GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Just slightly more than a year after emerging from bankruptcy protection and giving the US government 61% ownership stake in exchange for survival, General Motors has officially filed with the US Security and Exchange Commission for a proposed Initial Public Offering of shares in the new company.

The terms of the IPO in terms of pricing have not been disclosed, and is expected to occur in the fall, possibly in October. At least 20% of the governments share will be sold to the public and proceeds of anywhere form $12 billion to $16 are expected, making it potentially one of the largest IPOs in history. There will be 500,000,000 shares of stock after the IPO and GM will sell preferred shares, while the government will sell common shares.

The S1 filing which details the risk and benefits of investing in GM shares, as the company sees it, can be read in detail here.

Within the document, and germane to our focus here, GM outlines its alternative energy vehicle strategy.

They state the following five objectives:

• Continue to increase the fuel efficiency of our cars and trucks;
• Develop alternative fuel vehicles;
• Invest significantly in our hybrid and electric technologies;
• Invest significantly in plug-in electric vehicle technology; and
• Continue development of hydrogen fuel cell technology.

GM declares the Volt and Ampera as their only extended range electric vehicles under development, although they are developing another PHEV. “We plan to invest heavily between 2011 and 2012 to support the expansion of our electrified vehicle offerings and in-house development and manufacturing capabilities of the enabling technologies-advanced batteries, electric motors and power control systems,” GM writes.

Specifically GM mentions “a PHEV, using a modified version of GM’s Two-Mode Hybrid system and advanced lithium-ion battery technology, is scheduled to launch in 2012. The PHEV will provide low-speed electric-only propulsion, and blend engine and battery power to significantly improve fuel efficiency.” The specific make and model of the 2-mode plugin hybrid, as well as projected production volumes is not mentioned.

As important as the Volt is to GM’s future, it is mentioned 22 times in the S1, the company still perceives risk and uncertainty related to it.

“We have announced that we intend to produce by November 2010 the Chevrolet Volt, an electric car, which requires battery technology that has not yet proven to be commercially viable. There can be no assurance that these advances will occur in a timely or feasible way, that the funds that we have budgeted for these purposes will be adequate, or that we will be able to establish our right to these technologies,” GM writes.

Bright Automotive is an Indiana-based start-up company that is focused on the development of lightweight plugin hybrid commercial vehicles.

They have unveiled their first design, the so called IDEA utility van.

This vehilce is similar to the Volt in that the first 40 miles are purely electric. After that it switches to a hybrid mode of operation that will deliver 36 mpg. It uses an electric motor to drive the rear wheels and a 4 cylinder gas engine to drive the front wheels. Combined with the use of ultra-lightweight body materials, in normal operation, the vehicle is expected to deliver more than 100 mpg.

The company was developed as an offshoot of the Rocky Mountain Institute, and was formed by John Waters, a former GM EV-1 engineer.

GM recently announced it had formed a new venture capital subsidiary called GM Ventures, headed by Jon Lauckner who along with Bob Lutz conceived the Volt concept.

GM and Bright Automotive jointly announced that GM Ventures will provide $5 million in funding to Bright as well as giving it access to GM technology. The goal of this effort will be to bring the IDEA into mass production. In exchange for funding, GM will take a minority stake in the company.
Bright expects to bring the IDEA into production in 2014.

“This relationship is an important step forward for Bright, and a strong endorsement of our highly experienced automotive team and our incredible vehicle,” said Reuben Munger, Bright Automotive Chairman and CEO. “With this deal, Bright gets financial support that puts us on the fast track toward mass production of the IDEA. And perhaps just as importantly, we gain a strategic partner that is a world leader in electrification.”

The companies singed a memorandum of understanding in July, GM provided funding this week, and the deal is expected to be completed later in the year.

“Funding early-stage start-up companies is a new way of doing business at GM to accelerate the introduction of innovative technology to support our core automotive business and give us a competitive advantage,” said Jon Lauckner, president of GM Ventures. “In this case, our funding of Bright Automotive will accelerate the introduction of advanced propulsion and light-weight technologies in the commercial vehicle market.”

General Motors first announced they would develop a commercial plugin hybrid in mid-2006, six months prior to announcing the Volt concept.

Since then the automaker has ostensibly been working on developing the technology with a plan for commercialization.

The system is called the two-mode plugin hybrid drivetrain and is an extension of the standard two-mode hybrid drivetrain already commercially available.  I had the chance to test drive a prototype of the vehicle last summer.

The system uses two electric motors, one for low and one for higher speeds.  They are brought into parallel operation with the gas engine depending on a central processing unit’s calculation of demand and efficiency. The plugin version has an 8 kwh lithium-ion battery pack which the system attempts to fully discharge over 20 miles of driving. It is capable of pure EV driving up to 40 mph but will use the gas engine whenever power demands require it.

Initially, the system was slated to debut in the Saturn VUE crossover, and in that application at least 60 to 70 MPG of fuel economy was expected. The demise of the Saturn brand cause the car briefly to be planned to appear in a small Buick crossover, though that was also canceled as it was really no more than a thinly-disguised Saturn VUE with a Buick badge.

Most recently GM demonstrated the system in a large Cadillac XTS Platinum luxury sedan, but the fate tof that vehicle remains unknown.

I reached out to advanced technology spokesperson Brian Corbett for an update.

“It is still an active program at GM under development for production,” said Corbett of the plugiun 2-mode hybrid. “Since we cancelled the Buick crossover last year, we have identified vehicle applications for plug-in hybrid technology.”

Asked when we will finally see the system in production he alluded to future announcements, “we’ll get more specific on timeline.”

As for the delay.  Since “we no longer offer the vehicle it was originally announced for,” he says GM has to “transfer the technology to entirely different vehicles.”

“That is our problem,” he admits. “And that is the reason for the new timing.”

However Corbett remains confident the system will see the light of day.

“We will go to production,” he said.

[UPDATE: Confirming earlier reports, GM has officially announced that VP of US Marketing Joel Ewanick will be unveiling the Chevrolet Volt "pricing and ordering details," on Jul 27th at 12PM Eastern at the Plugin2010 conference in San Jose California]

And finally the last has fallen.

Following GM, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, and Audi, now Honda has finally committed its entry into the plug-in hybrid arena. In an announcement in Japan, Honda’s CEO Takanobu Ito announced the company will launch both a plug-in hybrid and a pure battery electric car in 2012.

Both cars will go on sale in the United States in 2012.

Ito outlined a broad strategy with the goal of reducing CO2 emissions. “Honda will have no future unless we achieve a significant reduction of CO2 emissions,” he said.

To achieve those goals highlights specifically related to the U.S. market include:

• By the end of 2010 and continuing through 2011, Honda will roll out a battery-electric vehicle demonstration program in the U.S. with participants, including: Stanford University, Google Inc. and the City of Torrance, Calif.
• The City of Torrance will receive a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle for evaluation by the end of 2010.
• A battery-electric commuter vehicle will be introduced in the U.S. market in 2012.
• A new plug-in hybrid system for mid-size to larger vehicles will be introduced in the U.S. market in 2012.
• Honda’s first hybrid application of a lithium-ion battery will debut in the next- generation Civic Hybrid to be introduced in 2011. The lithium-ion battery was developed through the Honda and GS Yuasa joint-venture company, Blue Energy Co., Ltd.

Its truly amazing to consider just three years ago when GM first announced the Volt concept, nearly every major automaker criticized them calling the technology too immature. Now every major automaker in the world has committed to mass production of plug-in cars.

Since GM-Volt illustrated very early on just how much widespread consumer demand there was for such car, its nice to imagine even just to dream we here played a role in this.

Source (Honda)

Ford has been experiencing significant success in the marketplace, especially since they were the only US automaker to evade bankruptcy last year. Their Ford Fusion strong hybrid is seeing some modest increases in sales, with 2,486 units moving in the month of May. For comparison, in the same month Toyota sold 14,248 Priuses and Ford sold 22,381 standard gas Fusions.

Looking forward, Ford has plans in place to produce several electrified vehicles.

Ford’s global electrification strategy includes plans to launch five new full electric or hybrid vehicles in the compact, midsize and light commercial segments for the North American market by 2012 and European markets by 2013. This lineup includes:

• The Transit Connect Electric light commercial vehicle in North America later this year and in Europe in 2011
• The Focus Electric in North America in 2011 and in Europe in 2012
• A Lincoln MKZ hybrid, available this fall in North America
• A next-generation hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle based on Ford’s global C-car platform in North America in 2012
• A C-MAX hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric model for Europe in 2013

As Ford spokesperson Jennifer Moore told us, Ford plans to produce about 10,000 Ford Focus Electrics in its first year of production starting in 2011. No further ramp up plans are acknowledged. Mainly this is because Ford is taking a cautious approach. They have positioned themselves to enter the market after the Volt and LEAF, and could theoretically use the observation of these competitors before making a large an investment in production capacity. In fact, this diverse mix of vehicle types suggests Ford’s plan is to have many different forms of electrified cars covering all the bases so that they can focus on the type that begins to win in the marketplace.  That is all except one type.

Ford has specfiially ruled-out the extended range electric car design GM is using in the Volt. As Fords’ director of hybrid and EVs, Nancy Goia once explained to GM-Volt.com, “because of the battery costs and the size of the battery, and the weight of the battery, and the fact that battery technology is going to continue to evolve, we believe that the blended hybrid is a better solution.”

Ford CEO Alan Mulally was just interviewed at the D8, Al Things Digital conference in California. His comments confirmed this cautious approach, and why.

“We can make electric cars,” said Mullaly. “But as you know, we can improve them, like battery life.” Mullaly is concerned modern day lithium ion batteries are still insufficient to allow for widespread electric car adoption.

“Most of them are too big, too heavy,” he says of lithium ion cells. “There’s a lot of room to improve the batteries.”

Not only is battery technology the limiting factor as Mullaly sees it, but so too is the lack of public charging infrastructure.

“(An)other point is that the infrastructure has to get there,” he said. “You need charging stations for people in apartments, in rural areas, etc.”

Mullaly expects Ford to be ready once the infrastructure arrives.

“When we get there, Ford will be there,” he adds.

Source (CNET)

In January, GM unveiled its new flagship Cadillac luxury sedan, called the XTS.  It was shown as a plug-in hybrid concept mating a 3.5 L V-6 engine to GMs’ 2-mode plugin hybrid drivetrain.  This drivetrain has been under development since 2006 and is functioning well in prototypes, including one this author test drove.  It includes an 8 kw lithium-ion battery and the potential to travel 20 miles up to in EV mode when fully charged.

Recently, inside reports confirmed by Bob Lutz indicated that GM’s first electric Caddy concept, the Converj, had been cancelled.  The Converj was a stylish but compact 4 seater that relied on an amped-up Voltec drivetrain, similar to the Volt’s, for up to 40 miles electric driving.

According to new reports citing inside sources the plugin XTS has been greenlighted for production.

Apparently GM’s rationale for killing the Converj and approving the plugin XTS is simple, profit.

It is speculated that GM will not make money on early units of the Chevy Volt, and may sell them at a loss.  The new technology may be too expensive to allow the cars to be sold affordably for profit.  The same would be true for the Converj.  Furthermore, it is reported that GM isn’t sure there is enough global demand for 3 Voltec vehicles; Volt, Ampera, and Converj.

The 2-mode plugin drivetrain has half the battery expense and is built off the 2-mode hybrid system already in production.  It could appeal to the luxury-green crowd much as competitors such as the Mercedes plugin S class, slated for production, and be profitable.

Also it would have been a difficult engineering challenge for GM to give the Converj the power and smoothness expected of a luxury Cadillac using the Voltec propulsion system.  The 2-mode drivetrain can utilize the gas engine when high power is required.

Source (MotorTrend)