GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Bob Boniface is the chief designer of the Chevy Volt. In this GM video he discusses what the current pre-production state means from a design standpoint and what work is yet left to do.  We are treated to some new moving footage of the pre-production vehicle in black.

Boniface explains at this point his team is now looking for fit and finish, gaps and flushness.

He says cars are meant to be seen in motion and this is the first time he can do so with the Volt and thus “its like Christmas morning for me,” he says.

“It looks like a different car to me,” he adds.

He says buying cars is an emotional purchase and that cars are very much a fashion statement.

“We were able to strike a good balance between aerodynamic performance, and those visual cues that excite a buyer,” he says.

He closes by stating the car is “meeting the aerodynamic performance,” that GM had set out for it.

Below the video you can also join in a real time webchat with Bob today at 2PM EDT.

As we recently heard from Chevrolet manager Ed Peper, GM is working on a dedicated non-plugin hybrid vehicle that would get high EPA fuel efficiency ratings.  This is a new approach from GM’s previous strategy to offer hybrid versions of standard gas models like the Malibu, which was discontinued due to poor sales.

Indeed GM has public plans to launch 14 hybrids by 2012 and 26 by 2014.  The next question is whether these dedicated hybrid or hybrids should have unique and distinctive styling as does the Prius or the Inisght.  Though the Prius’ design is clearly polarizing it obviously attracts some buyers who want to display to the world that they are driving a hybrid.

Ed Welburn is GM’s VP of Design and I had a chance to ask him this question on a web chat.

Do you think hybrid vehicles should have unique designs like the Prius and not simply be versions of standard cars like the Malibu was, and are you developing new unique dedicated hybrid designs for your 2 mode hybrid system and BAS+?
That is a subject that we debate in the studios every day. I believe it can be an advantage to give a hybrid vehicle a unique asthetic. Volt (an electric vehicle) has a unique asthetic because of its aerodynamic characteristic and the creative design ideas involved. But the debate goes on…

So it looks like this may be a hot button issue in the conference rooms of General Motors’ design studios. Maybe we should help them out with a poll.

We learned watching the Chevy Volt change from concept to production form how the forces of aerodynamics and electric drive introduce new constraints on car design.

Whereas some were dismayed by these changes, experts agree that these new constraints offer exciting new possibilities.

One question is whether the vehicle’s design should be a badge of distinction for driver who want to let others know they are driving without gas.  Take for example the Prius’ unique look or that of the new Honda Insight.

Volt lead designer Bob Boniface thinks so too.

“People who spend money on technology . . . want to wear that on their sleeve,” he said. “[But] it does still need to have one foot in the mainstream so it fits in people’s lives.”

Places where the presence of electric drive could have the largest impact on design are the grille and hood. Since ventilation isn’t as important in electric cars, a large open grill isn’t necessary, and designers could stretch and tweak the nose of the car in new ways.

Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive also noted “You don’t necessarily have that huge engine up front, so you can sculpt the hood.” Indeed that is what his team has done with the upcoming Karma extended-range vehicle.

New interior space may also arise as batteries shrink and gas tanks disappear.

Source (Autoweek)

It has become extremely clear that GM is pressing ahead aggressively with its plans for electrification of the automobile, and that the first generation Chevy Volt is just the tip of the spear.

The Volt program is well along towards production and GM has announced they will now be in the battery pack design, assembly, and manufacturing business, opening the country’s largest and first battery assembly plant.

They have matured and advanced what used to be known as E-Flex propulsion system for electric drive with range extender, and are now calling it the Voltec propulsion system. Volt vehicle line director Tony Posawatz , who has now just been named co-chairman of the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) explained why the change was made:

“Every one is calling everything ‘flex’…flex fuel, eco-flex, Ford Flex, etc. So basically we said everyone knows the Volt is electric and the Volt name has resonance, so Voltec propulsion system or Volt with ‘EC’ for electric car. Everyone knows immediately what it is and we also have a history of Vortec engines.”

GM also unveiled a concept of how a Cadillac sedan could look using the Voltec propulsion system and blew us a way with the striking and beautiful Converj concept, which incidentally was named the Best Concept Vehicle in the ‘Eyes On Design Awards’ at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Posawatz also tantalizes us noting that the Converj is just the first of a series of extended-range electric vehicle or Voltec concepts GM will be unveiling throughout 2009 at various auto shows. He noted the Geneva Auto Show it likely the next place we’ll see one, which appears to be the European Volt sister, the Opel Ampera.

Here’s what Mr. Posawatz said:

“You’ll see in future shows there will be future variants showing up through this year. Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll be able to say around this time next year which on will be the production car. Right now its not a formal process. Individually people will say I either do or don’t like the Volt, they say its not my style or its not my type or whatever. Over the course of this year were going to unveil a bunch of different possibilities of which some will make it into the product line, and some wont. Part of it is going to be this process of ‘what do you think?’”

When I asked how many different Voltec concepts GM would be unveiling he said the following:

“I cant comment in specifics, in Geneva, in LA, in a few other shows this year you will see a couple of different concepts. So there’s some more stuff coming. But the Volt isn’t a one-trick pony nor can it be, but I have to say were being very very thorough in assessing what is the next best play. In order to get volume you have to have more choices. As much as the Volt is a wonderful car there are people that have different functional requirements. Bob Lutz believes that the Converj ought to be on that list. We’re going to work through the discussion of which of the concepts are going to be the right ones to look at as a next installment in the Volt family.”

Looks like 2009 will be an exciting year for electric car enthusiasts.

The Cadillac Converj was a particularly beautiful concept car revealed by GM at the Detroit Auto Show. The vehicle is a 2 door 4 seater luxury model that uses the Voltec range-extended electric drivetrain with some tweaks to improve driving performance.

It also has a remarkable futuristic interior involving a massive OLED touch screen center stack/console interface, and featuring widescreen screen video camera displays instead of side view mirrors

MotorTrend has reported that GM executives are considering producing a 4-door version of the car. As well a release date of 2013 has been targeted. It was said that the rear doors wouldn’t disrupt the rakish roofline and likely have hidden handles, aspiring to a “four-door coupe” look.

The argument is 2 door cars look “fashionable” and may sell well in their first year, but see sales erode quickly over the next years as practicality takes over from lust.

Of course there’s a lot of financial uncertainty between now and then. GM vice-chair Bob Lutz told me in an exclusive interview that he really wants to produce the car, and that it would retail for the price of “two Volts.” Design executives said they were aiming to build a car that should retail for about $60,000 when creating the Converj.

Lutz also said that there was already a production clay model of the car that could go into wind tunnel testing, but cautioned that the Converj couldn’t be built unless the government considered it as a qualifying product for advanced technology loans.

Source (Motor Trend )

I recently had the chance to ask Bob Boniface who is the Chevy Volt’s design chief about how he perceived the public’s response to the cars redesign from concept to production form.

How do feel about the public’s response to the unveiling?
It depends which day. When the Transformer photos leaked people went crazy for it, but when the day the ones with us standing in front of it..it was the same exact car, people hated it.

When they saw the actual car, most people liked it better than the show car. I worked on both cars, I ran the concept car and I ran this one. This car compared to the show car is a much more sophisticated piece of product design. When you park the two of them next to each other, once you get over the fact that the other one had huge wheels and the wheelbase of a Chevy Tahoe. People don’t realize it bit that car had a 116 inch wheelbase, and a slanted roof. Once you get past those proportional pieces, you realize that this car, the integration of the volumes and the surface vocabulary is much more sophisticated. I love the concept car too, but I like this one better.

Design is two-fold. Styling is only one component to fit. Design has a problem solving component too. The problem we had to solve here was get 4 full sized adults in here comfortably, safely, in a sporty silhouette, and still provide on the promise of 40 miles of petroleum-free driving. That’s difficult.

Building a good looking concept car is very easy to do. There are no constraints.

Did you intend for the car to have more of a mainstream appeal, since it is intended to be a high volume car?
It had to have mainstream appeal, but it didn’t want to be plain vanilla or generic. Were talking about tens of thousands of these that we want to sell. I don’t think that the other car wouldn’t have done it. And frankly the other car, the layout, the powertrain it was the best we knew at the time. Remember it was a concept, we didn’t know it was going to go anywhere. We took an off the shelf gas motor and an off the shelf traction motor and placed them in tandem, and that’s what shoved the wheels forward. As we got into it, we have a much more efficient powertrain here, a much more efficient shape of the body, and a much more efficient interior package. It has more popular appeal. This is going to fit into more people’s lives.

There are those people who have not seen the car in person and say ”Oh they just built a Prius.” This doesn’t not look like a Prius at all. We’ve many times had them parked together, and its crazy but they don’t look alike at all. Yeah they both have four wheels and a smooth shape, but that where the similarities end.

What people can’t tell from photographs is the stance of the car, the width of the track versus the height of the car. The size of the wheels and tires. These are 18 inch. The base will be a 17 inch with an optional 18 inch. This is the production overall diameter. This roof is about 2 inches lower than a Prius. And our wheel diameters are about 2 inches greater than a Prius and the track is wider. So this car has this hunkered down stance in person that our competitor’s just doesn’t have. This car is athletic.