I am here in Detroit about to get started out to the events. Below you will find a real-time live video stream so you can watch the press conference unfold at 10 AM EST. We expect to see a production version of the 50 mpg Chevy Beat (now called Spark), the high efficiency 7-seater microvan called Chevy Orlando, and the new E-Flex Cadillac. As well we should finally have confirmation that LG Chem/CPI got the Volt battery contract and that they will be building a Volt battery pack assembly plant in Michigan.

There has also been news that Ford has finally decided to jump into the electric car arena, and will be showing a 100 mile range pure electric Focus with production plans for 10,000 units in 2011. That’s of course at their press conference.

I’ll be getting more details from the executives involved as the day goes on. Enjoy and thanks for your questions.

Video feed can be found here .

In fact I have heard from sources that the car would be an example of how far machine-driver interface could be taken, and that it would not be a four door Chevy.

Businessweek has now published more details about the car.

Sources have advised them it will be a brash new 2-door Cadillac Coupe, similar in styling to the upcoming CTS coupe (shown above). The car will be smaller and even bolder.

The design will be so striking that an unnamed GM executive has said it will make “people want it regardless of the energy source.”

The car is noted to be a concept, not necessarily production-intent, but will illustrate how additional vehicle designs could also achieve the 40 mile AER and utilize the E-Flex underpinning. Indeed Volt executive Frank Weber has previously told me that changing designs is the “easy part” relative to the complex undertaking of creating a perfect E-Flex drivetrain.

Source (Businessweek)

The Chevy Volt has started a revolution.  Not just for GM, but really for the entire automotive industry.  Perhaps the credit might go to Tesla, but certainly the widespread Volt marketing message has convinced nearly all the automakers that electric cars are the way to go.  Maybe our effort here had a little something to do with it to.  Or maybe not.

Either way, bearing the fruits of this labor, this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit will run rampant with electric concept cars, and new news keeps coming out.

1. Mercedes Benz is expected to be revealing a pure electric and range-extended electric car called the BLueZero series, based on a SUV platform.  Daimler has indicated that “small-scale production of Mercedes-Benz cars with battery-electric drive alone will then commence in 2010.”

2. BMW will be showing its two-seater pure electric MINI E, which will begin field trials this year.  500 cars will be leased to people in NY, NJ, and CA for 1-year.  I’ll admit it, I put in my application.

3. Toyota will be revealing a newly designed short-distance, neighborhood pure electric car.  No specs or image is available.  As well the third generation Prius will be unveiled to the world.  A company official advised me rumors that it is secretly planning a solar-powered car were untrue.

4. Dodge will apparently be showing a 4th EV prototype which will be a four seater different than the Dodge EV it had shown previously.

5. Ford will be discussing its plans to bring a pure EV to market in 2011, and a commercial BEV van in 2010.  Spokesperson Alan Hall told me that although Ford has announced no lithium-ion PHEV plans yet “rest assured that we are pursuing them just as aggressively as anyone else.” There will be a “relevant” press conference at the event, and they will also be showing the new Fusion Hybrid.

6. Fisker will be unveiling the production version Karma E-REV, and unveiling a new Sunset model, which will likely be the word’s first convertible E-REV.

It should be quite an experience.  I am looking forward to being there at ground zero when the press days open on Sunday January 11th.  Stay close to the site, and I’ll get the news as soon as it hits, with of course firsthand in-depth interviews and inside information whenever possible.

And despite the recent drop in auto sales, the economy, and gas prices, the momentum for electrification of the automobile remains strong.

President Bush is soon to make an announcement about whether GM will get government loans or possibly have to endure a pre-packaged bankruptcy.

Regardless of the timing there is a rumor brewing.

Sources have told GM-Volt.com that GM has a brand new E-Flex extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) under wraps and have been hoping to unveil it in January at the Detroit Auto Show.

We have known previously that other E-Flex cars were being designed. The last time I spoke to E-Flex Design Chief Bob Boniface he acknowledged that was true. Although he didn’t say exactly what it would be he did say it wouldn’t be a “four door Chevy”

Since about four GM brands are on the chopping block, and we’ve heard rumors of such in the past, Ill go out on a line and predict the car will be a Cadillac. Indeed previous reports have stated the next E-Flex car would be a Cadillac, and vice-chairman Bob Lutz has gone on record stating “there’s going to have to be some kind of dramatic environmental statement from Cadillac.”

Sources indicate that the new car will illustrate just how far one can go technologically in advancing the driver machine interface under the unique circumstance of the car being electrically driven. Considering how costly such an interface might be, it would logically have to be a luxury car.

Furthermore, GM unveiled a Cadillac Provoq crossover concept with an E-Flex drivetrain and fuel cell last year. This same design is to be launched as the Cadillac SRX crossover. It is unknown whether this new car will be an E-Flex SRX with a gas generator, or whether GM has a totally new design.

Thus it looks like we have yet another reason for being excited about GM’s survival and success, one more route away from oil dependence, and one more reason for the Bush administration to give them another chance.

Stay tuned.

The company already produces mild hybrids, such as the Malibu, which get about a 10 to 15% increase in fuel efficiency. These cars mainly improve efficiency by turning off the engine at stops, using regenerative braking, and providing electric motor acceleration assist. But, there is no ability to drive electric only.

GM also has so-called strong hybrids on the market. Using their 2-mode hybrid system, these cars obtain fuel efficiency increases of up to 55%. Right now they can only be found in large trucks such as the Tahoe. A smaller vehicle, the Saturn VUE is set to launch shortly.

One obvious question is why hasn’t GM applied this strong hybrid technology to a small, light car and get some high mpgs?

According to the table, it seems GM plans to after all. The business plan indicates a strong hybrid small vehicle program with a $315 million budget between 2009 and 2012. This is actually half of the Volt’s allocated budget of $758 million.

Since it appears such a car is part of their future plans, I wondered what vehicle they might have in store for us.

I asked product development spokesperson Dee Allen for an answer. He replied “I cannot comment on future plans beyond what is in the Plan.”

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

It is good to see that GM plans to spend the largest portion of its R&D budget on E-REVs confirming just how important the Volt is to GM’s future.

It is clear though that the automaker thinks more should be spent on mild hybrids and strong hybrid large vehicles than strong hybrid cars.

What do you think the priorities should be? After all it may be your money.

Multiple sources have stated that with all the slashing going on at GM, the Volt program and budget remains unchanged. In fact there is good evidence GM is actually continuing to work on a portfolio of future E-Flex vehicles.

Reuters is reporting that GM will be developing a range of plug-in vehicles to follow the Volt launch in 2010. These include a Cadillac luxury E-Flex and a Chevy with “SUV styling”.

Supporting this report is a recent exchange I had with E-Flex lead designer Bob Boniface:

Can you say anything about other E-Flex vehicles besides the Volt that you are designing now?
No…well I’m working on some other derivative concepts that use this powertrain. That’s all I can say. And they’re not four door Chevys. In other words, we’re playing with brand and were playing with category.

The car is built on the same global compact delta platform as the Chevy Volt and Cruze. GM notes this is an entry into a new segment for the brand, a small footprint 7-seater with “impressive interior space,” and an adaptable theater-style seating configuration that combines elements of a sport utility, family van, and wagon.

The show car demonstrates a 150 hp 2.0 L diesel engine.

It has been speculated this car will be built alongside the Volt at the same plant in Detroit-Hamtramck, and since it shares the same platform, would be ideally suited for an E-Flex drivetrain. Since we know GM has at least 2 other E-Flex models under development, this car seems an ideal opportunity considering the needs of families.

I asked GM spokesperson Nancy Libby if this car will be sold in North America, and she responded it was simply a demonstration show car and “at this point, we have nothing to announce regarding the production of a similar vehicle in the U.S. or anywhere else. ”

Recently the Wall Street Journal reported that GM pulled the Orlando from DHAM, although that remains unconfirmed.

GM sources told me the plant is currently building Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucernes and the ability to go to Volt is “subject to successful discussions with state and local governments.” These sources also report that “no other product has been announced for our plant.”  But since capacity there is in the hundreds of thousands, and first year Volt volumes won’t be as high, perhaps the E-Flex Orlando will wind up being that other product.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see, but what do you think about this being an E-Flex microvan?

Although nothing has been publicly unveiled yet, GM has certainly implied plans for a future portfolio of E-Flex vehicles.  Clearly they don’t expect the momentum to stop with the Volt, but rather expect E-Flex is the dawn of a new era.  Indeed we already know that the E-Flex design studio has at least two other new concepts in the scale model stage (post).

So just when will this new era will begin?  On a few occasions, spy photographers have spotted a small GM Chevy prototype microvan mule, known alternatively as the MPV7 or Chevy Tacuma, undergoing testing in Germany (shown above). For those not familiar with the term, a microvan is a smaller sedan-sized version of a minivan, the most common example being the current Mazda5.

Reportedly this particular Chevy vehicle will be built on the same Delta platform as the Volt will and alongside the Volt at the same assembly plant in Hamtramck.

Because of these shared aspects, some authors have guessed that this vehicle might also have an E-flex drivetrain.  Imagine that, an E-Flex microvan?!

I obtained GMs official comment on this: “pure speculation.”

We’ll see.

Source (Jalopnik)

As far as anyone at GM would say at the time of the unveiling, that vehicle was not production-intent.

From early on, considering the cost of lithium-ion batteries, there has been speculation that the Cadillac brand would be getting an E-Flex car. At first some thought the Volt would wind up a Caddy, but of course that has not turned out to be the case.

Automotive news is reporting something that they seem to know but aren’t willing to fully disclose.

An article was just published today about how GMs product line-up is changing for the smaller. They interviewed Bob Lutz who noted that Aveos may be getting larger and Cadillacs smaller. Lutz also noted that several vehicles could be built on the same Delta platform the Volt will, indicating a belief consumers are looking for small but well-appointed cars.

It was the last line in the article though that seems to catch our attention:

“There is talk that Cadillac will get the next vehicle to use the Volt technology. Stay tuned.”

I checked in with GM sources who would not confirm this possibility.

Source (Automotive News, subscription)

In case you missed it, in my interview with Bob Boniface , E-Flex lead designer, he states clearly that he is already designing future E-Flex vehicles.

In today’s Detroit Press, Volt director Frank Weber confirmed that fact stating "The significance of the project has increased,".

Chief engineer Andrew Farah said next vehicles to get E-Flex will likely be small and mid-sized ones, because the drivetrain would have to be modified considerably to be used in trucks and SUVs.

Weber also indicated that Volt updates would occur on a highly accelerated yearly basis as opposed to the usual 3 to 5 year cycles.  He noted that nine areas on the Volt’s design where major improvements or cost reductions could be made for the next year cycle have already been identified.

Furthermore he told reporters that the first running prototypes with production-intent parts will arrive in the next 10 days with 50 expected by year end.

I have been advised by Mr. Farah that these will not have Volt skins, but will "borrow" the skin of another vehicle besides the Malibu that the present "Mali-Volts" are using.

Source (Detroit Free Press )