I had the following discussion with Alex Cattelan who is the Chevy Volt’s chief powertrain engineer. She has a very deep understanding of how the car operates and recently drove in a fleet of integration Volt prototypes through rugged mountains of Knoxville Tennessee.
Do you feel the charge-sustaining (CS mode) experience is now pretty solid [...]
Around 3 years ago, a neurologist named Lyle Dennis decided he just had too much free time on his hands and decided to start a site chronicling the progress and development of a vehicle named the Chevrolet Volt.
Since then, Lyle has researched, interviewed and penned well over a thousand articles on the subject. To [...]
Prabakhar Patil is the CEO of Compact Power Inc. CPI is a subsidiary for LG Chem, the Korean company that was awarded with the Chevy Volt cell supplier contract. CPI helped GM to develop the packs for the Volt. I had a chance to interview Dr. Patil on the current status of the relationship and [...]
Alex Cattelan is head of the Volt propulsion engineering team. I had the chance to discuss the current state of Chevy Volt development from her perspective.
What is your role in the Volt program?
I head up the team that does all of the propulsion systems for the Volt. That includes motors, power electronics, we don’t [...]
eTec is the wholly-owned and largest subsidiary of Ecotality (ETLY.OB) and recently received a $99 million matched DOE grant to deploy and study EV charging infrastructure using Nissan LEAF vehicles.
I had the chance to speak with eTec’s CEO Don Karner about the coming electric car charging infrastructure revolution.
Tell us about your recent DOE grant and [...]
Last week Audi North America President Johan de Nysschen was quoted as saying the Chevy Volt was a ”car for idiots.” This led to an explosion of web controversy.
Finding this comment hard to believe, and as an ardent Volt enthusiast, I sought the truth direct from the source, and had a half hour informal [...]
Yesterday was the highest traffic day in the history of GM-Volt.com, with over 60,000 visitors, and I apologize for the slowness of the site.
Why was this? Of course because GM announced that the Volt would get an EPA rating of more than 230 MPG. As exciting and compelling as that number is, it [...]
I must admit I am still amazed that we are actually beginning to talk about a near finished product, the Chevy Volt integration vehicles (IV). Over 2 and a half years ago when I first started this site, (SEE FIRST POST HERE) this point was a time that was unimaginable and yet now has [...]
Andrew Farah is the chief engineer for the Chevy Volt, and has been involved in the car’s development since 2007. He is the first person to drive the newly minted integration production intent Chevy Volts, as we have just heard. That’s him driving the IVer above.
I have had the fortune of being able [...]
In an effort to gain access to US government green loans, Nissan has intentions to build both an EV assembly plant and a lithium-ion battery production facility in the United States, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei.
The company will invest between $500 million and $1 billion in the operation.
Nissan presently has a plant in Smyrna Tennessee. [...]
While in Detroit for the Battery Lab opening, I had the chance for a brief interview with GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson. I could only ask a few questions and took them from reader suggestions on this site. The video is below the post.
First I asked whether he thought the primary reason [...]
GM’s bankruptcy filing doesn’t spell an end to the company but actually a new beginning. The Chevy Volt remains a critical element of GM’s future and therefore the program will not be affected in any way by the filing.
Jon Lauckner is GM’s VP of product development and along with Bob Lutz, co-inventor of the [...]