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.

Over the years we have been following the Chevy Volt, GM periodically has shuffled its marketing executives. This has on several occasions changed which executive is in charge of marketing the Chevrolet Volt. These changes often bring about a perceptible shift in the way the car is promoted and advertised.

For example, Maria Rhorer was the initial director of Chevy Volt marketing. She was responsible for the famous Chevy Volt song and dance, that I share with you for old times sake, and a few kicks and giggles.

Right after that she was replaced by Tony DiSalle, who brought the car through the important period of the pricing and initial market announcements and finally launch.

Joel Ewanick was brought in to GM as the head of US marketing after the bankruptcy restructuring, and has done an astoundingly good job. So much so, he was promoted to chief of global marketing. To fill his former position, today GM announced the appointment of Chris Perry who had just been VP of Chevrolet marketing. Perry and Ewanick were a dynamic duo in their days together at Hyundai, and it is expected their successful pairing there will continue at GM.

This brings us to the Volt.

In Ewanick’s shake-up moves, Volt director Tony DiSalle has been named as the new Vice President of Buick-GMC marketing. Obviously Ewanick felt DiSalle had done such a great job with the Volt he deserved this promotion.

Being the Volt marketing director is a very important position considering how much this car and its future generations and variants mean to the company. Thus GM has taken no time in naming DiSalle’s replacement.

GM-Volt has learned Cristi Landy will be taking over as the new director of Volt marketing. Landy has a long track record of involvement in and commitment to the Volt program. “She’s been with the program since the beginning,” says GM spokesperson Rob Peterson.

“There was such a strong push. From the get go, it was clear this was a priority,” said Landy about the Volt in a recent interview. “I have a lot of stamina,” she says. “I can stay up until midnight and wake up early.”

Congratulations to Mr. DiSalle on his promotion and the excellent job he did taking the Volt through its launch, and best of luck to you too Ms. Landi, we look forward to your work.

Source (GM)

I can honestly say this is a post I have been waiting to make for a long time.  I figured I’d get my first chance in a couple of days when automotive companies release December sales figures, but since the Associated Press got hold of this data earlier I can post it now.

December was the first month the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF electric cars started deliveries in the US, kicking off the electric car future for our nation.

Both companies have begun the process deliberately very cautiously with the intention of slowly ramping up sales this year.   Nissan and GM are carefully monitoring the early adopters’ experiences and will adapt to their feedback in these early stages.  Nissan has bit more to be concerned about as the advent of new owners experiencing unpleasant range anxiety or actually running out of charge could delivery a crushing blow to the nascent industry, and the company’s pure EV plans.

According to the AP, GM sold between 250 and 350 Chevy Volts in December while Nissan sold a mere 10 LEAFs.  Nissan has been careful to only allow LEAF sales in warm locales, as suddenly dropping them into the deep freeze of the north will lead to many low EV range reports.  In fact Volt ranges for me in the NY area are in the mid to upper 20s with high use of cabin heating and lots of high speed highway driving.

Also noted in this report is a rumor which was started here on the GM-Volt.com Ownership forum which was of course not mentioned, referenced, or linked by the author.  The rumor suggests that GM will end the current $350 per month Volt lease deal on January 3rd.  This deal is highly sweetened by a $2000 corporate cap cost deduction, a super-low 0.6% APR interest rate and a $7500 reduction in the depreciation value by the federal tax credit.

It was created to allow the car to be affordable to those zealous early adopters who really can’t afford a $41,000 car.  With a handful sold, the company and its leasing associate US bank might soon pull back.

GM is being a bit coy about what will happen to the lease deal.  In the report, GM spokesperson Rob Peterson was quoted as saying the lease deal “will extend into 2011.”  Peterson said the deal won’t last forever, though current waitlisters will be honored.  ”I don’t have the specifics on how long it will be out there,” he said.

Volt marketing director John Hughes shares a similarly vague message with GM-Volt.com.  ”It is our intention to continue the Volt lease into the 2011 CY,” he said.

In a recent post, I argued that purchasing was the better option anyway.  In a poll GM-Volt readers agreed. Of 564 respondents, 44% said they were buying the car, and only 15% said they were leasing it.  An additional 26% were undecided, while 15% of readers said they had no plans to own the car.

Source (AP)

The Detroit Hamtramck (DHAM) plant where the Chevy Volt is being built has been busy turning out cars for some time.  Initially these were known as validation builds but eventually evolved to saleable builds, meaning they are as final as consumer production cars will be.

For a while these saleable build have been used as captured test fleet cars, initially for GM employees and most recently for me and other members of the Volt advisory board.

Reports are surfacing from Chevrolet dealers, however, that GM has already begun to produce cars that are going to actual consumers.

A report in the Detroit Free Press notes that a Volt allocated to a customer of Puente Hills Chevrolet was completed on November 9th.  Henna Chevrolet in Austin, Texas reports that one of their customer’s cars was built on November 10th.

DHAM Plant manager Teri Quigley declined to say how many customer cars have already been built.  GM initially planned to have the Volt launch ceremony on November 11th which was changed to November 30th based on the timing of the IPO.  This suggests that true consumer cars are being made, but that GM won’t announce it until the launch ceremony.

In fact I have noticed my own Chevrolet Volt order is showing up as code 3800 on the Chevrolet tracking site, has a VIN number, and is described as having been built on November 9th and awaiting shipment.

Besides only waiting for the launch ceremony, EPA labeling may be another  hold up on shipping.  GM’s VP Tom Stephens told Automotive News the Volts won’t be shipped until the EPA label arrives.  Those labels are actually finally expected to come “any day,” he said.

After the announcement of the big three car of the year awards, it is likely Volt demand will continue to skyrocket.  Stephens confirmed demand is already shaping up to far exceed capacity.  ”What do you hope for if you’re in the manufacturing business?” Stephens said. “To always have more demand than you can supply. They always say that’s a good problem to have. That’s the problem that we have right now.”

He even confirmed earlier reports that GM has already asked LG Chem to increase lithium-ion cell production so as to supply more cells than initially were planned.

GM’s chief of marketing Joel Ewanick also told reporters just how quickly demand is growing.  He said the number of Volt handraisers Chevrolet has signed up now exceeds 220,000, up from about 70,000 in the late summer, and he points out aggressive marketing and advertising hasn’t even begun.

What we longstanding supporters have long known is finally coming true.  GM has a huge hit on their hands, and a great way for the country to start reducing petroleum consumption.  In fact in my first 9 days of driving the Volt I have covered 568.1 miles, and used only 3.22 gallons of gas, for a total fuel economy of 176 mpg.  And the driving of this car is more splendorous, refined and limitless than I could have ever imagined.

Source (Detroit Free Press), (Automotive News), and (Reuters)

Over the years, and increasing at an ever-quickening pace, various research firms and other pundits publish prognostications of how many electric cars people will buy in the future.

Of course no one can predict the future, but electrifying the automotive fleet has tremendous cost associated with it, and automakers need some type of roadmap for planning. Those of us who want to get the country off of oil also look to these reports for guidance as well.

Recently the research company Bloomberg New Energy Finance issued a report, which come on the heels of the recent JD Power study that only concluded 100,000 EVs would be sold in the US in 2020 . The Bloomberg study was a bit more optimistic.

The authors also conclude as did JD Powers that high rates of adoption of EVs will depend critically on two factors: the rise of gas prices and the reduction of battery prices, however did more to find the ceiling for the market based on today’s costs.

To do so, the study used an interesting  two step model: first identifying the addressable market, or hose who could actually afford the cars, and second determining what percentage of that market actually would buy such a car.

Specifically Nissan LEAF and Chevrolet Volt sales were analyzed. The addressable market was determined solely as a function of price and the percentage of the car buying market which could pay it. It was determined that in 2011, 11% of US auto buyers could afford the $32,780 LEAF, and only 7% of buyers could afford the $41,000 Volt.  The $7500 tax credit was taken into account.

Seven percent of ten million in total sales would be 700,000 Volts.  The report does go on to say, however, “actual sales will be much lower and limited by vehicle availability.”

By 2030, plugin cars is predicted to account for 22% of auto sales.

“2011 will see the launch of a large number of new plug‐in hybrid and electric vehicle models around the world,” said Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “It’s not just car companies who have a lot riding on their success ‐ utilities; oil companies; whole countries will feel the impact if there is rapid uptake.”

“Once we’ve seen the launch of mainstream plug‐in electric vehicles, we’ll have much more empirical data on consumer reactions, which will be vital in future forecasts,” said Glen Walker, lead transportation analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Source (Bloomberg NEF) bia (Edmunds)

With the Chevy Volt now available for purchase or lease, it makes sense to reach out to potential Volt women drivers. To date, however, GM has made little effort to reach out to us. In fact, out of the 15-member Volt Consumer Advisory Board, only one woman was chosen to participate. None of the new ads that GM has put out speak directly to women either. Since women buy 65% of all new cars and influence 95% of all car purchases, it is time to create a Volt story that resonates with what we want in an electric car.

So, what do women want in a plug-in car? As a researcher and spokesperson in the green car scene, I am often asked by my female associates for vehicle purchase recommendations. Before making any suggestions, I find out about their driving needs and desires. The women I speak to want style, comfort, and convenience. They want reliability, efficiency, and cutting-edge technology. They want a car that makes them stand out from the crowd. They want power when they need it and they want a nice sound system too. In short, they want exactly what the Chevy Volt offers.

Most women in my network are young, single professionals with successful careers. We make up the Gen X and Gen Y marketing segment with advanced degrees and moderate-to-high incomes (9,000,000 in the U.S.). I like to think of our subgroup as “Generation E.” We are the most Educated, Eco-conscious, and Enterprising group of young Americans to date. We are strong believers in the power of technology to address social and ecological problems. We are looking for a car that expresses our values and our desires. In short, we are Chevy Volt’s ideal target market.

So, what kind of Volt story would appeal to this market? It’s not a story of “more car than electric.” The advanced electric drivetrain of the Volt is the part we like the most! It’s not “Chevy runs deep.” Most of us don’t have a sense of “Americana” nostalgia for Chevy cars. The story that appeals most to us is one that portrays the Volt as smart, sexy, and fun.

If I were to craft this story, it would go something like this:

The Volt is Smart: This car is so smart that it runs on electricity instead of oil for most daily driving. It is so smart that it connects to our SmartPhones to let us know when it needs to be charged. It also lets us know when to benefit from the cheapest electricity from a smart grid. And, it has an MPG that kicks some serious Prius-bootie!

The Volt is Fun: This car offers an exhilarating drive experience, with excellent acceleration and great drive dynamics. Driving the Volt is interactive – you control how much charge you get from the battery based on your own driving style. Plus, the Volt comes with entertaining features, such as a new and improved energy-efficient Bose sound system, that enhance the driving experience.

The Volt is Sexy: The car itself is sleek, aerodynamic, and stealthy. It appeals to those that want stylish options in clean mobility. The Volt makes you look and feel good. And everyone will ask…. “Is that your Volt?”

Finally, on price, women are known to make intelligent investments with their money. The sticker price is a bargain for those of us who invest in technologies that offer long-term value. There is no other similar product like it on the market – the closest stylish, fuel-efficient sedan I can think of is the Lexus Hybrid HS (which has an impressive hybrid platform, but no plug). For us, the overall ROI on the Chevy Volt is worth it.

And let us not forget that when EV technology first emerged, women were the strongest proponents of plug-in cars. At the turn of the 20th century, it was urban, well-to-do women who preferred the clean, quiet, convenience of petroleum-free mobility.

These are just a few preliminary ideas on how to craft a stronger Volt story. I am sure that GM-Volt readers will have lots to say on this topic as well, especially for the women readers out there. If the Volt story is not communicated in a way that resonates with the “hearts and minds” of today’s women, its initial entry amongst our segment could be somewhat limited. By appealing to what we really want in an electric car, however, the Chevy Volt will have a lasting impact on a whole new generation of plug-in drivers.

Shannon Arvizu, Ph.D., loves driving clean, green machines. You can catch her test drives in cars of the future at MissElectric.com.