GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Some expressed concern when GM’s new sales and marketing chief Mark Reuss told GM-Volt he expects pure EVs to eventually obtain a larger market than EREVs.

“As (Volt) technology flows down to BEV in what will be smaller cars to carry smaller packs, that may be the higher volume play over a longer time,” he said.

It seems likely GM is expecting multiple healthy parallel markets including those for EREVs, BEVs, and plugin PHEVs.  As there are many subgroups of consumers each with their own specialized needs, offering options for all of them makes good business sense. This is especially true if costly common denominators such as lithium-ion packs can be eventually be brought to lower price points though economies of scale.

“In the end, the market will determine the winner and the technology that carries the day,” Tony Posawatz told GM-Volt.com.

“Considering the effects of temperature and the real world on pure EV’s, they will be limited for many years to come,” he said.  ”The concept of E-Flex or the flexible extended range electric vehicle will be much more than a bridging strategy.”

“We are happy that the EREV will someday help to launch EVs into the market,” he added.

Of course GM is limited by production capacity which is why multiple Voltecs aren’t yet planned, and part of the reason the Cadillac Converj was cancelled.

Confirming this Bob Lutz conceded in a text message to Automotive News “the Volt and Ampera will use all available capacity for years to come.”

Korea-based LG Chem is the lithium-ion battery supplier for GM’s Chevrolet Volt electric car.

GM has been working closely with LG’s Michigan-based subsidiary Compact Power Inc. since mid-2007 to first develop and then refine the Volts’ 16 kwh battery pack. In January of 2009 it was announced that LG had been awarded the Volt’s battery contract. Since then, hundreds of packs have been built, and GM has launched its own battery pack production facility which has been operational since January.

The lithium-ion cells have been manufactured on a line at LG Chem’s battery plant in Korea, where the cells for the initial production run of Volts will continue to come from.

The source of these cells will soon change to the USA.

Today LG Chem has announced it will invest $303 Million to build a lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant in Holland Michigan. The 650,000 square foot plant will create 400 jobs and be capable of producing from 15 to 20 million prismatic automotive cells per year, which is enough to sustain a production capacity of around 60,000 Chevy Volts per year.

LG Chem has already secured a $151.5 million DOE loan for the construction of the plan. It will match those funds with an additional $151.5 million.

Groundbreaking on the facility, which will be located on a 120 acre site in Holland Michigan, is expected to begin this summer and the plant will be fully operational in 2012.

The plant will be operated by Compact Power Inc, and though it is capable of making cells for other vehicles as well, initially it will only make the cells for the Chevrolet Volt. It is capable of from 50,000 to 200,00o vehicle battery packs per year, depending on their size.

“LG Chem’s selection of Holland to house the company’s battery cell facility was a balanced decision based on the city’s excellent infrastructure and proven, quality workforce,” said Jae Ham, senior vice president, LG Chem. “What’s more, LG Chem was impressed with Holland’s outstanding determination and sincere effort and commitment to be at the forefront of the new green energy economy which will result in Michigan becoming the leader in the electric vehicle industry.”

“Thanks to a bold vision and aggressive strategy, Michigan is now the leader of the U.S. advanced-battery industry,” Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm said. “We thank LG Chem for its commitment to our state, and we are proud to partner with the company, the city of Holland and the Obama Administration to grow a new industry and new jobs here.”

And from a mere concept only three years ago, the Volt and our enthusiasm may well have helped steward the rebirth of the automotive industry in the United States. We are witnessing the first steps of a brand new era.

Source (LG Chem)

With each passing day, week, and month the excitement builds as the Chevy Volt eases towards mass production later this year.

Earlier this month GM opened its dedicated battery assembly plant capable of producing enough packs to build tens of thousands of Chevy volt’s per year.

Another critical component of the car is its gas-engine range-extending generator.

The engine will be a 4 cylinder 1.4 L Ecotec powerplant, which will also be put to use in the Chevy Cruze. That car with a turbocharger is expected to acheve up to 40 MPG on the highway.

These engines will be built in Flint Michigan at a facility called Flint Engine South.

This week that plant began installing the equipment that will be used to build the engines, and will be ready to start mass prodution in about six months.

“We have a lot of work to do, but we’re getting there. We should be able to start running parts in July,” said Paul Matney a team leader on the production line.

Chevrolet Volt assembly will begin in Detroit-Hamtramck in March, so the inital three to four months of preproduction validation builds will have to reply on engines imported from Austria, until the Flint facility is fully up and running.

Old equipment is still currently being moved out and most of the new equipment has yet to arrive. The facility is currently producing the 3.6 L V-6 engines in use in the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GM Acadia and Cadillac CTS.

“Our goal is to get this up and running as fast as possible,” said GM spokesman Tom Wickham about the new tooling.

GM is investing $202 million to retool the plant to produce the Volt and Cruze engines.

Source (MLive)

It may surprise you that considering how important the Volt is to General Motors, the company does not build its electric motor.

Clearly GM played a major role in designing and engineering that motor as it appears to be unique in the industry. It is actually composed of two motors.  The more powerful one acts as the primary driver traction motor, and the other acts as a generator to retrieve kinetic energy during braking and coasting. At times, if needed, both motors can act in parallel, and the system has an electronically limited 111 kw maximum output (150 hp).

The company supplying the Volt motor to GM is unknown. “We haven’t announced that yet,” states Volt spokesperson Rob Peterson.

GM is very serious about the future of electric cars, and doesn’t plan to source its motors indefinitely.

According to a report in USA today, later this month GM will be announcing plans to build or operate its own plant to build motors for electric cars. This announcement will possibly take place at the Washington DC Auto Show which opens on January 27th. Likely the DC initial market announcement will be made then as well.

GM already has opened its own battery assembly plant. Electric motors, according to GM vice chairman Tom Stephens is the “second leg of the stool” for electric cars.

The third leg is the power electronics that control the manner in which the battery and the motor interact.

Stephens didn’t specifically say if GM plans to build those in house as well, but presumably they will.

“Electric motors, batteries, power-control electronics — you need core expertise in those,” he told USA Today.

Source (USA Today)

Today the first Chevrolet Volt lithium-ion battery pack moved through the assembly line at GM’s newly developed dedicated GM Brownstown Battery Assembly Plant in Michigan.

This truly historical milestone day takes place exactly three years to the date after the Chevrolet Volt concept car was unveiled to the world, and marks the beginning of Chevrolet Volt production.

In attendance are US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre, and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.

This is the first production pack to be built at what GM calls the first lithium ion battery pack manufacturing plant in the U.S. operated by a major automaker.

The site is minutes from Detroit airports where the raw lithium cells will be delivered from LG Chem’s plant in Korea.  After the packs are assembled at this facility they are then hauled to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the Volts will be assebled.  Production there is set to begin in March.  LG Chem also plans to begin building a lithium-ion cell factory in Michigan beginning later this year

GM invested $43 million in developing this battery assembly plant, at a site chosen a year ago and where construction work first began last summer.

The facility is 160,000 square feet and divided into three primary assembly areas: battery module pre-assembly, final assembly and the battery pack main line.

Each Chevrolet Volt pack contains 16-kWh of lithium-ion cells of which 8 kwh is usable.  There are 288 3.5 volt cells placed into 4 to 6 groups known as modules.  The T-shaped pack is about 6 feet long, weighs 200 kg and operates at 360V.

According to Volt director Tony Posawatz the facility “is capable of producing all requirements for VOLT vehicles and has the bandwidth to grow capacity in the future.”

It employs 100 workers though most of the assembly process is automated using robotics.

Placing this historical event on the world’s stage is yet another chapter in GM’s commitment to transparency about the Volt program that also began on that January day 3 years ago. I would like to give special thanks to GM’s Rob Peterson of Volt communications for being that architect of transparency and for his countless hours, months, and years of dedication to it. Rob has been a crucial behind-the-scenes support to my efforts here at GM-Volt.com as well.

And on this day our country takes a major leap forward into a future free from oil.

PRESS EVENT VIDEO:

VIDEO OF PACK ASSEMBLY

GM has announced it will be investing $336 Million into the Detroit-Hamtramck plant for the purpose of retooling and preparing the plant to build the Chevrolet Volt electric car next year.

“We expect the Detroit-Hamtramck plant will be the first facility in the U.S. owned by a major automaker to produce an electric car. It is the hub for the wheel that we began rolling in 2007 when the Volt debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit,” said Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of global product planning. “Since then, the field of challengers and partners has grown significantly. This competition will expedite the development of electric vehicle technology and infrastructure.”

So far GM has invested nearly $700 million in Volt related needs in eight facilities.  In addition to today’s announcement the following other money has been spent:

• $37 million in Bay City, Mich. to produce cam shafts and connecting rods for the Volt’s engine generator.
• $23 million in the Flint, Mich. Tool and Die facility to build the dies to stamp metal parts for the Volt.
• $202 million at the Flint Engine South plant — this is where GM will build the 1.4-liter engine generator that provides Volt an extended-range capability of more than 300 miles.
• $1.7 million at the Flint Metal Center, in presses to stamp parts.
• $30 million in the Weld Tool Center, in Grand Blac, Mich., to produce the robotic weld tool cells that were installed in Detroit/Hamtramck plant.
• $27 million in the Alternative Energy Center at the GM Tech Center in Warren, home of the new, state-of-the-art battery lab where GM tests and refines the Volt battery pack.
• $43 million in Brownstown Township, Mich., to open the world’s first OEM-owned, high-volume, lithium-ion battery pack plant.  GM expects battery-pack production to begin there early next month.

GM will begin production of the first validation build Chevy Volts in Hamtramck in March of 2010.

This work will gradually shift into regular series production of the car by late next year.

This investment indicates GM’s robust level of commitment to the future of the Chevy Volt and other electric vehicles.  It is the first electric car plant GM has operated since the EV-1 plant 13 years ago.

“The race to build a mass-produced electric vehicle – a race that has its roots with the EV1, but began in full with the reveal of the Volt – has been one of the most exciting developments the auto industry has ever seen,” writes Volt vehicle line executive Doug Parks.  “Detroit/Hamtramck is the finish line for the race and one we will cross this time next year as Volt begins arriving in dealerships.”

Source (GM)