GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

The Volt can’t be all things to all people, but GM has aimed to make the car as widely applicable as possible. Certainly the presence of a ranger extender goes a long way in giving the car advantages over pure EVs while still allowing drivers to cover most of their daily miles without gas.

GM designed the Volt’s 400 pound lithium-ion battery to fit into a T-shaped container that runs down the midsection of the car. This heavy weight in the center lowers the center of gravity, improving handling as well as helping to create a near 50:50 weight balance.

When the car was initially being redesigned, in order to keep the roof line low, the battery was so tall that it had to be run through the center of the rear bench, reducing the typically 3-person row, and 5 person capacity to a 2 seat row and 4 person capacity.

We hope and want the Volt to sell in high volumes, but some question if being a four-seater will reduce the car’s potential marketability.

According to former Volt marketing director Tony DiSalle, GM doesn’t see that as the case at all.

“Generally when you look at a vehicle in the small to mid category and realistically look at that middle seat in the back row it is often times not all that functional of a middle seat,” says DiSalle. “So I don’t see that as a major detriment at all.”

DiSalle tries to see it as even adding value in terms of adding storage space. The top of the pack has cupholders and storage space in it.

“There are some packaging advantages of the vehicle,” he says. “The cargo space in the back is very roomy. There’s an ability to put quite a bit of stuff back there.”

DiSalle believes that the center rear seat in most cars in the Volt’s size class are not realistically usable anyway.

“I would specifically say that middle seat if you look around in a small mid vehicle and just look at the dimensionality of the middle seat typically you have to question how functional or realistic that is,” he says. “I don’t think we have any major disadvantage with that at all.”

He would not say if GM plans to open that space for seating in the next generation Volt, by redesigning the battery. “I can’t say in terms of the next generation Volts what the gameplan is, we’re just not given out any specifics on the next gen product,” said DiSalle.

DiSalle thinks people are buying Volts to be involved in new technology and to reduce gas consumption. “So while its certainly not a utility vehicle that’s not why people are buying it per se,” he says.

The Chevrolet Volt was designed and built to perform well even in the harshest winter conditions.

During the months of Volt development GM often shared winter testing reports in various places like Pikes Peak and Kapuskasing Ontario all to illustrate how much effort they put into optimizing winter functioning.

In fact, the company chose to begin selling the first Volts to drivers like myself in the New York region, smack in the middle of winter.

To celebrate this achievement of an electric car specially endowed to meet winter challenges, GM issued a press release. They noted that winter conditions can  take an even greater toll on battery-powered than gas-powered vehicles, something the presence of the gas engine mitigates.

It was noted that combustion engines produce a lot of energy wasted in the form of heat, and that energy is normally used to warm the cabin. Electric cars, however,  have to use electricity to generate that heat, thus impacting range.

“It requires as much energy to heat the interior of a car on a cold day as it does to drive at a constant speed,” said Susan Stevenson, General Motors benchmarking engineer for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

GM points out that is costs more energy to heat up the cabin than to maintain it, so it is recommended that users remotely start their cabin heat while the vehicle is plugged in thereby utilizing grid energy to do so.  Powerful heated seats also use less energy to keep occupants warm then heating the air does.

The presence of the gas engine gives the Volt a tremendous advantage over pure EVs in extreme cold temperature.  As I and many owners have experienced, even in EV mode the gas engine will periodically cycle for a minute or so in temperatures less than 26 degrees F.  The engine heat which is produced is used both to heat the battery coolant as well as to heat the cabin.  Using the engine to produce this heat is faster and more efficient than draining the battery to do so.  Under light driving loads excess energy from these engine cycles is put back into the battery, and may cause the EV range to increase.

“Volt drivers in Southern California will likely never experience this in their day-to-day commute, but if they pack up their gear and head into the mountains for some skiing, they will appreciate the enhanced cabin comfort made possible by this unique powertrain” said Andrew Farah, vehicle chief engineer for the Volt.

Having the engine not only helps heat the cabin, preserve the battery, and relieve range anxiety but “the Volt’s engine generator dramatically reduces the fear of being stranded,” says GM. Being caught in a severe extremely low temperature snowstorm in a pure electric car could quickly become dangerous.  The stockpile of energy contained in the gas tank, however, can keep the car warm for many hours while waiting for help to arrive.

“Volt engineers spent many frigid weeks in places like Kapuskasing, Ontario and Fairbanks, Alaska testing and calibrating the climate control system to make sure that drivers and passengers remain comfortable while still enjoying plenty of gasoline-free electric driving even in the harshest winter weather” said Farah.

Though  in my experience EV driving ranges do come closer to the low end 25 mile mark in cold weather high speed driving, the benefit of the gas engine on safety, comfort, and battery life far outweighs the downside.

Source (GM)

I’ve had my Volt for just under a month now, and while I’ve greatly enjoyed the car, I thought I should write some details about the Chevrolet Customer support experience in regards to the Volt, given my “unique” situation. While my dealer experience was less than stellar to say the least, I feel it necessary to write about how phenomenal the support has been from General Motors.

First, I should probably discuss a bit about my situation and experiences with my dealer, though it certainly isn’t my intent to bad mouth them, and I will in fact leave out many issues I had with my dealer that weren’t related to the physical car. I also think my negative experience with a dealer is more an exception than the norm, as I’ve read many great dealer experiences in these forums. As most of you may know from my forum posts, my scheduled date to receive my car was delayed when I received a call from my dealership stating that my Volt had been dented. Apparently there was construction at my dealership, and they made a real bad call by parking it next to a pile of construction materials. Those construction materials subsequently fell over, resulting in both driver side doors being dented, as well as damage to the driver side quarter panel. (Dealer: -1) Needless to say, I wasn’t very pleased. This call came in about 16 hours before I was going to leave with a friend to get my Volt, and about 1 hour after I sold my existing car. GM got involved rather quickly, with numerous personnel responding to the situation. They offered me a rental car given that I sold my car hours earlier. (GM: +1) I declined, however, as I figured I could carpool with some friends in the interim. GM also over-nighted door panels and parts to make sure that whatever solution I chose could be done quickly and effectively, to minimize delay of my Volt. (GM: +1)

I was given numbers to various GM personnel and told to call them whenever I had questions, and they also updated me frequently, whereas the dealer had gone silent. (GM: +1) Eventually, I settled on having my doors repaired, rather than new panels installed. My thinking (and there are varying opinions here) was that repair of the doors would minimize the amount of the car’s factory finish that had to be touched or repainted. I made sure the dealer knew that any “paint booth” time for the car meant the battery should be removed due to the high temperatures, though they didn’t seem too interested in hearing about that. After the work was done, I drove 5 hours to take delivery; the doors looked magnificent, and I was about to be the proud owner of a new Volt!

However, just prior to delivery, I noticed that the center display wasn’t working. My dealer said it was working before, and wasn’t sure what the problem was. The dealer didn’t have any technicians on hand to look into it; they all took the day off, as this was the day before Christmas eve. The dealer wasn’t able to call a technician in either, because they are a union shop and apparently it’s not that simple (or so I’m told). I called my Volt advisor who was very sympathetic and told me she was going to start calling area dealers to see if another place nearby could assist. (GM: +1) Meanwhile, the dealer managed to get a hold of a Volt hotline at GM. (Dealer: +1) GM decided to send a Field Service Engineer (FSE) to the dealer, and also send parts their immediately in case something may need to be replaced. (GM: +1)

The FSE arrived within an hour and immediately began diagnosing the problem. It was eventually determined that the Nav unit needed to be replaced, and they weren’t sure why the failure occurred. However, the part wouldn’t arrive until the next day. GM offered me a hotel room and a rental car, but I declined as I needed to travel about 7 hours to visit family for the holidays, and wanted to ensure I got there in time for Christmas. The FSE then said he would likely make the 7 hour trip after Christmas to replace the Nav unit and see to it that my problem was resolved. (GM: +1) So, I left with my Volt, sans a working center display.

On my way to family, I stopped at my friend’s in-law’s house to get some items I left there, and when I started the car back up, I received a “Reduced Propulsion” message on the display; it seemed as if the engine was driving the car directly through an electric motor, with no battery system to speak of. I hit the OnStar button and my call was immediately answered. I asked if they could do a diagnostic which they did, and they said the battery system needed immediate servicing. They suggested, however, that I could try turning the car off and then on again. I did, and I didn’t receive the error again… Great! I drove off, and didn’t stop again until I needed gas. Once my tank was full, I went to start my car, and again came this “Reduced Propulsion” message. This time, I couldn’t get it to go away. I called OnStar again, and as I was waiting to be transferred to a higher level technician, I figured out that I could avoid the error by making sure I took my foot off the brake immediately after pressing the power button. I told the OnStar technician this and he said he would make a note of this behavior and appreciated my feedback and patience. (GM: +1)

After that, I eventually arrived to visit family, and enjoyed the holidays with them. The error message did not come up again so long as I used my little trick to avoid it. A few days later, the same FSE that had helped diagnose the radio problem made the 7 hour drive and replaced my nav unit, fixing my center display. After that, I had difficulty recreating the “Reduced Propulsion” message, so he just said to give him a call if anything cropped up again. (GM: +1) I also had many people at this dealership checking the car out, and loving it. Despite being in a state that isn’t even an initial market for the Volt, they had two certified Volt technicians, and they were ecstatic to be able to see the Volt “in the flesh”.

Throughout this time, I received multiple calls from my Volt advisor providing me information and soliciting some from me too. I was eventually told that GM would very much like to replace my battery, so they could do some analysis on the error I received, as they had not seen it previously. They also wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have any further issues, and were very apologetic. They said they would overnight a battery to my hometown dealer, and as soon as I made the trip back home, they would do the swap. (GM: +1)

I met another FSE from my hometown region, and he performed my battery swap without any major issues. This dealer also had many people interested in seeing the car, taking quite an interest and asking many questions. I was told by the FSE that a battery engineer from GM would likely be calling me to ask for more details surrounding the error I had seen. He also provided me his number and told me to call him if I had any issues whatsoever. (GM: +1)

I received another call from my Volt advisor, again apologizing and asking if there was anything they could do for all my troubles. I mentioned the possibility of a Voltec charger, and she said she would look into it. A few days later, i was told they were going to provide me with one free of charge. (GM: +1)

Shortly after, I received a call from the battery engineer, and spoke with him at length about all the details surrounding my battery issue, as well as the other issues I encountered in case they were related. He was very professional and we had a great conversation. I mentioned that, in my mind, it may have been the lack of removing the battery if the car went into a paint booth for the clear coat to be cured, which he thought could be a possibility as well. (I mention this because I don’t think my battery issue in any way reflects on the quality of the Volt.) In the end, he gave me his phone number and email address, and told me to contact him anytime if I needed anything. He also extended an offer to me to tour the various parts of the GM Hamtramck operations, including the plant, test track, and battery facility, should I ever be in the area. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, he also stated that I should expect a call from Mickey Bly, the Executive Director of Advanced Battery Development, to extend the same offer and chat with me some more, stating Mr. Bly had also read some of my GM-Volt blog entries. (GM: +5)

While I haven’t heard from Mr. Bly yet (I suspect he’s very busy), this whole chain of events have had one very consistent element present: unrelenting and amazing customer service from GM. They truly are putting their best foot forward with the Volt, and their customer service has been nothing less than exemplary. I hope that everyone who reads will also see that, even with the issues I had (which weren’t that bad, and mostly related to the dealer), the Volt delivers a truly amazing experience, both in the way it drives, and the customer service from GM that comes with the car.

I have since been driving problem-free, and am thankful for all of the support from GM: the engineers, advisors, FSE’s, not to mention from our own WopOnTour. Everyone at GM has been more than helpful, and I don’t feel that can be overstated. In a world where good service is often overlooked, I want to tip my hat to everyone at GM who is a part of such amazing customer service. You make the Volt experience even better than it already is, and I didn’t think that was even possible!

GM announced this week that their venture capital arm called GM Ventures will invest $5 million in a small company called Powermat. The company makes a charging system that uses wireless technology to charge smartphones and other devices, and is considered a pioneer in the filed.

Through this partnership the Powermat will produce an in-car wireless charging pad for the center console of the Chevy Volt, which will become available in mid-2012.

Since the Volt itself is modeled to be a reinvention of the automobile, it makes sense that the reinvention of in-car cellphone charging first appear in this vehicle as well.

“Imagine a mat or shelf where you could put your iPhone, your Droid or other personal device and charge it automatically while you commute to work, run errands or as you’re driving on a family vacation,” said Micky Bly, GM’s lead electronics executive, including infotainment, hybrids and battery electric vehicles.

“The Chevy Volt will be one of the first applications, but we intend to expand it across our vehicle portfolio,” Bly said.

Powermat was first founded in 2007 and already produces wireless charging mats for in-home use.  This will be the first of its kind to be found in an automobile and the deal is exclusive for GM.

John Lauckner who is the President of GM Ventures was also the creator of the Volt concept back when he was VP of global program management.  A big fan of smartphones himself, Lauckner had always dreamed of this idea for the car.

“We first developed the Volt concept car in 2006,” Lauckner said. “The intent was to revolutionize every aspect of the car, not just the propulsion system.  We had something like this in mind even then, and we think it will have widespread appeal.”

Source (GM)

Drivers of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt have three driving modes to choose from; normal, sports, and mountain mode.

The mountain mode is rarely used.  It acts to cause the range extender turn on at higher charge point of the battery.  This allows a deeper battery reserve for use when travelling up a long steep grade.  In nearly 2000 miles of driving I have never found the need to use it.

When the car is powered on it is in regular mode by default.  This provides a standard accelerator experience. Pressing the drive mode button twice causes the car to shift into sports mode.  Once engaged the driver will feel the car surge forward, and it becomes much more spirited in acceleration.

GM Volt director Tony Posawatz once mentioned that the car would get the same efficiency or EV range whether the driver was in sports mode or regular mode.  Top power out put is the same 110 kw, and flooring the pedal produces the same response in both instances.

“On the various EPA federal test procedure cycles, the efficiencies are basically the same, says Posawatz.

It is true, though that driver behavior is a more prominent factor.  Aggressive use of the accelerator in sports mode will lead to more range reduction than the same use of the accelerator in normal mode.

“Sport mode may cause you to have a bit more fun and if you fully realize the fun opportunities, you will be a bit less efficient,” says Posawatz.

In my experience driving the car, I tend to prefer sports mode, and use it all the time.  Tony Posawatz also drives a captured test fleet Volt and uses it a bit differently.

“I have found that I use Sport mode and have fun when I know that I will make it to my charging station without using gas and with time to charge,” he said.  ”It is my guilty pleasure.”

“Similarly, I have changed my driving a bit to see if I can beat the “video game” and improve my numbers,” he added.

Braking is another issue.

When in D mode, the car softly coasts similarly to a conventional car when the foot is off the accelerator. L mode engages a strong regenerative drag when the foot is off the accelerator that allows the driver to simulate a downshift effect and get motor braking, sparing the disc brakes from wear.

It has been my preference to drive at speed in D mode, but when needing to slow or in stop and go traffic I use the L mode.

Posawatz explains that overall efficiency doesn’t differ much between these two settings either.

“Relative to D vs. L, there also is not a lot of difference in efficiency between the two,” he said. “Going down Pikes Peak, you want to be in L.”

“You want to use the coast of drive and then shift into L as you approach a stop, he added. “I use the L a lot because it is a more engaging drive, especially in Sport and on winding roads.”

I recently have been able to experience a function of the Volt that I have only imagined about for some time.

One of the advantages of the Volt over a pure electric car is its ability to use the engine at times to help condition the battery.

Extremes of temperature reduce the energy and power storing capacity of lithium ion cells. So when the ambient temperature is very low, the Volt can power up the gas engine to help heat the cells to their optimum operating temperature, around 70 degrees F.

I had my first experience with this function the other night when it was cold outside and the car had been sitting in an outdoor parking lot.

I arrived to the car and it was 25 degrees. Immediately after turning the car on, a screen popped up on the dash which read ”Engine Running Due to Temperature.” The normally prominent battery state of charge display was faded and reduced into the background (shown above).

The engine clearly was revving at a higher than ususal speed making it quite audible, more so than I ever heard during routine driving.

It ran for about a minute and a half and then shut off, placing the car back into EV mode.

On the next day, the car was in my garage where it was warmer and the engine did not go on at start. A few minutes after leaving home when the temperature dropped, the car repeated the engine on routine.  The temperature below which the engine will turn on is 26 degrees F.

It happened a second time after I briefly stopped off for coffee and came back to the car. I also found surpsisingly during the middle of my 30 mile commute it happended one more time for minute and a half while I was at highway speed.

For the total of the three minute and a half engine runs, the screen indicated 0.1 gallons of gas were used.

I have included a brief video of what the sound was like, as captured on my iPhone, below.

In the end, the experience was no big deal, and actually kind of cool and reassuring to see this advanced and careful engineering in action.  Also there was peace of mind knowing the big battery is being so carefully pampered, and that this car was truly built for any climate.