GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

I am here in Detroit on the eve of the dawn of GMs next 100 years, and the revelation of the production Chevy Volt.

In passing today I had a conversation with Bob Boniface chief of E-Flex design. He confirmed the leak of the Volt photos were unintentional. He also indicated that the cars appearance in them was very unflattering. He explained the angles and lighting were inappropriate and the car was not captured properly. In fact, those images had never even been approved by GM.

This sense was also conveyed by Ed Welburn, GMs VP of design who in a separate conversation said those photos were "terrible."

Boniface also said the "Transformer Volt", which many thought looked better, was actually a vehicle of identical design.

We shall soon see…Remember to tune in here tomorrow by 8:30 AM EST.

Not unexpectedly the leak of production Volt photos have ricocheted around the web, and certainly 10’s if not 100’s of thousands of people have seen these images.  However, some design uncertainty remains. We really haven’t seen the car alone in full at favorable angles and with unencumbered views.  This will come next week.  Sources tell me those pictures are, and indeed the car is, quite striking, and the leaked images really don’t do the car proper justice, as the executives are the focal points, not the car.

Based on the suboptimal leaked images, many of the comments appearing here and elsewhere although mixed have tended negative about the redesign.

The poll we took here showed from what 1388 respondents have seen, that 57% preferred the concept, 32% preferred the production model, 7% felt the same about both, and 4% didn’t know.

I agree design is important, but how much so?

After all this is really about petroleum displacement.  What moved me to start this site in January 07 when GM first announced the car actually wasn’t what the Volt looked like but what it did.

I like beautiful cars, but the big issue is a US company making a profound and major stride in getting this country and the world off of oil.

No matter what the Volt looks like, it will drive for the first 40 miles, the majority of US drivers’ daily need, without using a drop of gasoline.

And, although there will be a necessary ramp-up, the car will be mass-produced using GM’s extensive global manufacturing infrastructure and eventually delivered to nearly every developed country in the world.

Those things will begin make a difference for us all.

So for our next poll:

And thanks to reader Fred Potter for the colored Volts!

We are only seven days away from GM’s official unveiling of the production Chevy Volt. For those not up to speed, GM has long ago said the production version couldn’t look like the concept because of an intensive need for aerodynamic improvement. These changes are evident in the form of the production Volt which has been designed to ensure a 40 mile electric driving range.

As we know, yesterday a batch of pictures of the production Chevy Volt with key executives standing in front of it leaked into the internet via website TheCarConnection.com.

GM spokesperson Terry Rhadigan denies that the leak was intentional, possibly orchestrated to prepare the public for the live reveal next week. Reportedly these studio stills were “accidentally” placed on a GM website and then immediately removed when the breach was discovered. Last week’s grainy Transformer2 video also reportedly caught GM “off guard”.

It is interesting to note that these “leaks” show more and more of the car, yet not the whole thing, as there is always an obscuration either due to image quality or people posing in front of it. Also all of my usual contacts within GM have failed to respond to my questions about this topic.

In any event, the public response at least in the way of last post’s torrent of comments appear to be mixed but skewed to the negative. Keep in mind there may be a commentator’s bias. While there were nearly 600 comments as of this writing, the post was actually viewed close to 16,000 times, so the vast majority of the opinions may not appear in the comments.

So to begin to sort this out seems appropriate to take a poll (below).

Source (Wall Street Journal)

Cleaned Production Image (LA Times)

A whole set of Production Chevy Volt pictures have been leaked each with one member of the GM executive team standing before it. See the car in its native silver in all its glory! These are official studio photos although it doesnt seem like GM meant for them to break yet.

That’s vehicle line engineer Tony Posawatz above. And in order below, Andrew Farah (chief engineer), Tony P again, Frank Weber (vehicle line director), Bob Boniface (chief designer), and of course Bob Lutz (GM vice chairman).

Source (TheCarConnection)

Thanks to Luis O. for the tip!

Gallery:

In our last post we gave readers the chance to weigh in on whether they preferred the looks of the concept Volt or the production Volt as we’ve seen it so far from the leaked Transformers2 set video.

Understandably its not really fair to compare fuzzy, grainy, dark, and odd-angled shots of the production car to the beautiful studio renditions we have of the concept. Yet, despite this considerable handicap, the new production version wins hands down.

865 people voted, and of those 560 (65%) preferred the production version and 305 (35%) preferred the initial concept. Im sure the upcoming presidential race won’t come out so definitively!

Wait until we finally see the detailed proofs in the lustrous electric silver tone, and I’ll bet that percentage goes up.

Thanks to reader Zita who provided the photoshop comparisons shown above and below this post letting you compare the two versions in purple.

GM vice chairman Bob Lutz has told reporters that the automaker has indeed decided on which of the two battery making teams they have chosen to supply the Chevy Volt battery packs.

Lutz would not specify which company team that is, LG Chem/CPI or A123/Continental. High ranking sources within those battery companies advise me they they don’t know either. The decision should be made public sometime between now and the end of the year.

Per Lutz, “the Volt is real … and test work is progressing nicely. We haven’t hit any obstacles so far for the batteries. They are all performing flawlessly. It’s almost scary we are not seeing any problems with the batteries.”

Source (Detroit Free Press)

On another note, GM is acting officially off guard about yesterday’s leak of pictures of the production form VOLT from the Transformers2 set. GM spokesperson Rob Peterson told reporters “you can tell it caught me off guard. I didn’t even realize it (the Volt) was out of the state of Michigan.”

Peterson also said the car in the video was “representative of the production vehicle” which would be revealed soon.

Source (Edmunds)

I have also received confirmation from other sources that the interior photo of the Volt was the same shown by Volt designer Bob Boniface at the recent CAR conference, as the picture below reveals, meaning that it is correct.

One question remains. Is GM secretly involved in the leak of these images to build up excitement to the actual reveal? While they won’t say when that will be many speculate it will occur at the GM Centennial Event on September 16th.

From reader requests, here’s a poll. From what you see so far, do you like the look of the concept or the production version better?