GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

The strike is over, and GM has an improved position against competitors with the health care nugget off the books. Now its time to get back to hybrid technology revolution-making.

Next month we will see the release to dealers of the first-ever two-mode hybrids in form of Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon (read my test drive). We also now know the official mpgs of these big vehicles..21/22 city/hwy up from the base of 14/20.

It’s time for GM to wage war, and Bob Lutz has fired off some fighting words.

With respect to the fact that Toyota has run into lithium-ion battery troubles, and the fact that they have publicly commented that Volt technology is “unsafe”, Mr Lutz had this to say:

“There’s so much negativism, especially from one competitor,” GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said. “The sooner we can disprove that, the sooner they’ve got some more egg on their face,”

OK Mr. Lutz, you said sooner, we’re waiting.

Source (Detroit Free Press)

Right now, Toyota dominates the world hybrid car marketplace. Let’s look at the numbers. Toyota sold 4.72 million vehicles in the first half of 2007. 1.33 million of those were sold in the U.S. Out of that U.S. sales group, 146,536, or a full 11% were hybrid cars. Specifically in June, they sold 46,630 Camrys and 17,756 Priuses. That Prius number is up 75% from June 06, and considering that the Camry is the best selling passenger car in America, the fact that Toyota is selling one Prius for every 2.6 Camrys is mighty impressive and confirms a dramatic hybrid shift among U.S. consumers.

Just released July 2007 data indicate that hybrid sales of all makes is up 12% from July 2006. In this last month 16,062 Priuses were sold out of a total of 28,585 hybrids (56%), and hybrids accounted for 2.2% of overall vehicle sales.

General Motors (GM) for it’s part delivered 320,935 vehicles in July 2007, in that group 201,069 were trucks (63%). For first half 2007 they delivered 4.67 million units, second place to Toyota, but 2.25 million of those vehicles were sold in the U.S., which is almost double Toyota’s sales there. It is interesting to note that the top 3 selling vehicles in the U.S. are actually pick-up trucks (4th is the Camry), which explains GM’s U.S. sales advantage overall. That’s’ right folks, the U.S. makes and drives gas-guzzling trucks

Now we need to consider where things are heading. With gas prices continuing to rise, in fact oil within the past two weeks hitting an all time high of 78$ per barrel, and with climate change concerns high on the scale of public awareness, we are very likely at the mere foot of an extremely steep climb of hybrid vehicle adoption.

GM presently manufactures two hybrid cars, the Saturn VUE and Aura, and are releasing three more this year, the Chevy Malibu and Tahoe, and the GMC Yukon. Next year they will release three more hybrids; Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Silverado, and GMC Sierra. Those last two are pick-up trucks. GM could not provide me with current sales numbers of hybrids, claiming they are not “broken out” from their parent lines, but are likely quite small right now. Overall (both standard and hybrid) 52,000VUEs and 33,000 Auras were sold in the first half of 2007 in the U.S. This total number, is less than the total number of Priuses that were sold.

It is quite clear from these facts that GM must move to electrification in order to not only thrive in the future, but survive.

The announcement of the Volt was clearly a shock to the system (pun intended), and suddenly Toyota has been moved from the dominant position to the come from behind spot. The current Prius does not hold a candle to the Volt in terms of fuel efficiency, sexiness-factor, technology, or appearance. The fact that so many Priuses are sold attests to the fact that it is fuel efficiency that people want, so much so that they will sacrifice looks.

Now Toyota has put on public display their weak hand. The so-called “new” plug-in Prius with its lame name “Plug-in HV” is nothing more than an old Prius, with a heavy pile of old-fashioned NiMH batteries in the trunk, that can only manage 8 miles to a charge. This car pales dimly in comparison to the Volt’s powerful electric engine, lightweight and powerful lithium-ion batteries, 40 mile electric driving range, and impressive 600-700 mile combustion assisted range.

It is very interesting that Toyota has officially delayed it’s adoption of Lithium-ion technology. Here is where GM has appeared to pull another brilliant move. They solicited bids from 13 lithium-battery suppliers who had the confidence that they could supply GM Volt battery packs on a mass-production level. From that group the two most promising teams were selected and given development contracts. To me that means money and likely a non-compete agreement. At that point, Toyota was bootstrapped. They lost access to the best and brightest makers of Li-ion. Right now we are are in the midst of a very aggressive engineering phase, and will see some working packs by year end, for the Volt, not the Toyota.

The EV1 was the right idea at the wrong time. The Volt is a life-or-death decision for GM. To my thinking there is no doubt that GM will and must make it happen. Furthermore GM is now in the right position to turn the whole market around and beat Toyota at it’s own game. Toyota might try to beat GM to market with a plug-in car, but in a battle of Volt versus Prius HV, the Volt will win hands down. So let’s roll GM..you won round one and two, now it’s time for the knockout.

General Motor’s has officially announced that it will begin mass production of hybrid versions of it’s popular large SUV vehicles the GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe. The cars will be available for purchase in the 4th quarter of this year.

GM-Volt.com moderator was given the opportunity to test drive one of the pre-production models right in the crazy yellow-cab filled traffic of NYC, and to discuss the cars with Vehicle Chief, Full Size Truck Hybrid Mark Cieslak and Assistant Chief Engineer Small block truck engines Chris Meagher.

These vehicles are unique for two reasons, they are the first-ever passenger vehicles to have a 2-mode hybrid system, and they are the first ever large SUV hybrid vehicles on the planet. While they aren’t Volts, they are a step in the right direction.

Standard hybrids like the Toyota Prius use a single mode hybrid system, meaning the electric motor powers the car only at low velocities, once speed or acceleration increases, the car goes to all combustion. In the 2-mode Yukon and Tahoe, there are two separate electric motors directly linked into the transmission. One powers the car at low velocities, whereas the other one kicks in at certain high speed conditions. This allows the vehicles to improve fuel economy both in city and highway driving. Indeed the car gets a 40% improvement in fuel economy in city driving, and overall a 25% improvement over the non-hybrid base models. Further gains in fuel economy come from the truck’s abilities to shut off 4 of the 8 cylinders, and to use a variable displacement oil pump.

The cars are engineering marvels and contain the most sophisticated on-board computer and software systems on the road. In order to achieve the best possible fuel economy, the computer analyzes the car’s driving state 50 times per second and determines which configuration; electric motor 1, electric motor 2, four or eight cylinders, or ICE shut-off will be most energy-efficient.

Some modifications of the vehicles structural components had to take place to make up for the increased weight from the hybrid system and batteries. This included an aluminum hood and improved aerodynamics of the front grill and running boards. The car uses a 300V NiMh battery housed under one of the rear seats, and has a 6.0 L engine.

Getting into the driver’s seat (I drove the GMC Yukon), it feels like any other large SUV. Differences become apparent when one looks at the dash. There is an indicator showing the driver’s role in the trucks ecomony. If you accelerate too hard the needle goes to the right (burning too much fuel), if you brake too hard it goes to the left (losing stored energy by activating non-regenerative brakes). If your driving is optimal, the needle stays in the green zone.

Starting the car comes straight from the electric motor, and you do not hear the whine of the starter. When stepping on the accelerator, one feels the unique instant responsiveness of the electric motor. While driving one can barely perceive when the gas motor switches on and off, and indicator lights show if the ICE is on or off, in 4 or 8 cylinder mode, and which electric motor is running. On the in-dash nav screen all of this data is displayed graphically.

Overall, a very responsive, agile and well-handling ride, and a lot of fun.

One might ask if it isn’t paradoxical to have a giant gas-guzzler as a hybrid, but Mark’s answer is that it is actually a “perfect marriage”. Since this type of vehicle is generally so fuel consumptive, making hybrid gains on it are very valuable. Plus one can do all the heavy hauling needed, while still reducing oil consumption. The non-hybrid version of these trucks get 14 mpg city/19 mpg highway. With the 2-mode hybrid system, those numbers go to 20 mpg city/? highway (not federally approved yet).

When asked what he’s most proud of in these vehicles, Marks reply is “best technology, best efficiency, and best capability of any hybrid vehicle on the road today”.

While they’re not Volts these machines bring us closer to that goal. Indeed, these are two of several hybrids GM is putting out this year. And expect to see the 2-mode systems in upcoming Escalades, Saturn VUEs, and pick-up trucks.

Pricing is not finalized yet, but will fall within the same price range of the current Tahoe and Yukon lineups.