GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

So far we haven’t found anyone in California or anywhere else with BOTH new mass-produced plug-in cars. Since my wife Rochelle Lefkowitz and I both work from home, we’re not that typical. Still, as early adopters, it’s a privilege to be an ecumenical plug-in household.

Which car is better? The real competition is the electric mile versus the fossil-fuel mile. But we enjoy competition among plug-in design solutions and carmaker races — so here are our initial impressions and our first match-ups. In the spirit of encouraging wide discussion, we’re posting this message broadly. See links at http://www.calcars.org/photos-plugins-arrive.html for the latest.

Since we got our Volt on Dec. 22 and our Leaf Jan. 24, I’ve felt like we’ve taken a time machine to the future. Since as the Founder of CalCars.org I’ve been doing little else but talk and evangelize about this for a decade, I thought I’d be ready for this moment. But now that it’s really here, it’s far better than I ever imagined!

Each car is like a 21st century space capsule, gliding silently through streets clogged with last-century vehicles. I was never so aware of the unique and ugly sounds from each gas-guzzler. At stop lights I even feel their low-frequency vibrations. As a driver of a Prius since 2004, which 60,000 miles ago in 2006 was converted to a plug-in hybrid, and as an occasional driver of a RAV4 EV or a Tesla Roadster, I’ve had glimpses of how this feels. But it’s completely different to drive this way almost all the time!

Each car greets the driver with fun as its first feature. The instant torque of electric motors turns each of them into rocketships at low speeds, and easy lane-changers on the highway.

The driver’s seat of the Volt feels like an airplane cockpit. It’s a little intimidating at first, but reassuring after a few minutes of studying the controls and displays — or just ignoring some for a while. The Leaf has a spare quality, and the simpler right-side panel is all about audio and climate.

Each car offers subtle clues about its fundamental character. The Volt puts a whole car between the front left electric door and the rear right gasoline door. Inside, the button to flip open the electric door stands out while I have to work to reach the gas-door release, giving the message, “You’re not going to be using this very often.” The Leaf’s charging ports are under a giant door right in the center of the car’s nose: “There’s nothing going on in here but electricity.”

Both cars have slipped up some on what’s called “computer-human interface.” We wish they’d listened to suggestions to put prototypes in the hands of Silicon Valley’s usability experts last summer. For instance, the charging signals. Plug in the Volt and the indicator turns yellow (connected), then steady green (charging). Finally it flashes green (done). That’s exactly the reverse of a user’s expectations. The Leaf, with a longer charge time, starts out well, with three indicators that illuminate in succession as the car reaches its charge. But 15 minutes after it’s full, all the blue lights go off. My first morning, when I greeted the plugged-in car, I wondered, “what happened?” Both MyLink and MyLeaf, the phone apps that enable me to monitor and control charging and many other activities, need major overhauls and quicker refresh. (Since the Nissan app doesn’t make Leaf all-caps, I’ve got permission to stop doing so….)

Each car’s manual is full of important information — far more than I got even in the superb orientations from Novato Chevy’s Terry McCarter and North Bay Nissan’s Victor Maldonado. But each is daunting, and, unsurprisingly, written defensively and sometimes in legalese. I downloaded them fromAttachment 936Attachment 936 http://www.chevrolet.com/assets/pdf/…olt_owners.pdf and http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/refgh…issan-Leaf.pdf. Alas, for a spare copy, pages designed to fit in a glove compartment don’t print well on letter-sized paper. And while the Volt’s Index listings are live links; the Leaf’s aren’t, though once I got inside its chapters I could click to navigate. Nissan and GM may be watching Hyundai, which turned its Equus manual into a downloadable App — and included an IPad with the car.

We all know both cars will get better soon. All carmakers will learn from each other. (The savvy ones aren’t relying on their customer service operations, but have budgeted for large teams to track down and analyze the tens of thousands of comments and suggestions strewn around online.) The automakers can quickly update some software features. One reason we leased the Volt instead of buying it is our expectation for future hardware improvements in Version 2. The Volt’s big challenge is making the car a five-seater. Tomorrow, Nissan could promise to supply every Leaf with rear headrests that lower to the level of the top of the back seats. That will vastly improve the half-blocked rear window visibility. (We remove them and replace them when we have rear passengers.)

Rochelle’s first comment was, “Hey, I love these cars!” (She and our son Josh, both shown at the CalCars.org “Plug-Ins Arrive” page, have been stalwart supporters.) She wishes both carmakers had personalized the mirrors so she doesn’t have to reset them every time she gets in after I’ve driven it. Otherwise, she’s happy to just be able to get into each vehicle, push the on-button and drive it like any other car. She says it was a bigger adjustment to switch from a 1997 Camry to a 2007 Camry Hybrid than from that car to the Volt. She appreciates the rear cameras, especially important now that most safety-conscious cars come with thick side pillars.

Finally, the hard numbers. Our Leaf experience began with a fair test with an EPA-assigned 73-mile range: from the dealer in Petaluma to Redwood City. Driving at 65 MPH the whole way and not bothering to detour around the steep hill in San Francisco between the Golden Gate Bridge and US 101 (which cost about 4 miles of range), we finished a 74-mile trip comfortably with 14 miles to spare. The Leaf is reassuringly predictable: with 80-100 miles of juice, most of the time, we don’t think about range; we just drive around and charge it at night. With 163 miles in four days, it may become our first-to-use car, with the Volt reserved for times we both drive and for distances.

The Volt is a more dramatic story. In 37 days, we’ve driven 2,281.0 miles and used 33.4 gallons. Does an average of 68.1 MPG sound disappointing? Not to us — because it includes two round-trips to Lake Tahoe. Until now, no one could drive a plug-in car that route without refueling along the way: 225 miles including 8,000 feet of Sierra elevations. (Read about that record-setting first trip and see photos at http://evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1955.)

Here are details on the two Tahoe expeditions: First: 225.7 miles, 6.31 gallons at 35.8 MPG up, and 221.5 miles, 4.36 gallons at 50.8 MPG down. Second: 244.0 miles, 6.37 gallons at 38.1 MPG up, and 242.9 miles, 4.56 gallons at 53.2MPG down. (The second time we more than confirmed the numbers. We don’t know why we got better results even on a longer route with an additional passenger and more cargo.)

We started each of the four drives with a full battery (boosting our average), then had major uphill drives (reducing MPG). The combined 43.2MPG is about what a second- or third-generation Prius gets on that route. (We expect the Gen2 Volt will improve its long-distance “charge-depleted” driving performance, which wasn’t the top priority in GM’s four-year push to meet the Volt’s promised delivery date.) This proves a PHEV’s best selling point: this one car can drive all-electric most of the time at its base location, then go any distance worry-free with good fuel economy, and again drive entirely electrically at its destination.

We’ve reached a sweet moment. Since 2005, CalCars has been trumpeting that plug-in hybrids (and extended range electric vehicles) get100+ MPG of gasoline (plus a penny a mile of electricity). GM didn’t squawk when the Volt sticker said its MPG when using gasoline and electricity would range from 69-168 MPG for 30-75 mile trips. Now our real-world Volt experience confirms both our experience with conversions and our predictions for production vehicles. Many of our Bay Area trips in the Volt have exceeded the car’s typical 35-40 mile all-electric range — and we’ve used our portable charging connector at a destination only once. When we subtract out the two long trips, our local 1,346.9 miles on 11.8 gallons were at 114.1 MPG. (And CalCars colleague Ron Gremban driving his Volt Lynne McAllister showed 205 MPG after their first 468 miles, mostly in Marin County.) As they say, QED — point proven!

Stay tuned for more specifics and comparisons in the future.

The Obama administration has been highly supportive of electrification of the automobile.

In 2008 Obama stated it was his goal to achieve 1 million plugin cars on US roads by 2015. A major factor in spurring that adoption rate has been the Federal tax credit applied to EVs. That credit for $7500 currently only applies to the first 200,000 electric cars sold by each automotive company. It can also only be obtained as a tax credit after filing the following year’s taxes after purchase and only will be provided if the buyer has sufficient tax liability.

Earlier this week in his State of the Union address, President Obama reiterated his commitment to electrification of the automobile for the purpose of reducing the nation’s oil dependence.

He announced his next budget would include 8 billion in annual government aid to help develop advanced batteries and for communities to develop charging infrastructure.

“With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015,” said Obama.

In addition to those announcements, soon after the address Vice President Biden called on congress to expand the current $7500 tax credit such that it could be used at time of purchase.

“Just like the Cash for Clunkers program,” Biden said. “You won’t have to wait.”

Furthermore Democratic congressmen Sander and Carl Levin have now introduced new legislation in congress that would expand the federal tax credit incentive to the first 500,000 electric vehicles made by each manufacturer, up from the current 200,000 cap.

Source (Detroit News)

Today at the Washington auto show GM announced information many people around the country have been waiting for.

Up to this point, the Volt has only been available for order in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Texas, Michigan,and Washington DC.

Since last December, cars have begin to be delivered in the Washington D.C. area, as well as California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Texas.

It was announced today that deliveries will begin in Michigan this Spring.

More importantly, GM announced that beginning in the second quarter of this year customers will be able to order Volts form participating dealers nationwide.

Deliveries will begin in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii in the third quarter.

During the fourth quarter GM expects to have started Volt deliveries in all 50 states.

This announcement represents and acceleration of the initial rollout plan such that all 50 states will start getting Volts by the end of this year, a mere 12 months from the launch date. Initially it was expected the rollout could take 18 months.

“We’re accelerating our launch plan to have Volts in all participating Chevrolet dealerships in every single state in the union by the end of this year,” said Rick Scheidt, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet Marketing. “This is the right thing to do for our customers and our dealers who are seeing increased traffic onto their showroom floors.”

Get your wallets ready. Game on.

Source (GM)

Recently GM announced it had obtained a licensing agreement with Argonne National Labs to use its new advanced technology cathode material for lithium ion batteries.  That compound would allow for up to double the energy density of the current Chevy Volt battery pack.  Supplier LG Chem was also given access to the technology.

Earlier this week, GM’s investment arm called GM Ventures announced it would invest 7 million dollars in a small California company that  also develops and does research on advanced lithium ion cathodes.

The company called Envia Systems in Newark, California is focused on researching new cathode material that would reduce cost and increase energy density of future lithium cells.  In addition to this investment, in a separate agreement GM secured the right to use Envia cathode technology in future electrically-driven vehicles.

“Skeptics have suggested it would probably be many years before lithium-ion batteries with significantly lower cost and higher capability are available, potentially limiting sales of electric vehicles for the
foreseeable future,” said Jon Lauckner, president of GM Ventures. “In fact, our announcement today demonstrates that major improvements are already on the horizon.

The new cathode material is composed of low cost material and has the potential to improve the energy density of future electric cars by at least one third allowing greater range, reduced cost, or both compared to present models.

“Our test results on small-format cells show that Envia’s high-capacity composite cathode material can increase the energy density of lithium-ion cells by up to one-third, at an equivalent level of reliability,
safety and durability,” said Micky Bly, GM executive director for Electrical and Battery Systems. “We estimate this improvement in cell energy density and less expensive material will drive a substantial
reduction in cell cost, leading to lower cost battery packs like the one in the Chevy Volt.” Envia’s cathode technology also will offer benefits for other devices and applications where low-cost, high-energy density storage solutions are needed.”

Asked whether these technological advances would be use to either increase range or reduce cost in future generations of the Chevy Volt Bly told GM-Volt “too early to announce how and when we will use this.”  He ensures us however there will be “more to come.”

Source (GM)

I have been driving a Chevy Volt since November 11, 2010, covering over 4200 miles so far.  Almost all of this driving has been in winter conditions.  I logged my first 2352 miles here to get a feel for the vehicle’s overall efficiency, which effectively settled in at 129 miles per gallon.

For the entire month of January I have recorded my daily EV range compared against ambient temperature, driving style, road consitions, and HVAC cabin energy use.  I started each day with a fully charged battery and my trip was 30 miles one-way.  I did not pre-condition the cabin and 90% of the drive was at highway speeds over 65 mph, using Normal mode acceleration and L-position motor braking.

The data is presented below:

Date	Temperature (F)	Driving Efficiency	Cabin Efficiency	EV Range	Notes
12/30	30	66%	13%	27
1/2	28	64%	15%	25.6
1/5	36	69%	18%	24.7
1/6	28	73%	12%	25.6
1/7	32	66%	15%	23.4	snowing
1/10	33	60%	45%	25.6
1/17	22	68%	12%	26.4
1/18	32	66%	16%	22.8	slippery ice
1/19	38	83%	28%	27.9
1/20	34	89%	32%	31.2	72 eco
1/21	29	79%	21%	27.2	icy
1/24	8	68%	6%	26.6	0.1gal used due to temp

You will notice the columns called driving and cabin efficiency. The higher the number the more efficient.  These were obtained from the dashboard display at the point the gas engine went on.  It is posible to achieve 100% driving efficiency if one stays below 50 mph and is very careful to avoid accelerating and braking hard, trying to coast as much as possible, something I did not achieve in my particular commuting cycle.

The cabin efficiency reaches 100% if no HVAC is used, the lower the number the more aggressive the HVAC settings.

Over this period my average EV range was 26.2 miles with an average driving efficiency of 71% and cabin efficiency of  19.4%.  The average temperature was 29.2 degrees.  EV range appeared further reduced when the roads were slippery from snow and/or ice.

My greatest range was 31.2 miles at 89% diving and 32% cabin efficiency, and the lowest range of 22.8 miles occurred at 66% driving and 16% cabin efficiency.

On of the benefits of driving the Volt is the free five year OnStar subscription.  For the Volt, OnStar is particularly feature-rich as it monitors the health and functioning of the car and its components, as well as keeping track of its ongoing energy consumption.

I started driving my consumer advisory board Volt on November 11, and had been waiting for my first full month report to post it here.  I received my first detailed  full month’s OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics report on January 10th reflecting the driving behavior of the preceding 30 days.  The information is displayed in the graphic above.

According to the report, for that period I drove the car 3443 miles. Of those, 2432 were on electricity and 1011 were on gas, indicating that 71% of my miles were electric.

Overall gas fuel economy for the month was 114 mpg, and it was estimated that by using electricity I saved 103 gallons of gas.

A particular interesting number the system determined was that my electrcity consumption was 19 kwh per 100 miles. The system also claimed by driving the Volt 2,014 pounds of CO2 production were avoided.

During the month of January, the weather was quite cold and I used comfort mode cabin setting with a temperature of 74 degrees plus one bar of heated seats. I also drove mostly at highway speeds and experienced typical EV driving ranges in the high 20s.

I charged to full every evening at 240-volts and opportunity charged during the day at 110-v anywhere from 6 to 8 hours. It is known the Volt will draw 12.9 kwh of grid energy to replete the 10.6 kwh of battery power used for the full EV driving range.

These data confirm the success of the Volt as a highly flexible vehicle without compromises that can displace substantial amounts of gasoline consumption, utilizing electricity efficiently and less expensively to do so.