to be the CEO of AT&T and was chosen by the government as an ideal candidate to move in and help save GM.

Whitacre is not a car guy, and has had to learn the business on the fly. This may be the formula for his success; a fresh yet experienced outside leader who can drill down and fix the core problems of the company.

Since taking over GM seems to be doing well. Sales are increasing and the company tunred a profit first quarter.

Whitacre recently gave some remarks on the state of affairs at GM. He is optimistic about GM’s future and upcoming IPO.

“There are four keys to our ongoing turnaround,” said Whitacre.

“First, we clarified the company’s focus,” he said. “Design, build, and sell the world’s best vehicles.”

“That’s what we do… that’s all we do,” he added .”Anything that does not support this vision has either been stopped, or is on its way out.”

“Second, we reinvigorated the team and restructured the organization,” he said. “Third, we’re moving faster and smarter.”

Finally he said “We’re making vehicles that people just can’t wait to buy.”

Whitacre thanked the legacies of Henderson, Wagoner, and Lutz giving them credit for the cars coming out today and those in the pipeline that are as “exciting as the ones we’re selling now.”

He also added that GM’s financial success is well underway too. “If you liked our first quarter earnings, stay tuned for our results next week,” he said.  The company is expected to file for an IPO this month, and may sell shares later this year.

Bloomberg has reported some of GM future product plans will include a stretched version of GMs European minivan called the Opel Zafira. This vehicle use the same global compact delta platform the Volt and Cruze uses and in theory could be made as a Voltec variant.

Whitacre is also a fan of the Volt and sees it a better option than the Nissan LEAF something he said in an interview with the Detroit Press.

“It’s the only electric car you can drive across the country and never have to plug it in. It’s always on electricity. Nobody else can make that claim and nobody is going to be able to for awhile,” he said. “It’s a new technology. The proof will be in the pudding and we’ll sell more of these things than we can produce. No other electric car can go coast to coast on electricity.”

“So if you’re in a Leaf, when you get to 49 miles out, you better be thinking about heading home — and hoping there’s no hills,” he added.

It is rare that I have to issue a clarification, especially in recent years, but in this case it is necessary.

In the last post I reported a New York Times piece in which the author wrote that GM had “banned” the sale of Chevrolet Volts to out-of-state buyers, based on an interview with a dealer in California.

The poll accompanying that post has already revealed that 30% of GM-Volt readers who have ordered a Volt, did so from out of state dealers. So obviously it is occurring anyway.

As readers have pointed out, GM cannot ban dealer practices, and only make suggestions. They are independent franchises.

“The dealer was misinformed,” said Volt spokesperson Rob Peterson of the dealer referenced in the Times story.

“We have not banned sales to residents outside of launch markets,” he said.

So feel free to go right out and buy a Volt from one of the launch market dealers, regardless of where you live!

It might take a little effort to go pick it up.

“To be clear, vehicles will be shipped to launch market dealers only,” said Peterson.

You can still get your shiny new Volt serviced locally as GM is currently establishing a Volt servicing network in all areas of the nation, even at stores that won’t be able to sell them yet.

“This just goes to show you the power of the Volt,” said Peterson.  ”The excitement of the vehicle is drawing new customers into the Chevrolet dealership.”

We also have been graced by a visit from Chevy Customer Serivce Volt adviser Angie in the forum.

She writes:

If a customer lives in a non-launch market they can order a Volt however we would encourage customers to wait until Volt is launched in their markets. Only Participating Volt Dealers, in launch markets will receive Volts. If a customer lives in the United States, they can order a vehicle from a Participating Volt Dealer. The vehicle would be delivered to the Participating Volt Dealer and the customer would have to make arrangements to take delivery.

We appreciate the enthusiasm for Volt and the desire that so many people and municipalities have to get Volt into their communities as soon as possible. As with the launch of any new technology, the initial customer experience is critical to the ultimate adoption by the mass market. A strategic roll-out will ensure a better customer experience for our Volt owners and pave the way for electrification of the automotive industry. Consider that electric vehicle ownership involves new decisions from consumers such as making the decisions to install a home charger or a separate meter and so on. By concentrating in selected markets, developing the experience and making process improvements before distributing Volt nationally, we can ensure a better overall customer experience and ultimately better adoption of this new technology.

As a reminder, we will expand our distribution quickly. Volt will be sold in all 50 states, within 12 – 18 months of the start of initial sales. We plan to announce additional markets as we move into the 2012 model year.

Earlier this week we took an informal survey of GM-Volt readers experiences attempting to purchase Volts from dealers in the early launch markets.  There were 1312 respondents when the poll was closed,and 950 or 72% of readers hadn’t inquired at a dealership yet, but 362, or 28%, had.

Of those 362, 60% were told by the dealer they would have to pay a mark-up over MSRP. The largest group among those were those told they would have to pay at least $10,000 over MSRP, representing 37% of that group.

Our poll was picked up by the New York Times who also interviewed some dealers to research the story.

The Times considered our poll “hardly rigorous and certainly not certifiable,” (I’ll buy that) but determined it indicated “that a significant sample encountered premiums in excess of $10,000, though most respondents who claimed to have made inquiries were quoted M.S.R.P.”

Volt spokesperson Rob Peterson was asked for comment.

“The dealers are independent, for better and, in very rare cases, for worse,” he said. “There are some who have moved in the opposite direction of our request. In response, what we’ve done is to urge customers who have contacted us about pricing discrepancies to shop around, because there are dealerships in their area that are honoring M.S.R.P.”

GM sent a strong message to dealers to do the right thing and sell the Volt at MSRP. The invoice price is $1800 lower so there is profit built in.

Through an interview with a California dealership the Times found out another new piece of information. GM had banned out-of-state sales.

“For a year now, we’ve had people contacting us from out of state, trying to make a purchase, but G.M. told us in-state-driver sales only,” Paul Galassi, Internet manager for Novato Chevrolet, north of San Francisco told the Times. “It’s sad, honestly, because as a dealership you hate to turn anybody away.”

Considering that early adopters are spread across the nation and the Volt will only go on sale in seven states, attempts to purchase a Volt out-of-state is likely to be robust.

Source (New York Times)