GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Korea-based LG Chem is the lithium-ion battery supplier for GM’s Chevrolet Volt electric car.

GM has been working closely with LG’s Michigan-based subsidiary Compact Power Inc. since mid-2007 to first develop and then refine the Volts’ 16 kwh battery pack. In January of 2009 it was announced that LG had been awarded the Volt’s battery contract. Since then, hundreds of packs have been built, and GM has launched its own battery pack production facility which has been operational since January.

The lithium-ion cells have been manufactured on a line at LG Chem’s battery plant in Korea, where the cells for the initial production run of Volts will continue to come from.

The source of these cells will soon change to the USA.

Today LG Chem has announced it will invest $303 Million to build a lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant in Holland Michigan. The 650,000 square foot plant will create 400 jobs and be capable of producing from 15 to 20 million prismatic automotive cells per year, which is enough to sustain a production capacity of around 60,000 Chevy Volts per year.

LG Chem has already secured a $151.5 million DOE loan for the construction of the plan. It will match those funds with an additional $151.5 million.

Groundbreaking on the facility, which will be located on a 120 acre site in Holland Michigan, is expected to begin this summer and the plant will be fully operational in 2012.

The plant will be operated by Compact Power Inc, and though it is capable of making cells for other vehicles as well, initially it will only make the cells for the Chevrolet Volt. It is capable of from 50,000 to 200,00o vehicle battery packs per year, depending on their size.

“LG Chem’s selection of Holland to house the company’s battery cell facility was a balanced decision based on the city’s excellent infrastructure and proven, quality workforce,” said Jae Ham, senior vice president, LG Chem. “What’s more, LG Chem was impressed with Holland’s outstanding determination and sincere effort and commitment to be at the forefront of the new green energy economy which will result in Michigan becoming the leader in the electric vehicle industry.”

“Thanks to a bold vision and aggressive strategy, Michigan is now the leader of the U.S. advanced-battery industry,” Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm said. “We thank LG Chem for its commitment to our state, and we are proud to partner with the company, the city of Holland and the Obama Administration to grow a new industry and new jobs here.”

And from a mere concept only three years ago, the Volt and our enthusiasm may well have helped steward the rebirth of the automotive industry in the United States. We are witnessing the first steps of a brand new era.

Source (LG Chem)

Electrification of the automobile is well underway, with the first mass produced cars expected to hit the roads later this year.

There have been many speculative reports about whether these cars will catch on and be sold in high volumes over the next few years.

These predictions hinge on cost to consumers, both for the cars and for gas.  Other than for early adopters, plug-in cars must offer better cost of operation than gas-powered cars to win in the marketplace.

The bulk of an electric vehicle’s cost, however, is the cost of its lithium-ion batteries.

Reports predicting low EV sales volumes often use $1000 per kwh as the price for lithium-ion batteries, but that is unrealisticly high and should no longer be used.

A new report issued by Deutsche Bank indicates prices that are considerably lower.  They write “we continue to believe that the market underestimates the potential for growth in this segment” and “we’ve noted evidence of steeper than-expected battery price declines which will likely bolster the consumer value proposition and potentially lead to stronger demand than we originally envisioned.”

The firm notes the average lithium-ion cell price in 2009 has been $650 per kwh, but claims automakers are already seeing bids for $450 per kwh from battery companies for delivery contracts in the 2011/2012 timeframe.

Furthermore, they predict an additional 25% decline in price over the next 5 years and a 50% decline over the next 10 years along with a doubling of performance over the next 7 years.

Previously LG Chem subsidiary Compact Power’s CEO Prabahkar Patil told GM-Volt he expected cell cost to drop up to four-fold in the next 10 years, and said lithium ion cells for non automotive applications is already $350 per kwh.

Furthermore, last March GM vice president Jon Lauckner stated GM is already paying “many hundreds of dollars per kWh,” less than $1000 for the Volt’s lithium ion cells.

If one considers the Volt has a 16 kwh lithium ion battery, at $450 per kwh its total cell cost would be $7200.

Fuel costs about 2 cents per mile using electricity, and about 10 cents per mile using gas. At $450 per kwh at today’s gas prices, after 90,000 miles of electric driving fuel savings will cover the added cost of the battery.

Source (Deutsche Bank, PDF)

Denise Gray is GM’s director of global battery systems. She has been instrumental in the development of the Volt having started in the program in 2006. She was there when the first lithium-ion Volt prototype pack arrived from Compact Power in October 2007 as has been in charge of developing all of GM’s EREV and plugin batteries as well as acting as strategic leader for the next generation Volt.

Today she announced to a small group of reporters including myself that she is leaving GM.

She will be joining a new stealth-mode start-up battery company in California. She will not say at this point which company she is going to, but notes her last day at GM is March 5th and will start with the new company in the next couple of weeks.

She describes the new position as a “great opportunity” for her and is “an opportunity to continue on with clean technology and battery technology.”

She says it is a small company and she will be able to play a larger business and leadership role there where she can “create and shape, and plant seeds,” which she said is similar to what she did with GM originally in the Volt program. The new company is venture-capital funded.

Gray said there have been no negative surprises in the Volt program, and that program’s success is what made the decision to leave extremely hard for her.  She is not leaving for lack of success but for new opportunity. She was very satisfied to see the first battery roll of the line on January 7th at GM’s new dedicated battery assembly plant, “is rooting for the Volt” and feels comfortable leaving “her baby” in others’ hands.  Under Gray’s leadership the Volt battery program went from 25 to 200 employees over the past 3 years.  She’s been a GM employee for more than 25 years.

Ronn Jamieson has been director of Global Battery Systems Engineering, and will temporarily assume all reporting responsibilities for her staff while Bill Wallace, current Volt Battery System Engineering Group Manager, will assume all technical and program management responsibilities relative to the Volt battery and its launch.

Gray said she learned at GM “not to turn a blind eye to new opportunity,” something she’s exercising in taking this new position.

In a limitation for her GM, she said, is focused on on their own portfolio of vehicles but her new assignment will allow her to see other types of applications of electrification of the automobile

The Volt  battery program she notes is right on schedule and GM has been building production packs since January 7.  Gray notes there are multiple packs from the plant that are now in the lab undergoing tests.

When the first production pack came to the lab for testing earlier this year, one of Gray’s colleagues noted it was “the best battery we’ve seen so far.”

Gray notes at this point “the heavy lifting is over” and for the Volt program only  the finishing touches remain.

And no, Gray will not be joining EEStor. I would speculate it is possible she could be joining Stanford silicon nanowire battery expert Yi Cui in his start-up company, Amprius.

Good luck and farewell Denise, and thanks for all the education you have provided me and the GM-Volt.com readership. It is likely we’ll be hearing from you again very soon.

GM engineers have rightly been assiduously concerned and careful about ensuring the Chevy Volt’s battery will last 10 years or 150,000 miles and deliver its stated range and power.

The Nissan LEAF electric car, also expected to arrive at the end of the year, apparently isn’t so meticulously engineered.  Or so says Wired.com in an article written by Daryl Siry, former marketing head of Tesla and currently an advisor to Coda Automotive

Siry portrays Nissan almost as a brazen bull in a china shop fearlessly led by an overoptimistic and headstrong Carlos Ghosn.  Nissan, Siry notes, now at the forefront of EV marketing wasn’t even part of the discussion two years ago.  This rush to the front lines may have made them less careful in their haste.

Ghosn reportedly said, “The engineers will always tell you, ‘Wait a little more,’ and if you keep playing this game, you never launch any product.”

Yikes.

Siry points out that the LEAF’s 100 mile estimated range is based on the overly conservative LA4 test cycle, and that in real world conditions range will be “significantly less.”

It gets worse.

Nissan is not using an active thermal management system for the LEAF’s batteries.

Instead of including a separate high-tech computer controlled liquid heating and cooling system like the Volt has, Nissan is simply blowing cabin air into the pack with a fan.  It is this sophisticated pampering of the pack GM feels is so critical for maintaining range, power and longevity, that Nissan has ignored completely.  In fact GM has gone so far as to call pack construction core competency and has built and begun operating its own battery pack assembly plant.

Nissan director Mark Perry went so faras to dismiss the importance of a thermal management system.

“We don’t need thermal management for the U.S. … we’ve gone on the record saying that the pack has a 70 to 80 percent capacity after 10 years,” he told Wired.com

Another Nissan product manager told Wired the real reason there is no thermal management system is that it would take up too much cabin space, by adding height to the pack.  This is the reason Volt has four seats, compared to the LEAF’s five.

GM’s Volt executive Tony Posawatz explained why separate battery HVAC is so important in electric cars.

“Thermal management  has bookend issues to manage: minimized power at low temperatures and life reduction at high exposure to higher temperatures,” he told Wired. “If you want to replace your battery every four to five years and someone is willing to pay for [a replacement battery], either the customer or the manufacturer, a modest or minimal HVAC system may work.”

It is quite likely Nissan’s awareness they are taking a battery shortcut has led them to the decision to lease the battery separately.

Source (Wired)

Electrification of the automobile depends on the natural salt lithium.  Lithium is found predominantly in Asia and South America where vast stores are present in salt lakes and salt flats.

As electrified automobiles are built on mass production scale and in ever increasing volumes, ensuring supply of lithium to battery makers becomes critically important.

Though Toyota appears at the surface more conservative about using lithium ion batteries in cars, relying more on older nickel metal hydride batteries in their current hybrid lineup, there is ample evidence the automaker is working diligently to line up their future supply line.  These efforts will both assure ample supply is available to meet demands but will also allow them to push prices down and maximize profit.

Toyota affiliate Toyota Tsusho Corp. has formed a joint venture with the Australian company Orocobre to develop a lithium deposit in Argentina.  Ocorobre owns and operates the Salar de Olaroz lithium deposit in northwest Argentina. The deal will make Toyota part owner.

The deposit is considered to be high quality and high volume.

“The size and quality of the deposit is world-class and we believe will produce high-purity, battery-grade materials required for the global battery industry at a cost that is competitive,” said Toyota Tsusho.

Toyota Tsusho will have a 25% stake in the project and Toyota will fund at least 60% of the project’s development.

Construction is expected to be completed by early 2011 with production beginning by the end of that year.

Toyota had already established a joint venture with Japanese battery maker Panasonic in 2007.  Panasonic purchased 50% of battery company Sanyo last month.

Toyota plans to begin selling a lithium-ion battery powered plug in Prius next year and a small battery electric car in 2012.  They have also gone on record stating plans to double hybrid output to 1 million units in 2011, and plans to add 10 new hybrid models to its lineup over the next few years.

Today the first Chevrolet Volt lithium-ion battery pack moved through the assembly line at GM’s newly developed dedicated GM Brownstown Battery Assembly Plant in Michigan.

This truly historical milestone day takes place exactly three years to the date after the Chevrolet Volt concept car was unveiled to the world, and marks the beginning of Chevrolet Volt production.

In attendance are US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre, and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.

This is the first production pack to be built at what GM calls the first lithium ion battery pack manufacturing plant in the U.S. operated by a major automaker.

The site is minutes from Detroit airports where the raw lithium cells will be delivered from LG Chem’s plant in Korea.  After the packs are assembled at this facility they are then hauled to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the Volts will be assebled.  Production there is set to begin in March.  LG Chem also plans to begin building a lithium-ion cell factory in Michigan beginning later this year

GM invested $43 million in developing this battery assembly plant, at a site chosen a year ago and where construction work first began last summer.

The facility is 160,000 square feet and divided into three primary assembly areas: battery module pre-assembly, final assembly and the battery pack main line.

Each Chevrolet Volt pack contains 16-kWh of lithium-ion cells of which 8 kwh is usable.  There are 288 3.5 volt cells placed into 4 to 6 groups known as modules.  The T-shaped pack is about 6 feet long, weighs 200 kg and operates at 360V.

According to Volt director Tony Posawatz the facility “is capable of producing all requirements for VOLT vehicles and has the bandwidth to grow capacity in the future.”

It employs 100 workers though most of the assembly process is automated using robotics.

Placing this historical event on the world’s stage is yet another chapter in GM’s commitment to transparency about the Volt program that also began on that January day 3 years ago. I would like to give special thanks to GM’s Rob Peterson of Volt communications for being that architect of transparency and for his countless hours, months, and years of dedication to it. Rob has been a crucial behind-the-scenes support to my efforts here at GM-Volt.com as well.

And on this day our country takes a major leap forward into a future free from oil.

PRESS EVENT VIDEO:

VIDEO OF PACK ASSEMBLY