GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

There is mounting evidence GM plans to build on the success of the Chevrolet Volt and turn out various electric vehicles in the coming years.  GMs CEO Dan Akerson is a big proponent of vehicular electrification and recently noted GM was already studying ways to double or triple production.

Other reports suggest GM may be planning to unveil an extended range electric crossover Chevy Amp at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

The latest report from Reuters cites anonymous GM sources who say the company is also planning to build a plug-in electric Cadillac crossover based on the SRX.  This vehicle would make use of the two-mode plugin drivetrain that GM had previously been working on for the Saturn VUE which was scrapped with the brand’s demise.

GM-Volt has learned non-plugin 2-mode hybrid version of the SRX is also known to be undergoing testing.

When asked if GM would be spreading Voltec technology to brands other than Chevrolet, CEO Akerson told reporters last week, “you know, I am having a meeting on that tomorrow.”

GM vice chairman Steve Girsky also confirms his company and CEO are determined to push hard on electrification, building on the already established lead of the Voltec foundation.  ”We want to push our lead,” said Girsky. “Akerson is intent on pushing the metal on this thing.”

“GM hasn’t had a leadership vehicle like this in a long time,” he said. “Akerson is insistent that we have that.”

The Volt has begn rolling out to owwners across the nation.  GM plans to build 15,000 total copies of 2011 and 2012 model year versions of the car in the 2011 calendar year, and at least 45,000 in the follwing year.  Just how many they eventualy build annually depends on demand, but GM is looking at many options.

“There is a lot of hand-wringing about whether it should be 60,000 or 120,000, and what if we do this, and what if we do that,” said Girsky. “You can talk yourself out of anything that way, but all that doesn’t take into account the need to have a vision and lead.”

One thing seems certain as thee reports confirm, GM doesn’t plan to rest on its laurels, and will continue to push on with vehicular electrification.

Source (Reuters) and (Autoblog)

I picked up my Volt Friday from Ourisman Chevrolet in Marlow Heights, MD. GM’s local PR person (Carolyn Markey) was on hand because it was one of the very first Volts delivered in the DC area. I would have picked it up the day before (the same day you picked up yours), except that GM asked me to wait a day because they wanted to line up media for the occasion. They took pictures of my wife (Karen) and me and all the staff at Ourisman, all of whom were about as excited as we were to see the first Volt (silently) roll out of their show room. However, because of bad weather, the media that Carolyn had tried to line up did not show, so I cannot forward any articles to you. She did issue a brief press release, however. See http://www.prlog.org/11156895-first-keys-to-the-chevrolet-volt-handed-over-to-washington-dc-area-owners.html.

The car was not fully charged when we picked it up, and we had a 35-mile drive home, so the range extender came on about half way home. I charged it last night with the 120-volt charger supplied with the car. SPX, GM’s official charging station contractor, did not have any certified electricians in our area who could install the 240-volt charging station in my garage, even though I have already brought a dedicated 240-volt 40-amp circuit to the garage (see attached pictures). They told me they just completed certification of one local electrician, and I have an appointment with him to do a “site inspection” on December 22. They won’t bring out the Coulomb charging station until they go through their checklist, which requires a pre-site inspection, even though I am ready for the charging station to be installed. They say they have one for me, so hopefully it won’t be too much longer.

Fortunately, my office is in my home so my car sits in the garage most of the time, and thus the 120-volt charger will be fine for now. Today I got up and went to play my regular Saturday morning tennis game, then drove to the bank and then Starbucks, and then home, using only about 12 total miles of electric drive, so the engine never came on. While parked in front of Starbucks, people started asking me about the car. The most frequent question was, “Is it on now?” My answer was repeatedly, “Yes.” A few didn’t believe me, so I had to drive it around the parking lot to prove that it really does operate silently.

One of the guys I play tennis with just bought a new Cadillac with a 535HP engine and picked it up yesterday as well. We figured that his purchase canceled out any carbon footprint savings achieved through my purchase of the Volt.

Interestingly, he traded in a Jaguar for the Caddy and I traded in my BMW X-5 SUV, which says a lot about GM. The fact that these two boomers, who largely abandoned Detroit automakers for foreign brands in the 1980s, are coming back to GM (based on my unscientific sample of two), says a lot about GM’s turnaround. While in the showroom, I looked at the entire Chevy lineup from the Camaro to the Corvette, Cruz, Volt and Equinox. Each and every one of these cars is beautifully designed, of high quality, and well-reviewed in the media. GM has certainly achieved a milestone with the Volt, which is an absolute marvel. But the story is bigger than just the Volt. GM really is listening to customers and building the cars we want to buy. Accordingly, I am very optimistic about GM’s future.

Now to my Volt. The VIN number is 71, which gives me a special thrill to think it was one of the first ones to roll off the assembly line. A picture of it charging in my garage is attached. I will ask Carolyn Markey to send me pictures that she took at the showroom as well, and will forward them to you, since the attached picture is probably no different than the ones you have seen a thousand times.

I purchased the Volt even though I wanted to lease it, because the dealership did not have its leasing arrangements lined up yet. It has the premium trim package, which includes leather appointed seats, heated front seats, leather wrapped steering wheel, 17” forged polished alloy wheels, front and rear sensors, and a rear camera. It is silver ice metallic with a black interior and ceramic white instrument panel. It is a joy to drive. It is very responsive, has great visibility, and handles like a tight European car, which is what I am used to. I have yet to figure out all the instrumentation, but I plan to do that this weekend. I recently upgraded my phone to a Motorola Android and installed the OnStar app, but I need to contact my Volt advisor before I can get a User ID and Password.

One thing that surprised me is the sticker states that “This vehicle has not been rated by the government for frontal crash, side crash or rollover risk.” I hadn’t considered crash worthiness before. This might be a good topic for you to blog about in the future. Incidentally, I have attached an images of my sticker (in two parts) so everyone can see exactly what they get and what it costs.

Lyle, let me say a word about gm-volt.com if I may, and about your efforts to break our oil addiction. It is fair to say that I would not have spent over $40,000 on this car but for gm-volt.com. I have been reading your blog daily for nearly three years, during which time I have become a disciple. Not only do I look forward to your daily posts, they have educated me about the car long before it went on sale. In fact, I knew far more about the Volt than anyone at the dealership. I owe you a debt of gratitude for this, and for your dedication to addressing what I believe is our country’s single biggest problem: energy security. My hat is off to you.

Hello and Happy Holidays to all my friends at GM-Volt.com!

Thursday had to be one of the most exciting days ever for me, I’ve taken many new car deliveries over the 46 years of my life but nothing ever like this, The first ever mass produced electric car. After learning that my Volt was scheduled to be delivered on December 14, 2010 from the shipper (due to my dealer’s geographical location it would be the very first stop) I also received these exact words in an email from Cassens Transport:

Thank you for contacting Cassens Transport.

It looks like this vehicle shipped yesterday (12/13) at 12:26.

It is on a load of 9 units with the first drop being in Dover, NJ.

It is 580 miles so, depending upon traffic and weather, I would hope it would be delivered today or maybe tomorrow.

Needless to say I almost passed out! I was to be the very first Chevrolet Volt customer to receive his car! I quickly notified my Sales person Roy Serif with this great news, a few hours later he told me that the media will be at Ayres Chevrolet to cover this historical event. On the mooring of December 15, 2010 we all know what happened Mr. Kaffee took delivery of his new Chevy Volt! Ok I will admit that my story may not be as exciting as Mr. Kaffee’s (no prius to trade in here just a 2002 Toyota Tacoma Pickup) anyway my car did arrive at Ayres Chevrolet Dover, NJ at about 11:50am just after the media blitz a few miles down the road. The driver was still gleaming with excitement from all of the media attention he received there. He did say he had received a call while on the road with orders to stop at Denville, NJ first and not Dover, NJ.

On Thursday, December 16th after picking my son up from school we headed to Ayres Chevrolet and at 4:41pm I took delivery of my 2011 Chevrolet Volt from Sales Consultant Roy Seif. I must say that this was one of the best Auto purchasing experiences I have ever had. The people at Ayres where top notch!

It’s a very cool car, and I noticed the refinement and attention to detail GM has put into this car. Yesterday I let a good friend of mine take it for a drive, he is an electrical engineer. After taking him for a drive I pulled over and let him take over, he asked If we could take it on the highway so we did (rt. 78). Then wile on the highway I said to him hey do you realize you are going 90mph! (speed limit is 65) he said sorry no I did not it felt more like 60-70 to me!. He couldn’t believe how quite the car is and said you better watch your speed in this car as you will be easily fooled on just how fast you are moving. After we got out of the car he said wow America finally got it together I want one.

The engine never came on at speeds up to 90mph

And hey after getting your hands on this car it won’t matter if you’re the very first or not you will be all smiles regardless.

Best of luck to all my GM-Volt.com friends with your Volt Deliveries

I almost entitled this piece, “Why Toyota Prius Trade-Ins Are Bad News for Both GM and Nissan”, but I have been accused of being a little glass empty in my time here at GM-Volt.com, so I went with something a little more ‘vanilla’.

This past Wednesday, General Motors followed through on a project four years in the making, by delivering the very first Volt to a fellow named Jeffrey Kaffee, a 69 year old, retired airline pilot from New Jersey…who not incidenly traded in a 2005 Toyota Prius.

No offense to Mr. Kaffee, but as we say on the internet, “that is…teh suq.”

It wasn’t much better for Nissan when their first LEAF delivery went to 31 year old, Olivier Chalouhi  in San Francisco last week either.  Aside from the first LEAF being black (which naturally means it goes both faster and further than lesser colors), and having been sold to someone not receiving a pension;  Mr. Chalouhi’s last car, was a bike, an electric bike….that he made himself.  /gah

Where is ‘Joe Customer’ moving up and out of a Chevy Malibu/Toyota Camry, or down from his German sedan?

Now I am about as enthusiastic as an ‘EV enthusiast’ can get.   Somewhere out there is a LEAF with my name on it, and whenever GM will take my money, a Volt will cozy right up beside it in my driveway.  However, while these first two historic car deliveries are results in a vacuum, one can’t help but wonder if they do not foreshadow the future.

Between writing articles here at GM-Volt.com over the past year and half, and running/writing a LEAF website up to very recently, the very worst news for my inner ‘EV ‘enthusiast’ was when Nissan touted that over 50% of would-be purchasers owned a Toyota Prius, a trend that Chevrolet also saw with the Volt.

Here is the problem with that (and these first two customers).  While it is nice to sit back and gloat about taking something away from the undisputed king of all things eco-friendly, it actually speaks to the shortfalls and challenges facing the Volt and the LEAF, along with the upcoming Focus Electric, Mitsubishi I, etc.

If the Volt and LEAF’s customer base consists of around 50% Prius owners (not 50% of  the car’s total sales mind you), with the Prius only selling about 135,000 total units in 2010 (125,289 thru Nov), we have a reality that is pretty hard to swallow.   The ‘new generation’ of electric cars are mostly competing  inside the same small (less than 3%) of the market that today consists of hybrids (about 300,000 units for 2010).

And if you think salvation lies in selling the electrics internationally if there isn’t enough of a market in the US, it doesn’t.  As an example, Europeans, have already made the sacrifice Americans won’t…the move small cars, frequently diesel. So while gas prices there are higher there, electric cars make even less sense.

All of Europe will barely hit 100,000 hybrids sold for 2010.  Nissan, who already has the LEAF on sale in the UK, are experiencing this non-interest first hand, having only sold 150 units in the first weeks of availability.  Its a pretty strong bet that the Volt and Ampera being sold only from select dealerships, at a price of  £30,500 ($47,580 USD) and £33,995 ($53,000USD) respectively will be met with a similar round of indifference.

This hesitation to adopt is why we have not have had electric cars on the road before this week, not a lack of technology.  This current round of electrics is actually a referendum on the worth that the American population (and just the American population) put on things like the environment…and getting off oil.  Unfortunately, the early returns are that while that number of willing cutomers have probably increased 10-fold from 20 years ago…it is still not enough to support the industry on its own.

It is a given that the Volt (and the LEAF) will be virtual sell-outs over the next 12 months or so while they are in shot supply.   But in the end, the demographics of would-be purchases is showing that Bob Lutz was right when he asserted that the Volt (and other electrics) will need a major additional outside influences to make them anything more than a niche segment, saying “US fuel prices will have to rise to $5 or $6 per gallon”…there just isn’t enough Jeffrey Kaffees and Olivier Chalouhis in the world who will either pay the premium, or make the sacrifice that is necessary to drive an electric car.

So if you believe in an electric future for this generation, either make the sacrifice necessary to get yourself into a EV…or at least smile when the price of gas goes up.

And so on this cold December day 47 months after first hearing about the concept car and starting GM-Volt.com I take delivery of my very own Chevrolet Volt.

Though I have been driving a test fleet car for the past month, there is something far more special about taking true possession of the car I have been promoting, following, studying, and writing about for the past four years.  This car is truly my car in more ways than one.

I have the honor of vehicle #8 off the assembly line, one that was shipped from the Detroit Hamtramck assembly plant the first day shipments went out.

My Cybergray metallic Volt with black leather and dark accents, standard wheels and no park assist was first spotted sitting atop the shipping truck when the first car in the nation to be delivered was dropped off in Denville NJ.  It arrived at my dealership late Wednesday night.

I am getting my car from Englewood Chevrolet in New Jersey, only blocks from my office, and have had an excellent experience working closely with owner Stephen DeScalzi.

I have decided to lease the car for three years with the option to buy it at the end, which I may do for posterity stake.  I usually only lease cars and like the simplicity of getting a brand new model every three years.  You may not agree, but that’s just me.

Admittedly, I do feel guilty about have two Volts at the same time, when many enthusiasts across the nation may have to wait months or years before they get their own.  I still have the customer advisory board (CAB) test car until mid-February.  I asked GM if they would let one of the regular GM-Volt.com readers take over my CAB car for the remaining time, but they said they could not allow it.  Thus I will continue to drive the CAB car and keep my own Volt carefully stored under wrap in my garage until the 90 day CAB term is over.

Excitingly Fox’s Good Morning New York came out to witness my delivery and interview me early Friday morning. You can watch the segment at the end of this post.

On this most momentous day I would like to express my deepest gratitude to General Motors and all the wonderful men and women I’ve met there along the way that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, chatting, emailing, and generally bugging all the time.  This list includes Bob Lutz, Rick Wagoner, Fritz  Henderson, Jon Lauckner, Denise Gray, Frank Weber, Tony DiSalle, Joel Ewanick, Mark Reuss, Tom Stephens, Micky Bly, Doug Parks, Andrew Farah, Greg Martin and Ed Whitacre.  Special thanks to those who have been the closest and have always answered my incessant emails; Tony Posawatz, Dave Darovitz, and Rob Peterson.

These men and women have not only made this car possible but have helped in almost all the stories I have written on this site.  This site and this day attest to the power of the Internet that a group of like-minded people could come together on a website and help chart a new direction for their country.

Thus I most certainly want to thank you the reader whose continuous presence and input here has made this all worthwhile, and most of all my wife Jeanie and children William, Sean, and Kailee whose support and understanding have allowed me to keep this site going all this time.

The Volt is finally here and in the coming days, weeks, and months thousands of Americans will joyfully be driving them through the roads of America, collectively beginning the transformational process of weaning our country off of oil.

We have done it.  The journey has truly begun.  And remember this isn’t the end of our efforts but only the beginning.  Long live the Chevy Volt. Long live GM-Volt.com.

The Chevrolet Volt entered mass production on November 11th, the first 350 cars began shipping to customers on December 13th, and on December 15th the first owners began to take possession.

Sixteen consumers, including me, have been driving saleable Volts as part of an advisory panel for over a month.  These car are performing beautifully though some minor quirks have sometimes appeared.  Part of our job as advisers has been to help point these out.

It turns out some of things I have noticed and reported on here have been acknowledged and engineers have continued to tweak and improve.

For example, I noted early on the brakes seemed to be less intense when moving at low speeds such as when edging into  parking spot.  Last week engineers came out to my home and upgraded some of the car’s software responsible for controlling the brakes.

Vehicle line executive Doug Parks explained that GM has “tweaked the brake calibrations to smooth out the pedal feel throughout its travel.”

I had also noticed the charge port door didn’t seem to close as solidly as I would have liked.  Parks said the “charge door mechanism (has now been) improved on production cars for better latching.”  In fact he noted GM engineers have made significant changes from the test car I am driving.  ”We completed lots of little tweaks here and there and the production cars are even better,” he said.

Vehicle line director Tony Posawatz also advised me that the full production car people are now receiving will be noticeably improved and refined from the captured test fleet version I am driving now.  ”We still feel there is a lot of work to do,”  said Posawatz.  ”There’s always fine tuning of the process whether a physical change or a process change at the plant, that’s just the way things work.”

GM plans to be “very very responsive” to customer feedback says Posawatz, and in fact GM engineers will be “on-call” through the holidays to field any concerns from the first drivers.  ”If we do get feedback from the field we will look at it to see if we can address it,” he said. Change that could be implemented may include “software upgrades, physical changes, etc.”

Posawatz expressed gratitude for the 4-year marathon effort we’ve made here on GM-Volt to promote and contribute to the car, and admitted GM has monitored the site closely and incorporated many of the ideas expressed here into the car.

Thanks to all that have contributed, our car is finally in customers hands.