GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

File this one under gee whiz, or – if it pans out – file it under in a few years we won’t be needing nearly as much gasoline to power motor vehicles anymore.

Stories of amazing tech possibilities come out all the time, but one reported last week with more than a little hope attached to it is about a lab-based experimental battery invented by MIT students based on a two-part liquid electrolyte called “Cambridge Crude.”

The battery is being developed for EVs and grid storage and reportedly could deliver more energy density than lithium-ion batteries while being more cost effective. Even more intriguing is it could overcome a common objection to present-tech batteries in that it can be “refueled” with the pump-able liquid as petrol cars do in minutes, thus promising to relegate long recharging times to distant memory.

Cambridge Crude. A new kind of black gold?

The project’s supervising professor, Yet-Ming Chiang – one of the founders of A123 Systems – said the team’s mission was no less than “to reinvent the rechargeable battery,” and he expects to have a fully operational prototype suitable for electric cars in the next 18 months.

The new battery, which you can read more about in a technical paper, has been licensed to 24M Technologies which is working on perfecting the recipe, as it were. This Massachusetts-based organization branched from A123 Systems – which itself branched from MIT – and is doing the research with $16 million in venture capital and U.S. Department of Defense funding.

According to MIT News, the battery employs an innovative architecture called a semi-solid flow cell. In it, charged particles float in a liquid carrier between two containers.

The battery’s electrically active components – the positive and negative electrodes, or cathodes and anodes – are composed of particles suspended in the liquid electrolyte.

These two different suspensions are intended to be stored in separate tanks in a vehicle, then slowly pumped through systems separated by a filter, such as a thin porous membrane. When they come in contact, they exchange ions and create electricity.

“[The] new kind of flow battery is fueled by semi-solid suspensions of high-energy-density lithium storage compounds that are electrically ‘wired’ by dilute percolating networks of nanoscale conductor particles,” MIT said in a summary statement.

The battery’s separation feature is in contrast to conventional batteries in which energy storage and discharge take place in the same structure. Chiang said batteries can be designed more efficiently by separating these functions.

To recharge, electricity is input to separate the particles that make up each electrode. A couple potential ways to quickly “refuel,” would be either pumping out the expended liquid slurry, and replacing with fresh, similar to gas or diesel (except the pumping out part). Or, a complete tank swap system could be designed such as Better Place now proposes with solid batteries.

Until now, flow battery technology has been known, but energy density was too low. Cambridge Crude is said to have 10 times more energy density than previous liquid flow battery electrolytes. It is actually a fairly dense gel-like liquid that need not circulate very quickly, and instead “kind of oozes,” Chiang said.

MIT’s “Cambridge Crude” flow battery.

The unique difference of the MIT design is that it utilizes proven lithium-ion chemistry broken into tiny particles merged into the liquid matrix.

The initial promise of Cambridge Crude’s has MIT researchers hoping that they may have invented a completely new family of viable batteries.

MIT News cited Yury Gogotsi, distinguished university professor at Drexel University and director of Drexel’s Nanotechnology Institute who offered validation for the research.

“The demonstration of a semi-solid lithium-ion battery is a major breakthrough that shows that slurry-type active materials can be used for storing electrical energy.” This advance, he says, “has tremendous importance for the future of energy production and storage.”

Gogotsi cautioned research is still required to find better cathode and anode materials and electrolytes, but added, “I don’t see fundamental problems that cannot be addressed – those are primarily engineering issues. Of course, developing working systems that can compete with currently available batteries in terms of cost and performance may take years.”

This time estimate is on the high side from Chiang’s year-and-a-half projection for a working prototype EV battery, so we shall see whether the optimists or pessimists win.

Source: The Atlantic Wire, MIT News, MIT Online Library

Last week Google announced in its blog that it was adding Chevrolet Volts and Nissan LEAFs to its Gfleet corporate plug-in car-sharing program to be used by Googlers (Google personnel).

The growing fleet of 30 plug-in vehicles is located at its Mountain View, Calif. Googleplex (corporate campus) and will be supported by what Google said it believes may be the country’s largest corporate EV charging infrastructure.

We will summarize the story here, but after that, if you want to know more, you can always look it up on Google. Or you can see where it’s all happening on Google Maps. Or you can read about it on Google’s Blogger blog.

One of the newest members of Google’s Gfleet recharges at Google’s Googleplex campus in Mountainview, Calif.

After all that, if interested in investing in the pervasive purveyor of many products, you can check its latest stock price, which as of this writing, Google Finance says is over $509 per share.

In any event – and our point is: it cannot hurt that the all-encompassing success story that is Google has shown itself to be a prominent early EV adapter.

Like King Midas, Google has demonstrated nearly everything it touches turns to gold, and now its favorite color is green – albeit still written in its characteristic blue, red, and yellow logo colors on its “green blog.”

While it did not specify how many Volts and LEAFs it was acquiring, Google acknowledged its newest plug-ins to be “the next generation,” and aims to offer their use as a Googler perk and install sufficient free charging for parking.

“Overall, our goal is to electrify five percent of our parking spaces – all over campus and free of charge (pun intended) to Googlers,” said Google, “Our expanded charging system has already helped several Googlers decide to buy new EVs of their own, and we hope others will, too.”

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All roads lead to Google.

Thus far, Google’s free charging includes 150 Level 1 chargers, and it just added 71 Level 2 chargers from Coulomb Technologies. Another 250 chargers are scheduled for the not-too-distant future.

These goals and more are part of Google’s Rechargit initiative begun in 2007 when the Volt was just a concept for GM.

Since there were no production plug-in cars at the time, Google went out and made some by converting Toyota Prii (not Priuses, if we are to follow Toyota’s example), to plug-ins using A123 Hymotion batteries. It also converted Ford Escape Hybrids along the way.

These vehicles, and now the new Volts and LEAFS are being made available for use around Google’s campus, as is its biodiesel shuttle bus system.

Google said it will add more plug-in cars as they become available and naturally, Google is collecting data on its fleet.

A recent seven-week driving experiment – not including the Volt or LEAF – netted as much as 93 MPG average across all trips, and 115 MPG for city trips, Google said.

Google also reckons its shuttle bus system has had the carbon-reducing effect of removing 2,000 cars from the road.

“But we’re only one company, so we hope other companies think about how they can incorporate these new technologies into their own infrastructure,” Google said, “By supporting new, green transportation technologies, we’re enabling our employees to be green and doing our part to help spur growth in the industry.”

The company has undoubtedly spent a fair amount to do what it has. But we would not be surprised if – like so many of its elegant, paradigm-shifting solutions – Google has a Midas touch for environmentalism also, and proves it can turn green into gold.

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NOTE: The answers to the GM-Volt reader Q&A invite regarding the 2012 Volt from Friday are postponed. GM was not able to provide them over the weekend. We will try to get them and post as soon as possible.

-Jeff

NEWS UPDATE: See also 2012 Volt Press Release

Citing increased demand this year for energy efficient vehicles precipitated by rising fuel prices, and its ability to respond quickly, Ford announced yesterday it would raise its annual U.S. production capacity for “electrified” vehicles from 35,000 to over 100,000 by 2013.

While the Focus EV is due later this year, the spotlight was also on four other hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Central among these will be Ford’s five-passenger C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid which for the first time were announced that they would be offered in North America. A seven-passenger ICE version slated for the U.S. however will not be offered.

The car has proven a hot seller overseas, and in a separate statement, Ford said it will increase C-Max production in Valencia, Spain to continue to fill strong European demand. Since its late 2010 launch, Ford said it has sold 70,000 units in Europe, and taken orders for 30,000 more.

Ford C-Max Hybrid – based on the Global C platform utilized by the 2012 Focus.

The company said it is now convinced the U.S. market is ready for American-made versions which will complement a broadened selection of electrified vehicles.

“This is a big deal for us because we are seeing a huge growing appetite for fuel efficient green vehicles,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of marketing, sales and service. “The number of people indicating fuel economy is the main reason continues to rise.”

The C-Max line is expected to compete with the Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF.

In all, Ford has committed $135 million to build its five electrified vehicles which include also a version of its Transit Connect van and another model not yet announced (possibly a hybridized 2013 Ford Escape crossover).

Ford C-Max Energi.

The initiative is said to be responsible for 220 new green technology jobs at three Michigan plants. These will include 170 positions at the Rawsonville and Van Dyke Transmission plants, and more than 50 new “electrified-vehicle engineers” which have come on board in Dearborn during the past year.

Ford however said it canceled plans for a North American seven-passenger C-Max “multi-activity vehicle” with a four-cylinder gasoline engine, meaning the C-Max will be one type or another of five-passenger hybrid only. In Europe, a seven-passenger “Grand C-Max” is yet available, and Ford said it will increase European production of it and five-passenger versions due to strong demand – but not so for North America.

“The [U.S.] market is moving and we are shifting with the market,” said Sherif Marakby, Ford’s director of electrification programs and engineering to Automotive News yesterday. “Our choice is to increase the capacity on the sales of the smaller version for this fuel economy conscious consumer, and we believe there is more market in this than the seven-passenger small van.”

The seven-passenger C-Max (essentially a European Grand C-Max) was canceled for North America. Two additional seats in a third row and the sliding doors distinguish it from the five-seater.

Estimated mileage for the new vehicles was not announced, but the C-Max Hybrid’s efficiency will reportedly exceed that of the Ford Fusion which is rated at 41 mpg.

Both the C-Max Hybrid and C-Max plug-in hybrid will utilize lithium-ion batteries. The latter will use a larger battery pack, but Ford did not specify capacity for either.

Ford did say the C-Max Hybrid will be able to travel at a higher all-electric speed than the Ford Fusion Hybrid’s 47 mph, although it did not say how much higher.

C-Max Energi.

While vague on some specs, the company left no ambiguity that it is posturing these vehicles as competitors to the Volt.

“The C-MAX Energi, featuring a 240-volt charging system, will be able to fully recharge faster than Chevy Volt,” Ford said, “and is being engineered to deliver more overall driving range than any other plug-in or extended range electric vehicle. It is also targeted to achieve AT-PZEV [Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle] status.”

Another critical detail lacking in Ford’s press announcement was pricing, but it did say it will reduce projected MSRP thanks to an estimated 30-percent cut in production costs next year.

Part of the cost savings is because Ford has designed the hybrids’ components in-house, and will assemble their systems itself.

C-Max Energi.

In contrast, the transmission in the 2011 Ford Fusion, 2011 Escape and 2011 Lincoln MKZ are supplied by Aisin Seiki Co., of Japan.

Ford likewise developed its own battery systems that will be manufactured in Rawsonville in the suburbs of Detroit for the C-Max Hybrid, and plug-in version. Previously Ford’s hybrid batteries were made in Mexico.

“Both the C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi models will be built alongside the all-new 2012 Ford Focus and Focus Electric at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich.,” Ford said, “the first plant in the world to produce gasoline-powered vehicles, full-electric vehicles, hybrid and plug-in hybrids under one roof.”

Source: Ford, Ford (again), Automotive News, Edmunds Auto Observer.

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UPDATE: See Chevrolet Press release in today’s GM-Volt post prior to this one.

Chevrolet is now taking orders for 2012 Volts in the entire U.S. – cut price by $1,005, adds options.

Rather than wait on this news, and not wanting to bump today’s story off the page, we are posting this breaking news as well for your reference. – Jeff

General Motors Press Release:

DETROIT – Chevrolet dealers in all 50 states will begin taking orders for the 2012 Chevrolet Volt electric car today.

The suggested retail price for the award-winning Volt will start at $39,995 (or $32,495 assuming a full federal tax credit of $7,500, which is subject to the customer’s eligibility). The price includes an $850 destination freight charge but excludes tax, title and license fees. The starting price of the 2012 model is more than $1,000 below the 2011 base model.

The lower base price is possible in part because of a wider range of options and configurations that come with the expansion of Volt production for sale nationally. The 2011 model was available in just seven states and the District of Columbia.

For 2012, consumers will be able to choose from a total of seven option packages compared with only three for the 2011 model. A loaded Volt, with leather appointments, backup camera, navigation system and premium paint and wheels is priced at $46,265 including delivery ($38,765 net of full tax credit).

“We are giving consumers greater choice of content as the Volt becomes available nationwide by the end of this year,” said Cristi Landy, Volt marketing director. “This gives us the opportunity to be more flexible in our pricing and still provide additional high-tech content to customers who want to purchase it.”

The Volt will be available in two additional interior accents (white and spiced red) and two new exterior colors (Summit White and Blue Topaz Metallic).

New features for 2012 include:

* Standard keyless access with passive locking; the car automatically locks and unlocks with the key fob in close proximity of vehicle
* OnStar Turn by Turn navigation standard for three years, and available in-dash navigation system
* Chevrolet MyLink including Bluetooth streaming audio for music and select phones (late availability)
* Standard AM/FM stereo with CD player and MP3 playback and 7-inch diagonal color touch-screen display
* Available 17-inch sport alloy wheels with black inserts (late availability).

Chevrolet will continue to offer an eight-year/100,000-mile* limited warranty on the Volt’s 16-kWh lithium-ion battery, plus:

* Three-year/36,000-mile* bumper-to-bumper coverage
* Five-year/100,000-mile* roadside assistance and courtesy transportation
* Five-year/100,000-mile* limited gas engine coverage
* Six-year/100,000-mile* corrosion protection coverage.

Customers in all states can visit their nearest participating Chevrolet Volt dealer today to order a 2012 Volt. Once an order is placed, a dedicated Volt advisor will be available to answer questions and keep the customer apprised of the order progress. Nationwide availability will initially be limited as deliveries will occur by phases. Additionally, Chevrolet will have a team of Volt advisors available to answer questions starting today at 1-888-VOLT-4-YOU (1-888-865-8496).

The Volt offers a total driving range of up to 379 miles, based on EPA estimates. For the first 35 miles, the Volt can drive gas- and tailpipe-emissions free using a full charge of electricity. When the Volt’s battery runs low, a gas-powered engine/generator seamlessly operates to extend the driving range another 344 miles on a full change. Chevrolet expects to build up to 45,000 Volts for retail and fleet customers in the United States during calendar year 2012.

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QUESTIONS … ?

-Jeff

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NOTE: The answers to the GM-Volt reader Q&A invite regarding the 2012 Volt from Friday will not be posted Monday. GM was not able to provide answers over the weekend. We will try to get them and post as soon as possible. -Jeff

Acknowledging the inherently politicized nature of his position and company, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has nonetheless shown himself willing to weigh in on controversial political subjects to reporters with whom he apparently feels comfortable.

In an interview with the Detroit News, he said he declined a spot on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” because he was concerned with the politically charged media climate.

“I can’t go on it. I’m toxic. I’m like a lightning rod. I couldn’t have an intelligent discussion without someone saying, ‘He’s a welfare guy from the bailout.’”

How high will gas be before we see the Volt selling in numbers like the Cruze? Akerson said in five years, this car will be “an old, old technology and old news.” What else does he know that is being kept secret?

Even so, he opened up to the Detroit News, and his interview has prompted several media outlets to spin off stories this week.

Among the Akerson comment stories were those about revisiting the idea of a substantial gas tax, as well as raising the U.S. debt ceiling, slashing U.S. government spending and substantially increasing income taxes to aid the U.S. economic recovery – and GM’s recovery.

As for fuel taxes, in November 2009, GM-Volt wrote a story based on a Reuters report that auto executives were proposing the idea of artificially stimulating the market for electric, hybrid and especially fuel-efficient vehicles by making gasoline more expensive.

At the time, gas had recently spiked, then fallen to an average $2.66 per gallon nationally, and the magic price range being bandied about was $4-5 per gallon. It was asserted this would be a tipping point toward getting the American people to re-think their buying choices.

Well, we are at this point now, have been seeing more fuel efficient cars being bought, but hybrid sales were low last month, and a sizable chunk of sales did go to less than fuel efficient cars.

Electric car advocates are still looking well into the future for widespread proliferation, implying gas prices will need to yet go much higher, if they are to be a stimulant.

In his long interview with the Detroit News, Akerson floated the idea of a gas tax again.

“You know what I’d rather have them do – this will make my Republican friends puke – as gas is going to go down here now, we ought to just slap a 50-cent or a dollar tax on a gallon of gas,” Akerson said. “People will start buying more Cruzes and they will start buying less Suburbans.”

The context in which his statement was given was while discussing the looming prospect of other potential costs.

Federal officials are reportedly considering 3 percent to 6 percent fuel efficiency increases between 47 mpg and 62 mpg for the model years 2017-25.

It is estimated vehicles prices could be inflated by as much as $3,500 in order to comply with such a mandate.

Akerson said a gas tax would be a better way to spur more people to buy small cars and would do more good for the environment than forcing automakers to comply with higher gas-mileage standards.

“There ought to be a discussion on the cost versus the benefits,” he said. “What we are going to do is tax production here, and that will cost us jobs.”

Remember this graphic Lyle posted a year and a half ago?

Such a move would have to come from legislators and signed by the president. The term “political suicide” is often associated with the idea of raising American fuel taxes.

In the Reuters story last year, one advocate’s idea was to progressively ratchet up fuel prices to European levels of $8 per gallon more or less, regardless of factors in the U.S. otherwise keeping fuel prices much lower.

The belief behind this sentiment was Americans get fuel too cheaply, and this promotes creation and consumption of gas guzzlers that are unique to the U.S.

In a brief phone interview with GM-Volt yesterday, Greg Martin, director, policy and Washington communications for GM said Akerson’s comments were little more than brainstorming.

In asking whether Akerson was hoping a legislator would pick up on the idea, Martin suggested we were reading too deeply into it.

He also said GM’s lobbying arm is not pursuing a gas tax hike, and otherwise played down the comment that has been widely repeated by several media outlets the past couple days.

Other interesting comments Akerson has recently made included views on the nation’s debt ceiling.

He said rather than allow the government to default on Aug. 2, the ceiling should be raised from its $14.3 trillion limit.

“We’re too good a nation to let ourselves be a banana republic,” Akerson said, adding that it would be “unimaginable” for the U.S. to default and it could hurt auto sales.

Describing himself as “a Colin Powell Republican – not a Sarah Palin Republican,” Akerson said President Barack Obama has “done a pretty good job on the economy,” which, he said, was “a nightmare.”

To be sure GM was rescued under Obama’s watch, which Akerson observed was not only for GM’s benefit.

“If we had gone down,” he said, “the supply chain would have gone down. … And Ford was hanging on by its fingernails, too,” he said.

As for broader U.S. economic decisions, Akerson said he agrees it is otherwise bad policy for the U.S. to spend beyond its means.

“Now, we need practical decisions,” Akerson said. “I think you need to cut the hell out of the budget and you’ve got to increase taxes … on everybody – including the middle class and the rich people.”

But Akerson, whose personal net worth is estimated to be as high as $190 million, said solutions will not be overnight, and alternately said President Obama ought not do anything rash.

“I don’t think he can fix it in four years and I think we just have to stay the course,” he said.

Akerson has not said a lot directly about the Volt, even though the car is essentially the corporate symbol of pride, a backdrop that was prominently displayed at the recent shareholders’ meeting, and in much of GM’s current promotional content.

Speaking of which, staying the course at least appears to be what the U.S. Treasury is doing with its 500 million shares of GM stock that at the time of the interview were trading at around 13 percent below their initial public offering price.

“I think that it is an overhang – to have 500 million shares sitting out there – it’s a problem,” Akerson said, adding he believed Middle East unrest and oil prices are also depressing GM’s share price. “They don’t know when [the Treasury is] going to come out. Investors hate uncertainty.”

Akerson has said GM stock will go up, and it will take patience. Assuming its value does increase, it would be a good deal for GM now to buy out the Treasury at below IPO.

However, on Tuesday, Automotive News reported the U.S. Treasury is reluctant to sell its GM stock quoting “a person familiar with the matter.”

GM is sitting on over $36 billion in cash, and has reportedly discussed buying back some of its stock from the Treasury or allowing all common stock shareholders to sell back shares.

Essentially the idea of buying high and selling low is not sitting well with the Treasury, which among other concerns does not want to invite criticism that GM is getting a preferential deal.

Source: The Detroit News, Automotive News

In a bygone era Hertz Car Rental offered rare fire-breathing steeds like the Shelby Mustang, but these days it is providing such latest-tech novelties as electric bikes in London, Tesla Roadsters in LA, and other electric vehicles including the Chevy Volt in Washington, D.C.

As for the latest plug-in promo in the nation’s capitol, a little over a week ago, Hertz announced it would add five all-electric and hybrid vehicles, including the Nissan LEAF and Chevrolet Volt, which can be checked out by the hour from Union Station, just blocks from Capitol Hill.

The LEAFs and Volts are part of the “Connect by Hertz” car sharing program for which customers must sign up in order to rent, but otherwise requires no extra membership fees.

From Capitol Hill it’s not a long walk down to Electric Avenue, er rather, Hertz at Union Station. (Photo by Washington Business Journal)

Now if policymakers want to experience first hand one of these new-fangled vehicles that the president hopes to see one million of on U.S. roads by 2015, they have another convenient avenue by which to do it.

The cars are being made available also to the general public, but Hertz made sure to note members of Congress and employees on Capitol Hill can partake of its car sharing operation.

“Washington, D.C., a major transportation hub in the northeast corridor, is a natural city for Hertz Global EV, and we look forward to helping move the ‘electrification of transportation’ dialog from policy to practice in D.C.; building awareness and interest in EVs and PHEVs among the city’s residents,” said Mark P. Frissora, Hertz chairman and CEO.

Hertz will also invest in new car-charging stations in Washington to better facilitate usage of its latest plug-in vehicles.

“We will have charging stations installed within the week, and there are also other charging stations within the public parking area,” said Hertz Spokeswoman Paula Rivera over a week ago. “We will also be installing a second station at a downtown locale.”

Home page graphic for HertzEV.com.

The Connect by Hertz car-sharing program began in 2008 in New York. Thus far, it has operations in around a dozen cities in North America and Europe, as well as nearly four dozen college campuses.

Hertz plans to deploy more EVs and PHEVs in the U.S. and other countries throughout 2011. As part of its strategy, Hertz is forming partnerships with automakers, charging station providers, municipalities, NGOs, corporations and other stakeholders.

To date, the company has ordered vehicles from GM, Nissan, Toyota and Mitsubishi, and has signed an agreement with NRG Energy Inc. to support development of a charging infrastructure and services for EVs in Texas.

NOTE: For those who missed it, last night we belatedly found and posted at the end of yesterday’s story a video of Tuesday’s GM shareholder meeting. It features GM CEO Dan Akerson speaking, essentially giving a state of the union address on the company.

Source: Washington Business Journal, NACS, Hertz