GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

On Tuesday morning, eight Chevy Volt integration vehicles left the Milford Proving grounds compound in Michigan on a historic extended test drive into Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The cars were driven for more than 9  hours and 300 miles continuously in a special effort to analyze their behavior, performance, and comfort on such a long drive in real word conditions.

Key personal in attendance on the drive included Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah, Volt vehicle line engineer Tony Posawatz, and advanced technology engineer Larry Nitz.

“Development drives are key milestones for every vehicle program,” said GM spokesperson Rob Peterson. “The extended seat time allows the engineers to experience every aspect of the vehicle – from ride, handling and performance to the comfort of seats. The drives also help uncover engineering issues that need to be resolved before the vehicles are put into the hands of customers.”

“Having the capability to drive several 100 miles in a day is a significant advantage for the Volt team too,” said Peterson. “Remember, the EV1 team needed to be trailered to areas like Pikes Peak or Pennsylvania for testing, or trailer a small generator to extend the vehicle’s range.”

Lead engineer Andrew Farah wrote the following observations about the drive:

HVAC comfort is good, and sound quality in the NVH (noise, vibration, handling) vehicle is excellent.

We have uncovered a number of minor issues with some of the gauges and displays. Up-level sound system makes XM really sound great!

City traffic in Pittsburgh was just what we were looking for after the rolling grades outside of town. On the way in, we all put the transmission selector into the “L” position and this worked as intended in the stop-n-go conditions. At speeds under 35 mph, you can basically drive with one foot because of the heavier regenerative drag as you fully release the accelerator. It is smooth and blended. Seat comfort evaluations are also being conducted. We have our top 3 comfort configurations from previous activities. So far, the top choice seems to be clear, but there is still some work to do.

This was the longest continuous real world drive to date the Volt development vehicles undertook in a single outing, and illustrates how the Volt is capable of doing what no pure battery EV could do.

Besides providing the engineer with valuable data on how to make the cars as perfect as possible, it also produced some very cool photo ops.

Meanwhile GM also announced it was investing over $200 million to upgrade several production facilities in preparation for building the Chevy Volt and Cruze.  In particular, the engine plant in Flint where the 1.4 L Volt engine-generator and 1.4 L turbocharge Cruze engine will be made was allocated $202 million.

Alex Cattelan is a GM engineer working on development of the Voltec powertrain, and has been involved in the Volt program ever since the beginning.

She recently had the chance to drive a pre-production Volt out among a fleet of seven cars to Knoxville, Tennessee.  Cattelan also noted she has previously driven pre-production and mule Volts in cold Canadian winter conditions, high altitudes in Denver, and the scorching heat of Death Valley, and through it all “we have not found any surprises,” she wrote.

Cattelan says that the “twisty, winding roads” of Knoxville are particularly a place where “you really get to see what a car is made of.” And in that place she said of the Volt’s performance from a driver experience standpoint “we are happy with the results.”

She explains it was in those mountains of Tennessee that GM worked to “calibrate how the Volt’s battery energy, fuel efficiency, and drive quality work together in real world conditions.”

She explains that a car must give back to the driver what he or she would expect, and the Volt is no exception. It must feel right and respond intuitively. She says it should have the same feeling both in EV and charge sustainting mode, should climb hills as needed and if its 95 degres outside “take the heat.”

In all these ways on those mountains the Volt lived up to her expectations.

In an almost poetic fashion she writes:

As I stood next to the Volt on top of a mountain last weekend, I felt overwhelmingly enthusiastic about its capability.

I’m confident that Chevy Volt drivers will feel invigorated like I do by its exciting, smooth, quiet, and fuel-efficient performance.

I imagine there’s a lot of people just waiting to get their chance to see for themselves, myself among them.

Source (GM)

I am one of the 100 people in New York who have leased a MINI E pure electric car. Since I can’t get a Volt yet, I figured this was the next best thing for now. I have just passed 3000 miles in over two months of driving it.

The car is a 2 seat prototype, or electric powertrain-converted standard MINI Cooper. It has a 35 kwh lithium-ion battery pack (28 kwh usable), 205 hp motor, a 100 mile range, top speed in excess of 100 mph, and 8.5 second 0 to 60 time.

When I last wrote here about it I was still waiting for installation of a 240 V home charger and was getting by on a 120 V portable unit which took about 33 hours to charge the car.

I now have the 240 V, 32 amp wall charger in my garage and the UL certified proprietary charging coupler cord (see above).

Having this unit has made a tremendous difference for me. When I arrive home at about 25% state of charge, it only takes about 2-1/2 hours to recharge. I still charge at work on the 120 V unit anyway.

The car continues to perform well. It is fast, crisp and quiet. There are minor fan noises and an occasional odd smell when first turned on, but it is a very capable car, jumps briskly when called upon and handles quite well.  Interior creature comforts are a bit spartan.

I can say I very much enjoy doing most of my daily driving without the use of gasoline. It does get weird sometimes. Still when I pass my usual gas stations I am compelled to think about pulling in to refill, but smile from ear to ear when I realize I don’t have to. Its kind of like waking up from a bad dream.

In practice, I have found with my usual high speed air-conditioned and almost all highway driving style, effective range is from 75 to 85 miles, not quite the 100 that is claimed. There is little doubt though that with lower speed conservative driving 100 miles of range is doable, and indeed there are reports of some MINI E drivers getting more than 100 miles.

I took the car on a 12 mile course that I use to test hybrids with hypermiling techniques. On that course I’ve achieved 82 MPG with the 3rd generation Prius, 62 MPG with the 2010 Honda Insight, and 57 MPG with the 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid. With the MINI E, using those same methods, the projected effective range based on my energy use over that distance was an unimpressive 92 miles.

An important observation about range though is that I suspect people will never fully utilize it, even if it was 100 miles. This is because there is clearly a psychological concern about needing some kind of safety buffer for returning home which seems to be at least 10 miles for me. No one wants to get caught out with a dead battery.

In fact, I think this factor will be a significant limit for BEVs in general and something that the Volt will not have. There will never be a worry about squeezing out those last couple of EV miles in the Volt because if you misjudge, the gas engine will just go on.

The MINI E has two annoying quirks. One is a built-in 1 or 2 second delay or lag that occurs when one first steps hard on the accelerator from a stop. The other, which is downright dangerous, is that the car will pop into neutral with a loud bang if the accelerator is suddenly floored while at cruising or highway speed.

I have come to believe that these flaws were purposely built in. They are in effect punishment to the driver who tries to punish the battery. The initial lag is common and even GM put it into the Volt mules that were test driven. It is to prevent screeching the wheels with torque by the overzealous driver (journalist).

BMW has not admitted they cooked-in the neutral pop, but haven’t responded to my emails about it. There are multiple reports about it by other MINI E drivers. After a few experiences with it, due to simple negative reinforcement-type Pavlovian conditioning I (the driver) never floor it anymore. This was the result I think BMW wanted as it is less abusive to the battery.

Production cars will not have such harsh tactics.

A major problem with the pure EV is the 100 mile limit.  I am able to use the car for essentially all of my daily 56 mile commutes.  It becomes a 3500 pound garage ornament, however, when I need to take longer trips.  At least once a month or more I have to go to an airport, a distant concert, beach trip, or some event that goes beyond 100 miles.  People often say, just rent a car for those occasions, but let’s face it, that is extremely inconvenient especially after one has paid a significant amount of money for their car.  This is another area I believe the Volt will strongly outmarket the pure EV competition.

In the end, the MINI E is a rough-around-the-edges but highly capable fun car.  Driving electrically is thrilling and very rewarding.  Being able to charge quickly is important.  Pure EV limitations are significant.

[UPDATE: Some commentators claim the neutral-pop is not found in all mules.  I just received the following email response from BMW spokesperson Nathalie Bauters: In speaking with our engineering team, we would like the opportunity to investigate the problem you have experienced with your MINI E. Would it be possible for you to bring in your car so that we can inspect it? ]

I recently had the chance to be one of the few people outside of GM to get behind the wheel of a plugin 2 mode hybrid prototype at GM’s test grounds in Milford. I was accompanied by Larry Nitz, GM’s director of hybrid powertrain development.

Originally this vehilce was set to debut under the Saturn brand in 2010 but due to the brand’s sale, that was changed.  It was then slated to appear as a Buick compact crossover, another plan that was recently shelved due to customer feedback.  The car will still launch in late 2011, but the brand and design remain unknown.

The mule I drove remained in the original Saturn VUE skin (shown above).  You can drive along with us in the video below.

It uses an 8 kwh LG lithium-ion pack pack, which is essentially half a Volt pack. The mule car was at this point highly refined, though only about 90% production intent.  I was told the instrumental panel will be slightly changed from what was displayed in the mule.

The final car will have a silent start though the engine went on at start in the mule.  It contained a 3.6 L DI 270 hp engine and two 55 kw electric motors, utilizing a power-split engineering architecture significantly enhanced by the large lithium-ion pack.

The car drove off very silently though a thrust of the accelerator brought on the roar of the gas engine.  It was capable of 40 mph top electric speed but it was tough to get above 25 mph pure EV with acceleration.  In theory, the car could go 10 miles as a pure EV under 35 mph.

Components were changed from the original 2-mode VUE, in particular the engine and inverter were changed and modifications to the transmission and electric motor were made all for the purpose of reducing cost and increasing efficiency.  In fact the Volt’s inverter is used.

GM would not release a target price at this time.

I found the electric acceleration solid and quiet as GM had paid special attention to the noise and vibration of electric motor

Notable was the very smooth transition to engine on, and also well done was the fact that there was no shudder when the engine turns off.

This design and concept is significantly different that found in the Volt.  The PHEV is not an EREV.  Operation is almost always a mixture of gas engine and electric motors to allow generous power and maximum efficiency.  Though like the Volt, GM wants to discharge the battery as much as possible on each trip.  I was told the aim of the car is to try to discharge the battery in about 20 miles.

The car differs from traditional power split hybrids like the Prius.  Here there’s a second mode of operation to gear down the traction motor for bigger vehicles.  It uses a power split architecture and both electric motors are working almost all the time.

Also with two modes it is possible to both have an efficient electric drive and operate the engine efficiently.

In operation, the ICE follows the load and does not only run at certain RPMs and even though the car weighs in at 4500 pounds with its battery, it still has a lot of power.

In the end, the car clearly does what its supposed to do, and does it well.  And for those needing the power and size of an SUV and desiring a plug and double the fuel economy of traditional SUVs, this car may be the answer.  GM expects it to be the first commercially available plug-in hybrid SUV produced by a major automaker.

Recently I traveled to GM’s Milford Proving Grounds for the opportunity with many other journalists to test drive the company’s entire fleet of production cars which were all laid out across a large swath of pavement called back lake.

To our surprise, in the middle of the event, suddenly Frank Weber pulled up in a pre-production Chevy Volt integration vehicle fresh off the assembly line.  Presently there are about 30 of these IVers built out of a total of 89 that will be completed in roughly 6 weeks.

Though we were not permitted to drive the car, nor experience the generator mode operation, Frank did give some journalists test rides.

I was afforded the shotgun position and had two additional riders in the back seat including Sam Abuelsamid from Autoblog.

The experience of actually sitting in a bonafide running fully functional and operational Chevrolet Volt was an absolute pinnacle of the incredible long 2-1/2 year journey I’ve been on since this site began in January 2007.

To all those thousands of naysayers who said it couldn’t or wouldn’t been done, I guess you were wrong.

Below you can enjoy my high-def video of the experience.

First of all the car was sharp and sleek, and the interior was dazzling. The LCD displays were bright and high definition. There was plenty of room on the passenger side, and Frank Weber at about 6’4″ seemed to fit into the driver side without difficulty. The two journalists in the back were comfortable as well. As Sam put it “The Volt is considered a compact, but in spite of the sloping roof-line, it still felt surprisingly roomy. Both leg and headroom were more than adequate for this journ’s long-torsoed 5’10″ frame.”

Acceleration was startling. The car took off like a rocket even with all four of us in it.

Amazing as well was the absolute silence. Clearly the final design and soundproofing has had remarkable results compared to the mules. This was simply the quietest electric car I’ve ever been in.

It was smooth and nimble and did not feel weighted down.

It took quick turns with certainty.

Frank even said there was a bit of a delay programmed into the instant torque so that the final production cars would be even quicker, and would have better ride and handling.  Hard to believe.

All I can say is no one will be disappointed with this car, destined to become, if it hasn’t already, the next American icon.

I consider myself a fan of fuel efficient vehicles.  At this point the Volt seems the best thing coming, although within the next couple of years there will clearly be a plethora of options to choose from.  This will include pure EVs, EREVs like the Volt, plugin hybrids, and standard hybrids both mild and strong.

Right now it isn’t really possible to walk into your local dealership and pick up an electric car, although you can get your hands on one with a lot of effort and money.

What we do have at our widespread disposal are state-of-the-art hybrids.  Though GM for example has applied hybrid technologies to its large trucks like the Chevy Tahoe, and that serves its purpose, I feel focusing on the small light sedan and optimizing it for efficiency make the most sense to me.

From my work here on GM-Volt.com not only have I been given and continue to get unrestricted access to GM executives and engineers, but I enjoy access to executives and vehicles from all the automakers.  A particularly fun perk is getting one-week test drives in some of the latest cars.  I took this opportunity to test drive two of the latest mainstream hybrids, the 2010 Prius and the 2010 Insight.  I will have the 2010 Fusion hybrid next week.

I compared the Insight and Prius side by side on several parameters, and offer a video of my impression at the end of the post.

I found the Prius to outperform the Insight in all areas but price.  It is faster, more powerful, more solid and better handling.  It has better interior space and technological nuances.  Mostly importantly it got tremendous fuel economy.  On a 6.5 mile course I was able to achieve 92.5 MPG in the Prius, with reasonable driving style and moving safely with the flow of the traffic.  On another 12 mile course I obtained 81 MPG.  The Insight could only achieve 62.5 MPG on that same course.

The Prius beings at $22,000 and the Insight at $19,800, making price the only parameter the Insight did better.  Recent reports indicate Honda is scrambling to put out a mid-cycle engineering upgrade to the new Insight to address its shortcomings.

At the end of the day however, neither of these cars can be compared to the Volt.  Though I have yet to drive the production model it will clearly be faster, more powerful, quieter, cooler and more high tech.  Most importantly it will drive 40 miles without the use of any gas at all.  Yes it will at first be more expensive, yet after rebates at $32,500 a Volt is only slightly more than a fully loaded Prius which is $31,770.