GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

The automotive portion of the Internet reverberated Thursday with the comment made by Audi President Johan de Nysschen in which he claimed that the Volt was a “car for idiots.”

The rush of negative press forced Mr. de Nysschen to issue a statement on the Audi Facebook page, in which he claims not remembering saying those words to the writer. Where have I heard that one before?

Anyway, we’ll let him speak for himself:

An online report today, subsequently picked up by various other forums, left an unflattering sense of my feelings toward electric vehicles and the people who support their development. Let me clearly state that, in my opinion, electric vehicles will be part of the future transportation of society – but only if we go about it the right way. In fact, Audi is working on electric vehicles.

I do not specifically recall using the term “car for idiots” during my informal conversation with the writer. It was certainly not my intention to leave the impression that I’m opposed to electrical vehicles, and if I was unclear on either of those points then I need to eat crow.

What I do recall is the essence of my contention, namely that the feasibility of the Chevrolet Volt as a concept is questionable. And that policy decisions – and the industry’s reactions to those decisions – are leading us toward a technology that may sound tempting on the surface, but, as of now, also contains many deep and unsolved economic and technological compromises.

“Mass electrification” of the vehicles on American roads could lead to problems like a strained electric grid. Large-scale utilization of electric vehicles will require massive investment in new power stations that are much cleaner than the ones in use in the U.S. today. Otherwise, it could merely shift greenhouse gas emissions from the tailpipes of cars to the smokestacks of coal-burning utilities. That’s not just my opinion. The California Air Resource Board this past April concluded that electric vehicles presently are second only to hydrogen cars in greenhouse gas impact when measured on a well-to-wheel basis.

Returning to the Volt, my point was simply one of its economic feasibility today. The 50% or so price increase that the Volt represents over a similar gasoline car cannot be offset through the savings from reduced fuel consumption. The only way to offset the extreme premium for the Volt is through taxpayer-funded subsidies. So I question if that makes economic sense.

Does that mean the Volt and other electric vehicles are forever impractical? Of course not.

In recent broadcast interviews, discussions with journalists and meetings with policy makers I have asserted that the future of automotive transportation lies not in any one “silver bullet”, but in a range of technologies that meet different needs – all while lowering emissions and fuel consumption. That includes plug-in electric cars when technological and economic hurdles make them more practical. It includes hybrid vehicles. And it includes clean diesel along with substantially more efficient takes on today’s gasoline internal combustion engines.

Admittedly I am a passionate advocate for the role that clean diesel technology can play in easing this nation’s challenges. Cutting through misperceptions about clean diesel and other technologies can be frustrating. If you’d like to hear my thoughts on these issues, go to a video of my recent remarks at www.audiusanews.com. Meanwhile, know that we are working toward a more sustainable future.

-Johan de Nysschen

So it seems he is focused on the old already refuted claims that electric cars will  cause a “strained electric grid” and shift greenhouse gases to coal plants, despite studies by EPRI to the contrary.

He also seems to still be missing the point that the first generation price premium being offset by government incentives is necessary for GM and the industry to be able to ramp up to less expensive future generations.

Finally, he neglects the critical element that electrification of the automobile will allow America to become energy independent from foreign sources of oil.

And unless I missed it, no apology.

In the 2 -1/2 years since the Chevy Volt concept was first unveiled there has been considerable attention from and tension with competitors. Mostly it has been a fair game, and over time in fact many automakers have started their own EV or EREV programs.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk once called the Volt with its mix of gas engine an electric motor “neither fish or foul” but went on to wish the car well.

This new particular insult though is really over the top, and unfortunately in my opinion is unnecessarily derogatory.

Apparently Audi’s president of North America Johan de Nysschen who is an advocate of diesels is no fan of the Volt nor all of the government and regulatory effort going in to promoting EVs.

He dismissed the Volt as “a car for idiots.”

He is said to believe very few people will be willing to pay $40,000 for a car that competes with $25,000 sedans, and is not itself a luxury car.

“No one is going to pay a $15,000 premium for a car that competes with a (Toyota) Corolla,” he said. “So there are not enough idiots who will buy it.”

He argued that the Volt is simply “for the intellectual elite who want to show what enlightened souls they are.”

Of course describing the same individuals as both intellectuals and idiots simultaneously doesn’t speak well of this fellow’s logic, which is flawed.

Critical logical flaws include ignoring the importance of an expensive first generation to get to more affordable second and third generations with the early technology being subsidized by well-to-do early adopters. Also missed is the fact that the true cost of the Volt will be more like $32,500 after tax credits. Important all the more is the need to wean this country off of oil which has a different value all its own. It could also be easily argued that the Volt doesn’t compete with a Corolla either.

I, Mr. de Nysschen, may be a lot of things, but an idiot isn’t one of them. I will also say it is commonly accepted good business practice not to speak poorly of your competitors or their customers.

I can say at least now I know of one car brand I won’t be buying.

Source (MSN) via (NY Times)

Every so often GM-Volt.com rises to the attention of the national media. In the most recent case our little blog wound up featured in a story in the Wall Street Journal penned by Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Kevin Helliker.

The focus of the story was the fact that despite the global financial meltdown and the particular decimation of the auto industry, online automotive writing and publishing has actually continued to increase. So people may be buying less cars but reading about them more.  This is interpreted as meaning America’s love affair with cars remains strong even if they can’t be afforded.

It was noted that the number of online auto sites is nearly 5000, and the number of online automotive writers has increased to 2700 from 1600 in 2005.  The total number of auto sites increased around 2% in 2008, the same year car sales slumped 30%.

It is also clear that auto shoppers are increasingly turning online for research, with 75% of potential car buyers conducting online research in 2008, up from 70% the year earlier.

This site was mentioned in the context of the increasing popularity of sites particularly devoted to electric car coverage.

I was quoted as saying “This Web site has just added a whole new dimension to my life.” You can say that again.

Source (Wall Street Journal)

On July 16th GM launched a dedicated Chevy Volt social media portal called ChevroletVoltAge.com.

I have some mixed feelings about this. GM made me aware it was coming, and I actually was briefed on the project in person at a meeting at GM’s headquarters which included people from GM communications, social media, and Chevrolet marketing.

As anyone reading this is likely aware, being a Chevy Volt social media portal is actually, well, the exact purpose of GM-Volt.com. For two and 1/2 years I have tirelessly built this site to be what it is today and with much thanks to all the wonderful readers like you.

When GM-Volt.com began, I saw myself as the ambassador to GM, working to bring the details and news of Volt and EV development out into the public eye, and to compel GM to move the car from concept to production. That line has been crossed long ago, and now we are only slightly more than a year away from launch.

GM has seen the value of this site, its readership, and what it represents and they have decided they want to “tell their own story.” Such is the birth of ChevroletVoltAge.com.

I of course shall carry on here, doing my best to interpret the news, developments, and discussion as it happens. We here have the tremendous advantage of unfiltered and uncensored information and discussion, without corporate cleansing.

It is my hope that both sites can coexist and bring value to one another. You will notice GM-Volt.com is linked out from the Chevy site and considered a friend. Content from here will also appear in their news feeds.

And the reality is my and our hope and dream for a world less dependent on oil has come one step closer.

Feel free to let me know what you think about this development, and any ideas you have for our future direction. I greatly value your opinions. While you’re at it, enjoy the Volt IVer production video GM has put up to launch the site:

It may be recalled the Washington Post recently published an extensive piece about Bob Lutz and the Volt in which the vice chairman of GM and originator of the Volt concept was described as being “ambivalent” about the Chevy Volt. The story’s painted Lutz as a lover of loud shiny powerful gas guzzlers and that the greening of the auto industry that the Volt represents gave him mixed feelings.

Lutz has taken that author to task in his latest FastLane post. “Let me say this clearly: There is no ambivalence on my part – or on the part of anyone at GM – toward the Chevy Volt. None. Zero,” writes Lutz.

Lutz confirms the Volt program is “the most exciting program I have worked on in my entire career.”

“The Volt can literally change the face of automotive transportation as we know it,” he writes “Who would be ambivalent about that?”

Lutz goes on to say the advent of the Volt and other smaller cars that GM has in the pipeline does not mean the end of performance car. He likens their arrival to a grocery store that first begins to offer organic vegetables, “doesn’t mean it shuts down the meat counter.”

Source (FastLane)

And for your viewing pleasure, the world’s first high resolution images of the Chevy Volt in black are below. Click to get to the high-res versions, and Enjoy!

The Washington Post has just published one of the most intensive and thoughtful articles about the Chevy Volt and what it means for GM I have ever seen. The story is based on an interview with GM vice chairman Bob Lutz.

The story begins pointing out that the Chevrolet Camaro SS is GM’s latest muscle car that flies in the face of all the environmental talk going on these days. “Sexy with charisma,” says Lutz, but admits “Some people don’t care for those kinds of descriptions today — it’s a different time.”

Lutz counters “But we have new vehicles, too. We have the Volt. We are committed to the electrification of the automobile. We know this is the time.”

Extensively described is how the Volt came to be. The author confirms what we already know, Lutz didnt commission the Volt to fight global warming which he calls a ‘crock.’

“If you look at most of the mainstream media, you get the impression that 95 percent of Americans today want a vehicle like the Chevrolet Volt or a [hybrid such as the] Toyota Prius,” says Lutz. “And that, by God, the reason General Motors is in trouble, is that we have not offered a vehicle like that. But when you look at the reality, at today’s fuel prices, most Americans still want a conventional car.”

Lutz says why the Volt was really developed, “Because it is an important symbol. We need it. It has a chance to change our image.”

However, Lutz intends the Volt to lead the way for a pure electric future. He says the Volt not only represents GM’s commitment to change but call it “the first generation of an electric vehicle from GM” leading to successively more enhanced Volts eventually resulting in a pure electric with more than 150 miles of range.

Lutz recounts what happened when Toyota first introduced the Prius in Japan in 1997. The GM board met and asked if they should do the same thing.

“Somebody said, ‘Do we have [hybrid] technology?’ ” recalls Lutz. ” ‘Oh, yeah,’ was the answer. ‘Oh, yeah, we got the technology. We’ve been building hybrid prototypes since the late ’60s.’ ”

However, it was decided the cost, then about $600 to $700 million wasn’t justified as it was expected the cars would lose money. Wagoner decided ‘We can’t do that’ and the decision to not go forward with a hybrid program was made.

After watching the Prius’ halo effect drive sales of other Toyota cars and make the company a media and environmental sweetheart, by 2006 Lutz had finally had enough.

He told GM VP Jon Lauckner, known as ‘the Wizard’ he wanted a “game changing” electric car that would leapfrog the Prius and deliver 150 miles of pure electric range. Lauckner said it would be “too expensive” and furiously scribbled calculations that would be his solution of the Volt’s range extender design.

It is written that GM’s plan to build a limited first year run of 10,000 copies of the Volt at around $40,000 exudes caution. Lutz isn’t worried though. He expects all 10,000 cars to be purchased quickly by “well-heeled electric car die-hards.” This will lead to economy of scale cost reductions that will eventually get the car into the $25,000 to $30,000 price range he says.

Producing the car he feels is an absolute necessity for GM. “We’re talking about our image here — about remaking GM; it is essential to get this done,” says Lutz. “We can’t make any mistakes with the Volt.”

Lutz believes an artificial market is being created for electric cars driven by “influential environmentalists and the intellectual establishment” who want electric cars to succeed, and Obama’s stated goal of 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015.

Lutz although excited about the Volt is already mourning the loss of the high-power, gas-guzzling, dazzling machines of old. “In time, the government is going to legislate out of existence cars like the Camaro, the Corvette, the Cadillac CTS — all these acclaimed vehicles that have lately gotten rave reviews from the automotive press around the world,” predicts Lutz. “So, ultimately, we are driven by legislation into the kind of excitement provided by the Volt.”

And for demand. He says “it’s probably just 5 percent of the public that desperately wants something environmentally sound and is willing to pay a premium for it,” and notes “the customer will never recover the premium paid for the hybrid system in fuel economy.”

Lutz believes the electric car marketplace is skewed to the coasts. “I would say the East and West Coast intellectual establishment kind of lives in its own world. When you get to the broad American marketplace, excitement is still kind of defined in the way it used to be.”

And with that the 77 year-old Lutz set off on his 60 mile drive home saying “nice afternoon for a drive.”

Lutz, GM, and the country it appears are thus ambivalent about the greening of the automobile.

Source (Washington Post)