GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Last week it was reported that year-over-year sales for advanced-technology vehicles increased in the first quarter by nearly two-to-one compared to conventional internal combustion vehicles.

To be more precise, electric and hybrid vehicle sales increased 37.2 percent from January through March compared to the same period in 2010. In contrast, sales for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and trucks rose 20.2 percent.

As documented by Edmunds.com, new hybrid and electric vehicle models added 10 percent to the advanced-tech category. These included the Lincoln MKZ, Honda CR-Z, Lexus CT 200h, VW Touareg, Chevrolet Volt, and Nissan LEAF.

Because the Volt is being rolled out slowly, its sales contributed only a sliver toward the aggregate numbers. On a percentage basis, however, starting with just over zero sales, and selling 1,210 Volts in three months is at least something, and more significantly, many people are showing strong interest for the deliberately limited Volt. Last week GM also said as much.

Chevrolet’s advanced-tech car is just starting to make a dent in sales statistics. Numerous accolades already cannot hurt its future sales potential. The Motor Trend Car of the Year is shown at the GM Aerodynamics Lab at the Warren Tech Center facility.

“Demand for the product is very, very high,” said vehicle line director for the Chevrolet Volt, Tony Posawatz, at a conference in New York. Consumers “can’t get enough of them.”

Analysts have pinned a few causes for advanced-technology vehicles sales, with the number-one reason being escalating fuel prices.

Edmunds noted the national average price for regular gasoline at the end of March was 82 cents higher than a year prior. This jump from $2.80 per gallon to $3.62 is more than 25 percent, and no doubt shifted attitudes among car buyers.

The most recent quarter’s advanced-tech numbers do not beat the 2007 hybrid sales spike, however, when U.S. gas prices topped $3 per gallon for the first time. And compared to overall ICE sales, they remain a small minority.

Give it time though, said analysts. Some expect regular gasoline will be $5-per-gallon in many U.S. regions by year’s end, and more increases – if not also new records – in advanced-tech vehicle sales are thus predicted.

Beyond oil prices, other factors affecting supply and demand are believed responsible for increased advanced-tech sales.

As for supply, the aforementioned new models were responsible for a tenth of the advanced-tech surge. “Having nearly a dozen new models to choose from is certainly helping hybrids appeal to a broader audience than in the past,” said Edmunds sales analyst Ivan Drury.

Americans are getting the message about finding long-term solutions for diminishing oil supplies, developing national self-reliance, and doing it in ways that don’t harm the environment overly much.

As for demand, the Toyota Prius – which also just set new U.S. and global sales records – its March sales spiked when supply was threatened after the Japan earthquake March 11. That car, having been on the U.S. market since 2000, has a huge head start in its popularity, and accounted for the majority of advanced-tech vehicle sales.

By the Numbers
Advanced Technology Vehicle Sales by Manufacturer
1st Quarter 2011 – 1st Quarter 2010 – Change
BMW: 94 – 64 – 46.8 percent
Ford: 7,704 – 7,047 – 9.3 percent
GM: 2,323 – 1,585 – 46.6 percent
Honda: 11,354 – 6,160 – 84.3 percent
Mercedes-Benz: 110 – 458 – <75.9 percent>
Nissan: 1,728 – 2,072 – <16.6 percent>
Porsche: 432 – 0 – NA
Toyota: 54,609 – 39,861 – 37 percent
VW: 169 – 0 – NA
All Advanced-Tech Vehicles: 78,523 – 57,247 – 37.2 percent

Unknown at this stage is whether advanced tech vehicle sales would continue to increase if gas prices were to stabilize.

“We’re seeing the same pattern in buyer behavior that we saw when gas prices last hit record highs in 2008,” said Edmunds.com sales analyst Ivan Drury.

After the most recent time prices seemed more stable for a while, hybrid sales slowed down. So, would they slow down again if rising gas prices again seemed to taper off or decline? No one knows.

Monthly Advanced-Tech Sales by Manufacturer
March 2011 – February 2011 – March 2010
BMW: 13 -15 – 0
Ford: 3,276 – 2,569 – 3,050
GM: 1,006 – 556 – 640
Honda: 4,908 – 3,345 – 2,231
Mercedes-Benz: 57 – 39 – 0
Nissan: 843 – 433 – 394
Porsche: 114 – 140 – 0
Toyota: 24,739 – 16,461 – 16,714
VW: 44 – 41 – 0.
All hybrids: 35,000 – 23,678 – 23,029

Things are changing by degrees though, particularly among the cars themselves. This year Edmunds re-named its reporting criteria to include the Volt and LEAF. The category of “hybrids” was no longer adequate, and became “advanced technology.”

While still a small portion of the total, more Americans are looking to park advanced-tech cars at their homes. The trend will continue. The question is how fast will it?

Between the Volt and LEAF, the Chevrolet is definitely enjoying a more robust start, but both are expected to increase their sales.

A third, broader driving factor is also helping the Volt, LEAF, and all advanced-technology vehicles: Middle East conflicts, an increased focus on need for American energy independence, and potential oil shortages.

All this said, old habits in America appear to be dying hard. Less-efficient vehicles are still the dominant seller in the overall growing U.S. auto market.

Although hybrid and electric vehicle sales did beat them, their actual numbers were only 78,523 vehicles sold. Thus, advanced-technology vehicles represented just 2.5 percent of first-quarter sales compared to 3.1 million traditional cars and light trucks sold in the same period.

Sources: Edmunds, Detroit News

General Motors is deliberately and systematically training its sales and service personnel to set the tone for the Chevrolet Volt’s nationwide deployment by year’s end, and all that is to follow.

As a new kind of car being launched into a world where many have no clear understanding of how they work, Chevrolet employees are being sent back to school for supplemental training.

Chevrolet ordinarily does this to one degree or another for all its new cars, according to GM spokesman Rob Peterson. It has an online employee training program for initial and periodic continuing supplemental training.

As of late 2010, the Volt introduced components that will need diagnosing, repair and replacement that previously no Chevrolet technician had to know about.

But the Volt is special, Peterson said, and Chevrolet employees are receiving more focused attention than usual.

“Our target is to train 22,000 dealership personnel across the United States within the next six months,” Peterson said, “We’ll have 20 different training sessions that are in 20 different locations across the United States.”

The process has been on-going, he said, citing one session just finished three or four weeks ago in Detroit.

“It was a 10-day program that brought through nearly a thousand dealership employees for a half-day or full-day training session,” he said of classes held in successive waves.

In such classes, strategic and technical understanding is being carefully disseminated top-down, Peterson said. The Volt is even being compared to competitors in as neutral a setting as possible, considering they are all Chevrolet employees being trained by GM.

If this is to become a more common site in Chevrolet dealerships around the country, GM knows it will need to get its people ready.

“These technicians, these employees and technicians, they begin to understand the Volt,” he said, “They experience the Volt, they get an opportunity to drive the Volt, and to experience the Prius and the Volt and make their own judgment, you know, ‘what are the benefits of this?’”

Naturally, curricula are tailored for respective employee roles – for those who have to fix them, or sell them. Technicians who started out years ago imagining they would only have some complex electronics to repair, now have more to learn than they initially thought they would.

Preparation for a paradigm shift

From a marketing standpoint, it is vital to properly foster the Volt’s acceptance, and nothing short of ushering in the EV age is at stake, Peterson said. GM’s powers that be believe it essential for those purveying electric vehicles not to over-promise and under-deliver, or vice versa.

“The whole EV movement needs to manage expectations, and some of that starts with, you know, regardless of what manufacturer you have, you have to manage the expectations of the electric vehicles,” Peterson said, “There are certain things – you cannot overcome physics. Physics impacts electric vehicles.”

GM anticipates a bright future for the Volt. It is doing what it believes is required to best ensure it will happen.

By doing it right, Peterson said, GM will facilitate a smoother roll out and proliferation of cars powered by batteries.

“We need to be sure we are managing the EV story. And if we can set the expectations appropriate and manage them accordingly, the EV movement will accelerate from just a simple movement to moving into the mainstream,” he said, “So now when a customer comes into a dealership to learn more about Volts, we want to make sure they understand all of the Volt. That’s key because we think we have a significant competitive advantage there. But we also want to make sure that we are managing expectations so as they experience the vehicle, they know what to expect from it.”

Early adopters are seen from a certain perspective as well, Peterson said. The proverbial light bulb of understanding went on first in their minds, but ensuring the experience is properly transferred to others is important to GM’s overarching plan to organically cultivate growth of EVs from beyond their present fringe status.

Peterson used an apt description for consumers next in line to the first purchasers. “Fast followers” will be people who adopt from the early adopters, if you will, and take on the enthusiasm of those who first embraced EVs.

Gearhart Chevrolet Owner Judy Tilton presents Jeffrey Kaffee , of Parsippany, New Jersey, with his new Chevrolet Volt – the first Volt to be delivered in the country – Dec. 15, 2010 at Gearhart Chevrolet in Denville, NJ.

“These early adapters tend to be voices that influence the fast followers,” Peterson said, “So if we increase volumes, and we have the right ownership experience – and we will and we are, we’re seeing that already – if we have the right owner experience among our early buyers, it will accelerate the adoption and the pace by which electric vehicles move from a niche to mainstream.”

Peterson’s insights further explain GM’s thinking in light of his statement a couple days ago that a mere 1,210 retail sales in the Volt’s first quarter is “right on track.” It also helps explain why in year one only 10,000 units are slated for the U.S., why only 5,000 will go to the rest of the world, and why only key demographic areas were chosen up front in seven states to start with.

Put simply, the Volt is GM’s billion-dollar baby, the first of a new generation its people would like to give extra care. This they are doing, lest they inadvertently thwart the achievement of the precocious kid they expect it will soon be.

This past Tuesday in New York, the Chevrolet Volt was honored with gold at the 2011 Edison Awards for its innovations in personal transportation.

The silver award was given to an elegant bicycling solution, the Copenhagen Wheel, and bronze was taken by the Nissan LEAF.

GM’s OnStar MyLink also received a silver award, led by Ford’s MyKey technology.

The Chevrolet Volt’s latest accolade, an Edison gold award, was granted to GM on April 5 in New York.

While the Edison Awards have a Green Award category, the only automotive company to receive recognition was the paint shop at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. – yes, that was a nominee, word for word – and it received a nod as a finalist.

Named after the famed inventor, Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), who is quoted as saying “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration,” the awards represent a feather in the cap, at the very least. They were founded by the American Marketing Association in 1987, and became an independent organization in 2008.

According to GM, “The awards symbolize the persistence and excellence personified by Edison whose innovations and new product developments earned him 1,093 U.S. patents.”

To be sure, the company is pleased, and Chevrolet Volt Vehicle Line Director Tony Posawatz sent GM-Volt founder Lyle Dennis an e-mail yesterday notifying him, although this time an article was in draft form by the time Lyle kindly forwarded the e-mail in the early evening.

This drive unit, the heart of the Volt, just keeps earning it more recognition.

“Being selected as an Edison Award winner validates our drive to develop an all-new transportation solution,” said Posawatz at the Edison event Tuesday, “Innovation has been at the heart of the Volt from its onset; from the development of the Li-ion battery to the drive unit and the driver connectivity.”

To have been considered for a 2011 Edison Award, a product or service must have been launched after July 1, 2009. If an aspiring nominee did not meet this time frame, the official eligibility guidelines said, “please feel free to submit a nomination once you have reached production level.”

Paid entrants who submitted their design before a Dec. 10 deadline were also told their “nomination will be reviewed by the members of the Edison Best New Product Steering Committee, who [will] develop a list of finalists in each of the Best New Product and Green Award categories.”

An Edison descendant actually is listed first on the 11-member steering committee. Sarah Miller Caldicott is a great grandniece of Thomas Edison and co-author of Innovate Like Edison.

Silver award winner: MyLink builds on the safety and security oriented OnStar by integrating online services like Pandora® internet radio and Stitcher SmartRadio® using hands-free voice and touch-screen controls via Bluetooth device connectivity. MyLink will be available first to Chevrolet Equinox and Chevrolet Volt customers later this fall.

Once selected, the steering committees’ nominees were then voted on in a comprehensive ballot sent to “more than 2,500 senior business executives from the Marketing Executive Networking Group, (MENG), past Edison Award winning teams and various faculty members at universities across the nation,” the Edison Awards Web site said.

The steering committee reviewed nominations based on the following:
Societal Impact: The product improves the consumer’s lifestyle and/or increases the consumer’s freedom of choice while supporting 21st Century sustainability objectives and environmental responsibility.
Marketplace Innovation: The strategy and positioning of the product’s introduction was innovative, and traditional marketing techniques (such as advertising, sales promotions) were used in creative ways that introduced the new product to consumers.
Marketplace Success: The product shows signs of cash register success and staying power.
Technological Innovation: The product or service is on the cutting edge of new technology.
Market Structure Innovation: The product pioneers a new market or restructures an existing market by creating a new segment or dominating an existing one.

A Chevrolet Volt quietly slips through scenic landscape.

The finalists were notified by e-mail Feb. 11, but the awards came this week at the gala celebration.

The Volt’s Edison gold award now complements its having won the Motor Trend, Automobile Magazine and Green Car of the Year awards, as well as Popular Science Best of What’s New and Ward’s 10-Best Engine designations.

As for OnStar, this was its second consecutive Edison Award. OnStar’s Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, a technology designed to reduce dangerous high-speed chases, received a Silver Edison Award for Best New Product in the Technology category in 2010.

Source: GM, Edison Awards

Now into the second quarter of 2011, General Motors announced last month it sold 608 Chevrolet Volts in March and had delivered about half of the demos intended for 595 participating Volt launch dealers.

Several stories have spun it positively, saying 608 more than doubles 321 sold in January plus 281 in February. But reports also mention Chevrolet’s year-over-year sales increased 11 percent, thanks in part to a 54-percent spike in new model sales numbering in the tens of thousands.

So what is the true picture for the Volt? Is it doing well? Just alright? Is there cause for concern?

According to GM spokesman Rob Peterson, any doubtful conjecture would be misinformed.

Since its launch last year, the Volt has received lots of attention. Here students and faculty at the Detroit International Academy celebrate $10,000 given from the $225,000 sale of Volt number 1.

“We’re right on target,” Peterson said, “Our sales target for 2011 is we’re going to build 10,000 units, and our expectation is we will sell every one of those 10,000 units.”

First off, only seven states are initially selling the Volt. This will increase to all states by year’s end. An ostensibly slow start has no one at GM caught by surprise, even if reporters and others may wonder.

“Many other people will look at the raw numbers and try and either extrapolate that we’re going to come short for 10,000 units, or they’re just going to take the raw numbers and say it’s not a success,” Peterson said, “And I don’t buy that, I think it’s a short-sighted analysis. We’re 100-percent confident that we’re going to get there.”

In fact, Chevrolet will sell more than 10,000 Volts for 2011. GM will actually build 15,000 Volts at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant this year. And while we’re on the topic, next year it won’t build 45,000, it will build 60,000.

This is not an announcement of new production increases, however. The extra production is for European and other foreign customers who next year and the year following will take up the extra units comprised of Volts, Vauxhall Amperas and Opel Amperas.

Matt Stehouwer is pictured with his Volt in March in Lansing, Mich. He said he was getting 62-miles-per-gallon after 1,500 miles driven, including a trip to New York, where he bought the car.

How did GM decide on these numbers? It carefully calculated the initial roll out based on a few factors, Peterson said.

“You’ve got a couple different things. You are going to have to manage your supply chain and you have to manage your customer experience. And the two of them go and in hand,” he said. “They all lead to having a high-quality launch. Our internal calculus came up with this target of 10,000 units [plus 5,000] and deemed it the appropriate level at which we can build them at the quality and manage the customer experience.”

First things first, is a deliberate process of training service personnel, sales, and monitoring initial customer feedback, Peterson said.

“It’s a very gradual, measured approach,” Peterson said, “it’s the way all vehicles get launched.”

Also, going forward through 2011, don’t expect to see 12 months neatly divided into the number of units projected, he added, or even a consistent progression. Peterson already predicted April’s sales numbers may look lower.

“There are months in which we have more production not going to retail and April happens to be one of those months,” Peterson said. “We will be billing out the remaining demonstrator vehicles for the dealers. And so we’ll be earmarking a large portion of our production to hit dealer demonstrators rather than going to retail. So you might see a retail sales dip in the month of April.”

So you read it here first. The Volt already was the brunt of several April Fool’s jokes. If April’s sales are low, don’t let an after-the-fact April fools lark concern you.

Vanessa Branch poses with the Volt on the green carpet of Global Green USA’s 2011 Pre-Oscar Party in Hollywood.

If sales this month are lower, it will have “nothing to do with lack of demand and everything to do with lack of supply,” Peterson said. “If anything right now we’re supply constraining.”

GM’s emphasis now is on getting more people in dealer demonstrator drives, he said. As mentioned yesterday by GM’s legal VP Mike Robinson, Peterson confirmed the Volt has become a public relations tool par excellence.

“So many people are intrigued by the Volt and they want to drive it. We’re confident that as soon as they get in the car, and experience the car, they’ll recognize the beauty of the car, Peterson said, “Many people who are buying Volts today have never been in a Chevrolet dealership before, or don’t even own a Chevrolet or don’t own a GM product. So we’re drawing new people in to dealerships with this product.”

Papers around the country are featuring these kinds of human interest stories – from senators to everyday citizens drawn to the new electric- and gasoline-powered curiosity by Chevrolet.

“We’ve heard countless stories from dealers” said Peterson, mentioning one of a dealer who brought a Volt back to Atlanta. Once parked in the showroom, it was “immediately seen with flocks of people coming into the dealership to see the Chevrolet Volt and possibly get a test drive. So those dealer demos play a very important marketing role for the entire Chevrolet dealership network.”

James Brazell, stands by his new Volt. He took delivery in February, but the retired oil company executive deserves mention for having placed his deposit on the oil-beating technology in 2008.

After its deliberate and careful first year, GM does plan to ramp up Volt production. With 45,000 Volt sales planned for 2012, the U.S. is to get the lion’s share out of 60,000 Volts and Amperas.

Although Europe has shown itself most ready to embrace electric mobility, we were not able to ascertain why more Volts and Amperas are not projected to be delivered there.

Nor did Peterson confirm any plans to build the car in Europe – or China – at this time. Other reports have said the former is probable, and Chinese production could be possible.

But for the time being, the Volt is made in the U.S.A., and being exported only.

Yesterday, we were fortunate to discuss GM’s commitment to sustainability, the Chevrolet Volt, and related topics with Mike Robinson, GM’s chief legal advocate for federal policies.

His formal title is Vice President for Environment, Energy and Safety Policy, but Robinson offered down-to-earth views on GM’s approach, challenges, goals, and concerns.

Having served as an Air Force officer from 1977-81, and earning his J.D. from Villanova Law School in 1984, that same year Robinson joined GM. Prior to accepting his present role in September 2009, he was the company’s vice president and general counsel for North America.

His perspective therefore comes from well before the “new GM.” As an advocate for the company’s mission to be a good corporate citizen, he plausibly represented GM in a positive light.

He spends more time with regulators, he said, than he does in front of legislative committees.

“One of my goals in life is to spend no more time in front of a congressional committee than necessary, and I say that tongue in cheek,” Robinson said, “We provide, deliver information we can to help policymakers understand issues, have a reasonable sense of the science associated with this.”

And just as GM’s corporate responsibility Web site is concerned, so also is Robinson with the public understanding of the company.

While GM’s rolling proof of its commitment – the Volt – is still just getting started in terms of customer deliveries, Robinson said it is already full-speed-ahead in building GM’s credibility.

“I view it more not that we’re changing ways or doing things better than we were before, but perhaps telling the story better for sure,” he said of post-bankruptcy GM, “I think quite honestly the Volt has opened so many eyes, that it gives us an opportunity – maybe even permission – to tell sort of the rest of the story that we weren’t able to tell when we were making some of the prior generation products, that people just couldn’t look past, to tell how we were operating as a company. So I want people to understand the rest of the story.”

The rest of the story for the international automaker, he said, is acting with a conscience to balance legal and ethical responsibilities with products that still entice customers to buy.

As an example of responsibilities he must contend with, Robinson clarified that while it is commonly thought the federal government has unified national environmental standards, really GM must work to harmonize three federal rule-making bodies: the EPA, which mandates CO2 emissions, the California Air Research Board, and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), operating under the purview of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

All three have separate charters, and each works under very specific guidelines mandating auto environmental regulations.

When not meeting regulators’ requirements, as a company first catering to paying customers, GM is essentially not putting all its eggs in one basket, Robinson said. It offers the Chevrolet Volt for those who can see the value, but also a wide array of technologies, with no alternative or green technologies yet ruled out.

Robinson, who works with about a dozen staff members, spends a fair amount of his time traveling to Washington to deal with all sorts of issues, including those affecting the Chevrolet Volt.

“We’re advocating for better fuel economy, but at the end of day, the customer will decide, this is the United States of America,” Robinson said, “it’s a free market, and people do get to make choices about what they will buy and how they want to spend their hard earned money.”

He spoke of a “value proposition that makes sense to them,” and thus earn their business.

“That’s why it is important to offer a variety of choices. Because I don’t think anyone’s got the silver bullet answer to anything yet,” Robinson said of environmentally friendly solutions, “We’re looking at all kinds of technologies. You know, fuel cell technology, and we certainly haven’t stopped producing flex fuel vehicles. There will be other technologies I’m sure as time goes forward.”

All this said, among the technologies GM has developed, Robinson is most enthusiastic about the Voltec platform.

“I would describe the Volt as not the end solution, but certainly a great bridge to get us where we all want to go,” Robinson said, while qualifying, “I love the vehicle. The most surprising thing about the vehicle to me, apart from the genius – and I use that word sparingly, but I use that in this case – apart from the genius of the technology itself is it really is incredible. The most surprising thing to me is the operation of the vehicle when you get inside the cockpit and you start to drive it.”

Robinson reminded us the extended-range Volt was created around studies showing 75 to 80 percent of people’s daily driving requirements could be handled by battery only range, and thus far, he said, GM was spot on.

GM’s 33,000-square-foot Global Battery Systems Lab – the largest automotive battery lab in the U.S. – opened June 8, 2009 at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Mich. The lab will accelerate advanced battery technology and expedite introduction of electrically driven vehicles, as well as plug-in hybrids, hybrid-electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles.

“The data is actually proving that out. I’ve taken a look at two of the earlier returns through OnStar. It’s almost smack on that ratio. Both during the week, and even on the weekend in terms of driving habits,” Robinson said, adding they’ll keep monitoring data, but, “I think the original theory behind the vehicle is holding up in terms of the driving patterns of the people that bought the vehicle so far, and are using it.”

Robinson said he’s had opportunity to introduce the Volt to all sorts of people from policymakers, to visitors from all over, and other VIPs.

“When you tell them to punch it, and really put the vehicle through its paces. They’re stunned at how well it handles,” Robinson said of the 3,700-pound car, adding that they almost always say something like, “’Hey! This is a real car.’ I think you cannot pay it a better compliment than that.”

But since no one knows the future, and GM is experimenting with all kinds of technology, we asked whether GM would consider a pure Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)?

“Sure. Yeah they’re considering that,” Robinson said, “And I will say that we’re considering it based on what the customer needs would be for the people that could best take advantage of, you know, the limits associated with a pure BEV.”

Would GM make this for the U.S. market or abroad?

“Both. Inside and outside the US,” Robinson said, “It would really be an urban vehicle. You wouldn’t need it to venture elsewhere. Or it would be a purely secondary vehicle.”

But what about the Voltec platform, we pressed. What new vehicles will we see coming with it?

Safety and design regulations are all part of Robinson’s legal oversight for GM.

As one might expect, GM’s legal VP did not spill any secrets, but he did hint around the edges.

“I will tell you that there’s certainly plenty of ideas and things under exploration … I will be very surprised if we don’t have Voltec technology on some other applications going forward.”

OK, that’s pretty apparent, but when, we asked. Soon? A couple years from now?

“I know this, that our people are anxious to find ways sooner rather than later to take advantage of this,” Robinson said, “We think this is a winner and we think this is a technology that people are clamoring for.”

The biggest challenge, Robinson said, involves developing efficiencies, and cutting costs without cutting quality.

“We are trying to drive cost out of everything we do,” he said citing GM CEO Dan Akerson who has said the same thing, “The Volt is very expensive to produce but we’re optimistic we’re going to get the cost down in every phase of the manufacturing and component cost of the vehicles.”

Part of this will come from assistance via non-contradicting government policies, Robinson said, now speaking again from his true area of expertise.

“And that’s everybody’s mandate; to make this technology as cost effective as possible so the customer gets a good value proposition. That’s a huge challenge, but it’s one we are going to step up to. But that’s true of all these technologies,” Robinson said, “It’s true of compressed natural gas, it’s true of fuel cells; these things cost money. And I’m worried, if you talk about the things that worry you. I worry about making sure we have coherent national policies that support these technologies, so we will be technological leaders and not followers around the world.”

GM is wide open to what ever shakes out in this grand technological experiment in which it finds itself to be a world player. (L to R) Cruze Z-Spec Concept, Volt Z-Spec Concept, Spark Z-Spec Concept, November 2010.

But, we asked, what do you say to free market advocates who say government mandates, policies, subsidies and incentives – on the consumer and manufacturing side – are an artificial crutch? Or to frame them positively, are they a necessary jump start to wean us from oil?

“My view of them is, as a matter of national policy, if it’s important for us to have less and less fossil fuel used in generating power, then it’s going to be a matter of national commitment. I mean you can’t just mandate the stuff. You have to have a coordinated, cohesive approach,” Robinson said, “Now if the goal for the country is to reduce by, let’s say, 80 percent the amount of CO2 that’s produced in our manufacturing and transportation, then you have to do some things to change that. And my expectation is that it’s not going to go away overnight, that’s for sure. But eventually my grandkids aren’t going to be driving internal combustion engine cars.”

OK, thank you, we said. We’ve heard similar things before, but it’s good to hear it coming from someone so close to the issues. To finish up, here’s a couple easy questions:

What do you like least about your job?

“It’s a character flaw. I have a real problem with bureaucracies. Internally that has not been an issue within GM believe it or not,” Robinson said, “I’ve never had big problems with that and especially with the new GM. I can tell what ever vestiges there may have been – from my standpoint anyway – there’s just none of that that I have to worry about. Unfortunately, when you deal with a lot of different constituencies in the government – that each have a legitimate point of view – getting stuff done takes a little longer than you’d like. I have to be patient and work through those things. Like I said there are a lot of legitimate points of view that have to be taken into consideration. Some times I get a little impatient, and I have to guard against that.”

And what do you like best about your job?

“The issues are so cutting edge, and they’re so timely, and they’re so important, how do you not get excited about coming to work every day?” Robinson asked, “I mean this is the most exciting stuff that anybody’s working on right? It’s what we can do to reduce our CO2 footprint in our plants, or to reduce the amount of energy we use there, or the amount of water we use there – or vehicles like the Volt – I mean this is a fun business, and these are tough issues, but we’re on the cutting edge, and that’s pretty exciting.”

Showing just how serious it is about electric vehicle roll out, last Thursday the European Union began a four-year, cross-Europe collaboration to study, demonstrate and promote electromobility.

To be conducted by the European Commission, the executive body for the European Union, the Green eMotion Initiative is an ambitious €41.8 million ($59.1 million) project with many electric-vehicle enabling outcomes predicted.

Of the €41.8 million, €24.2 ($34.2 million) is to come from the EU which is still working to solidify unity across vast regions, in which 23 languages are spoken.

General Motors is not listed as a participant, but with the anticipated European launch of the Chevrolet Volt, it does stand to benefit.

Forty-two participants from across Europe will include industrial companies, utilities, automobile manufacturers, municipalities, universities and research institutions.

The project is intended to help bring to fruition the broad-reaching goals of Europe’s Transport 2050 initiative, which has mandated radical cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. By 2030, it calls for a 50-percent reduction of conventionally fueled cars in cities, and by 2050, it seeks to utterly phase them out.

”Transport is current 96-percent dependent on oil for its energy needs. This is totally unsustainable,” said Siim Kallas, vice president of the EC and commissioner responsible for transport, “The Transport 2050 Roadmap aims to break transport’s current oil dependency and allow mobility to grow. We can and we must do both. It can be win-win. But there are major challenges.”

The EC said Green eMotion will take place in selected European regions to develop best practices, exchange information, and share experience leading to new infrastructure.

“This is a project that tackles some of the practical problems and real bottlenecks for cities and companies who want to bring electric vehicles to the market,” Kallas said, “It is exactly the kind of initiative where European co-operation adds huge value. This is a very promising initiative for the future.”

Siim Kallas, vice president of the European Commission in charge of transport, shown here at the High Level Kickoff Event for the Green eMotion Initiative.

The project will actually involve not just autos, but buses, trucks, motorcycles and scooters.

As part of the European Green Cars initiative, Green eMotion will, compare twelve ongoing regional and national electromobility initiatives in eight different EU member states in order to identify the best from a variety of technological approaches. The several types of electric vehicles to be involved will assist in development of solutions for the grid, information technology, and urban mobility concepts.

“The local concepts applied to date, in which experience was accumulated in specific demonstration regions, will now be bundled in cross-European trials,” said Heike Barlag from Siemens, coordinator for the Green eMotion project. “By bundling individual activities in a major partner initiative we’re gaining momentum and transparency, and ensuring the coordinated development of electromobility.”

According to Better Place, one of the companies involved, “Special aspects in some of the demonstration regions include battery swapping and DC charging as well as smart grid integration, cross-border traffic, different payment systems and the testing of alternative business models.”

Out of this are expected to be developed “new high-value transportation services and innovative billing systems,” the EC said. Existing green mobility standards will be improved, and new ones will be developed.

“Green eMotion will demonstrate this interoperable electromobility framework in all participating regions,” the EC said, “and will thus provide the basis for its replication across Europe.”

Speaking on its area of expertise, Better Place said more than 10,000 charging stations will be involved. Nearly 1,000 are to be put in at Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga, about 400 in Rome and Pisa, roughly 3,600 in Berlin, and just around 100 in Strasbourg.

Early adopters are not known to follow the herd, and this is no exception. The soon-to-be-launched Opel Ampera is shown allowing locals the right of way.

In Ireland, about 3,500 charging stations are in the works, and 2,000 electric cars are expected there soon as well, Better Place said.

Another 2,000 charging stations are slated for Denmark, which generates 20 percent of its power by wind. Car importers there are also expected to bring in 2,000 electric cars this year.

Denmark is additionally embarking on an electric vehicle battery swapping project as part of Green eMotion.

“The batteries in electric cars and in battery switch stations serve as a distributed energy storage network allowing utilities to harness additional sources of renewable energy including wind,” Better Place said.

As the nation most-reliant on wind, Denmark is the likely test case creating standards that could later be used in other parts of Europe.

“By the end of this year, Danish drivers will enjoy virtually unlimited range when they can swap out a depleted electric car battery for a fully charged one via a network of battery switch stations,” Better Place said, “Danish consumers can expect to save 10-20 percent on total cost of ownership on the purchase of an electric car and mobility services than what they currently spend on petrol or diesel-based cars and fuel.”

The partners in the Green eMotion Initiative are the industrial companies Alstom, Better Place, Bosch, IBM, SAP and Siemens, the utilities Danish Energy Association, EDF, Endesa, Enel, ESB, Eurelectric, Iberdrola, RWE and PPC, the automobile manufacturers BMW, Daimler, Micro-Vett, Nissan and Renault, the municipalities Barcelona, Berlin, Bornholm, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin (represented by the energy agency of Codema), Malaga, Malmo and Rome, the universities and research institutions Cartif, Cidaut, CTL, DTU, ECN, Imperial, IREC, RSE, TCD and Tecnalia, and the technology institutions DTI, fka and TÜV NORD.

Sources:
European Commission
Better Place