GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

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 them reposted as soon as I can.

Here is today’s response from the same GM engineer who threw out the questions in the first place:

Hello again,

Wow, 600+ posts, a write-up on Motor Trend and we broke the internet…this blogging stuff is fun!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your input.  I’ve read every one (excepting those that got lost when we jammed up the website.  Lyle said he would send those to me) of your comments.  I’ve been itching to reply to some of the comments directly, but I can’t reveal everything about what is happening internally here at GM.  Here’s a few common threads I saw and my thoughts:

Many of you noted that you do not have time-of-day charging where you live.  Too bad, because there are savings available with this option.  Here’s a link to a webpage from Los Angeles Water and Power showing a $0.025/kW-h reduction for night charging:
<a href=”http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp002056.jsp” rel=”nofollow”>http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp002056.jsp</a>

They have it here in Detroit too, but you have to contact your electric company to set it up.  I suggest you check with your local electricity supplier to see if they offer this type of program.

-I’m not sure if wireless is going to be offered in this vehicle or not.  I was more interested in what kind of data everyone wanted from their vehicle.  I’m an engineer so the more data the better for me, but I can see that not everyone agrees.  Remember that this information will indeed be optional….if you don’t want to see it or get it (through e-mail, text message or whatever way we figure out how to give it to you) you won’t.

-Many people have mentioned KISS principles with this vehicle.  I totally agree and that is our plan moving forward.  We have enough risk and invention to do with the batteries and integration of the electric and internal combustion drives to mess around with anything else that is unproven, unreliable or new.  That being said, while I can’t comment on what exactly will or will not be offered on the 1st generation of this vehicle, use my comments above to decide whether your technology of choice will make the cut for the first Volts.  But, we are definitely planning future generations of the vehicle that will have whiz bang stuff.

Once again, thanks for all the comments and suggestions.  I’m having fun and I hope you are too.  I have more questions to ask and potentially have other items to share.  If you are willing, I would like to try and do some more posts in the future.

I read the Motor Trend article and was somewhat confused…why wouldn’t I want the input of those that really want this vehicle and want it yesterday?  Would this group like to keep it going?  If so, we may have to give Lyle some money to upgrade the server.

Those of your attending Volt Nation tomorrow, have fun and say hello to Andrew F. for me.  He’s having some problems with his voice, so go easy on him.
 

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 a built in webserver (like a wireless router) That would allow me to monitor the electricity used/ gas used/ miles traveled etc… I would like to be able to see my day to day usage as well as a week and month breakdown. I would also like to be able to enter in my electricity cost and fill up cost to track all expenses.

I would also like to monitor hours on engine. When the next maintenance is due (oil change etc) also I would like a history of all maintenance that was performed over the history of the vehicle.”

It turns out GM is wondering whether this kind of thing would be a good option for the production car. The GM engineer asked me to throw out the following questions from him to you, the GM-volt.com readership:

1–Would you prefer the tracking information for costs/electrical usage/gas usage, etc. be provided in the vehicle or by a weekly/monthly e-mail?
2–Would you be willing to pay for this option? If so, how much?
3–Would you like other information, such as emissions reduced, CO2 negated, etc.
4–Would you like a calculation of cost savings of electricity over fuel?
5–Would you be willing to pay more for the vehicle to know the rates for electricity and delay charging until the rates are lowest?

Give the GM Volt team your thoughts in the comments section, and vote in the poll below. Witness the importance of this site and your opinions in the development of this revolutionary vehicle!

As for me, I’d like a wireless networking server in the car that provides battery SOC, time and distance to depletion, and the ability to check my car’s charging status from any browser, and of course a GM-Volt.com icon on the dash and screen so that we can all network about our Volts anytime!

While I’m at it, I’d also like to be able to see the depletion of my batteries energy graphically in real-time while driving, and have the dash show me optimum driving velocity for grade so that I may make the charge last the longest. Oh yeah, and of course I want the whole dash to be a programmable LCD screen. I think this geeked out setup should be an option at extra charge of $499.

What say you?

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{UPDATE: COMMENTS Overloaded go to Next Post to answer]

GM-Volt.com has reached the next level.

For more than a year I have served as your intermediary. After building visibility and credibility to the point I could meet with actual GM executives in charge of building the Volt, I brought your questions, ideas, and enthusiasm to them. We let them know we are here and holding them accountable to building this car. It has always been my hope to connect you all to them as well. A couple of months ago I proposed to GM that they co-host the GM-Volt.com community in a town hall-type event, where we could all get together, meet in person, inspect the Volt show car, and get our questions answered directly from GM executives.

Well, they took me up on the offer!

Wednesday, March 19th, 4:30PM at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in New York City, the first VOLT NATION Town Hall event will take place.

The venue will be the last conference of the NY Auto Show press days, before it opens to the public.

The first 250 people to register, exclusively on this site, will get guaranteed entry and a press pass. At the show we will have a private, exclusive get-together with the entire Chevy Volt executive team, on stage, gathered around the show car. Your questions will be taken and answered.

Don’t miss this unprecedented opportunity to continue to get our message and input to GM how much this car means to us and the world.

Register by sending your name, address, email address and phone number to voltnation@gmail.com. Your data is secure and will be managed by me (with a little help from GM’s PR firm).

Witness the power of social media!

One of the most important things we are doing here at GM-Volt.com is building a community of people who are interested in owning and driving this groundbreaking new car. We are striving to keep the development of this car as transparent and accessible to the public as possible, and allow for public feedback to GM about the car and the process. We also help to educate one another and people new to the idea of the range-extended electric car.

To these ends, I have been given the opportunity in the immediate future to sit down with the Volt’s top-tier executive management team to discuss the current state of Chevy Volt development and related issues.

I wish we could all be there, but I am your willing representative. In keeping with that role I would really like to bring your questions to the table and get them answered individually.

These are the General Motors executives with whom I’ll be speaking:

Bob Lutz: GM Vice Chairman (buck stops there)

Frank Weber: E-Flex Vehicle Line Executive (head of the whole E-Flex/Chevy Volt team)

Denise Gray: Director of Advanced Battery Systems (in charge of the lithium-ion battery)

Tony Posawatz: E-Flex Vehicle Line Director (in charge of E-Flex/Volt engineering)

Bob Boniface: Director of E-Flex Design (in charge of the car’s interior/exterior design/appearance)

In the comments of this post, write any questions you have for any of these individuals. Please try to keep the questions brief and clear. Also read the questions of others so as not to duplicate them. Also check with our brand-new Chevy Volt FAQ to see if the answer is already there. If you have suggestions for the team members, try to put them in the form of a question.

Direct your questions to the appropriate member. Keep in mind that I will happen to have the most access to Denise Gray and Tony Posawatz, and the least access to Bob Lutz.

I will do my best to ask your specific questions and get the responses back to you here. My reports will likely be in multiple media forms including audio, video, and text.

OK folks, bring ‘em on!

[UPDATE 11/14/07 8:30AM EST: Thanks for all your questions.  Meetings are over.  I got to MANY of them and great answers.  I will post the responses in digestible and discussable segments over the next couple of days]