Archive for the 'Engineering' Category
Possible Future Chevy Volt Options - Version One Will Have 40 Miles EV Range
Recently we heard GM might be considering a 20 mile Volt variant in the future. This led to some active discussion, and perhaps some misunderstanding. It must remain perfectly clear, the Chevy Volt when it arrives in 2010 will get 40 miles of EV range.
Tony Posawatz (above) is GM’s Chevy Volt Vehicle Line [...]
Popularity: 59%
Remaining Control and Engineering Work in the Chevy Volt’s Development
Below is a discussion I just had with Micky Bly who is GM’s director of hybrid vehicle integration. He is responsible for putting all the parts of the Volt together to produce a smooth and consistent driving experience.
Now that Bob Lutz has said the battery is no longer the issue, what are the issues [...]
Popularity: 77%
Should the Volt Have a Free-Wheel Glide Pedal Position?
The following is a guest post by one of our regular readers, George K:
Lyle, you just had a great topic on features we’d like to see in Volt II. I’d like to share with you my #1 feature request for Volt I… “Pulse and Glide”.
Using it, you will get better mileage, and it’s fun to [...]
Popularity: 38%
Toyota Attacks the Volt…Again
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) are having a conference in Detroit this week. One paper that was presented was written by Toyota and called ‘Study on the Potential Benefits of a Hybrid System”.
The results were summarized by our friend Mike Milikin of Greencarcongress.
In the study Toyota compared the E-REV concept to the PHEV Prius [...]
Popularity: 38%
Will the Volt be Too Powerful?
Mike Allen is the senior automotive editor for Popular Mechanics. In a new article he seems to take issue with Detroit’s strategy that plug-in hybrid vehicles have powerful powertrains. He is in fact taking aim at the Volt.
He invokes images of the famous VW (hippie) microbuses that had 40 hp engines, and recommends [...]
Popularity: 35%
Volt Gas Tank Shrunk - Maximum Range Reduced
When the Chevy Volt concept was first introduced it included a pair of 6 gallon tanks. At 50 mpg (under ICE range extension mode) this resulted in the car having an overall 640 mile maximum range.
Over time, as engineers have developed the car’s final internal layout, as per Volt lead engineer Andrew Farah, it became [...]
Popularity: 35%
E-Flex/Chevy Volt Battery Lab Tour and Update
I had the chance to tour the Chevy Volt battery lab and hear presentations by Lance Turner and Roland Matthe, battery engineers. This was actually my second trip there (see prior post).
Lance showed us a sample of the LG/CPI pack running a series of driving cycles including the aggressive US06. The first pack has been [...]
Popularity: 30%
Fully Operational 40 Mile Range Chevy Volt Prototype to Hit Road This Month
During our Chevy Volt media day, myself and other journalists were given a whirlwind tour of the E-Flex battery lab. Hybrid Director Mickey Bly briefed us on the current mule (test car) status.
First, there have been four mules operational for the past 6 months. We actually got to see one on a lift, [...]
Popularity: 29%
Lutz Details Volt’s New Design and Production Plans
Bob Lutz gave a rather extensive Chevy Volt interview to the Australian publication Go Auto, and let out remarkable details we didn’t get to hear at Volt Nation.
For one thing he told them the Volt will be sold in Australia in 2011 or 2012.
In terms of production volumes, he said:
“Initially the production is going [...]
Popularity: 34%
GM Chevy Volt Engineer Hears Our Requests
We had a very vigorous response yesterday when one of GM’s engineers reached out to this site for some feedback on ideas for a data interface for the production car. The response of over 500 comments seemed to crack the blog’s ability to handle it! No worries, I still have the comments in the database and will get [...]
Popularity: 20%
Give Your Direct Input to GM’s Volt Engineering Team on Vehicle Data Options!
A post by “Belloc” on our Forum was noticed by one of the actual GM engineers that is building the Chevy Volt. That engineer writes to me “I’m an enthusiastic reader of the gm-volt.com site” and “I’m trying to ensure that it’s (the Volt) got the best features that the customers’ want.
Belloc’s post:
“I would like [...]
Popularity: 57%
Interview: Darryn Nowicki Electric Vehicle Director, Continental Automotive, Part I
Continental Automotive is the Chevy Volt battery pack integrator working with A123 Systems. I had the chance to interview Darren Nowicki who heads Continental’s North American Hybrid Electrical Vehicle Unit, and has integral knowledge of the Chevy Volt battery packs development.
Are you involved with the Continental team that has designed the initial prototype and future [...]
Popularity: 22%
Recent Posts
- Update: EnerDel’s Chairman on the Cost of the Th!nk Lithium-ion Battery Pack
- GM Marching to a New Beat: Expect Mutiple Volt Versions
- Exclusive: Interview With EnerDel Chairman Charles Gassenheimer
- Wall Street Journal Opinion - Chevy Volt Just a Political Tool
- GM on June Sales: Asia Doesn’t Have a Monopoly on Fuel-Efficient Vehicles
- Artist’s Estimation of the Production Chevy Volt
- Should GM Skip the Volt and Just Make More Efficient Gas Cars?
- Continental Says Chances Good of Getting Volt Battery Contract
- Lutz Explains Why the EV-1 Can’t Simply Be Reintroduced
- Ford Calls the Chevy Volt a Hail Mary Play
