GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

In late June, GM completed the production of its first true to form Chevy Volt prototypes called integration vehicles.  We were given a brief video description of what it was like to drive one by the car’s chief engineer Andrew Farah.

GM granted an interview with Farah to Automotive News who got some new nitty gritty details.

Farah was asked what it was like to step on the accelerator while the engine generator was running. “You get immediate response from the foot pedal,” he says. “Because the Volt is always driven electrically, you don’t even notice the difference there.” He also explained for the first time that at that point “the gasoline engine’s rpms then follow.”

Farah noted that because the engine isn’t directly connected to the foot, “it is one of the things we continue to tune.” He said “there is an expectation of what happens when you put your accelerator to the floor in the way the car sounds and feels. We’ve got the feel.”

“We’ve got the feel of a sports car,” he said. “The sound part and the way the engine plays into that perception is one of the areas we have to work on.”

Asked about vibration, noise, and harshness Farah said “we still have some work to do,” but that during his ride he was “very pleased with the first steps.”

“It was great,” he added.

Farah noted that the team is using “liquid applied sound deadener” and that in the front of the dash and glass there is “packaged-in sound suppression items,” that are also being tuned to perfection.

Farah says that during EV driving he is not aiming for the car to be “Cadillac library quiet,” because it might be “disconcerting” to drivers. He is focused on minimizing wind noise and conducted road noise.

He said transition from computer model to real car went very well although not absolutely perfect. He noted the team had a minor “interference with the instrument panel that we didn’t expect.” But that was corrected and “off we went.”

Asked if the car feels heavy because of the battery at its center, Farah said there are advantages and disadvantages to it. An advantage he explains is that the battery “lowers the center of gravity of the car” which is good from a handling perspective. However, he added the weight is not without detriments, but that his team is “taking the best of the advantages.”

In terms of what work lies ahead at this point Farah said “This is really just the beginning of all the final tuning. We are at the 50 percent point. Fundamentally, we’ve got everything directionally correct, but now we’ve got all the tuning yet to do.”

Source (Automotive News)

While visiting the GM Technical Center in Warren Michigan for the new battery lab tour and announcement, I had another chance to briefly test drive the Volt Cruze mule. How could I resist?

With the sheer novelty of the first drive behind me, I figured I could get a better feel for driving the car. Since I’ve also had the chance since then to drive the Toyota Prius and the new Honda Insight a driving comparison, albeit limited, might be in order.

Volt wins hands down.

The Volt mule is one sweet car. The pep and power of the smooth, refined, and quiet Volt motor can’t even be compared to the straining whine of the hybrids’ small combustion engines as they try to pull those cars up to speed. The Volt is in a different league altogether.

The Volt mule is heavier, less aerodynamic, and lacking the suspension tuning the actual production Volts will have. Yet despite these restraints, the car still handles marvelously.

The power and spirit was refreshing. I also found I could rip around curves with certainly and solid grip and hug. The Honda Insight handles pretty well though feels lighter, the tallish Prius seems most tenuous around curves.

One could sense the weight and bottom-heaviness of the Volt mule due to the 400 pound T-pack in the center. Although slightly unusual feeling it also gives the driver the benefit of a low center of gravity and even weight distribution which provides confidence in road handling.

Round two in the Volt mule was as inspiring as the first.

GM still will not allow experience of generator mode, but GM VP Jon Lauckner explains these mules were built for testing the propulsion system’s performance, not how the car interfaces with the driver. There is not even soundproofing in the mules. Thus there really is no point for GM to share a subpar generator mode experience that does not realistically represent how the actual car will behave. When the integration vehicles, which are 100% production intent Volts, hit the test roads soon, journalists will come back to experience all of the car’s functions.

I also suspect no one will be able to meaningfully compare the Volt to the Prius or Insight because the driving experience is so radically different and so far superior in the Volt.

Even aside from the fact that the Volt can be driven for 40 miles without gas, it is truly in a different league altogether than any hybrid sedan on the road today.

General Motors has allowed the Cruze-bodied Chevy Volt mules to be test driven by more than a dozen journalists and various others including myself.

They have strictly restricted those driving experiences to the vehicle’s charge depleting mode. Outsiders thus only have the experience of driving the car in pure electric mode without the gas generator running.

And lets face it, that is the main idea. We after all want to drive it only in that mode to limit use of gasoline.  The range extender is there for less than 20% of the public’s driving needs and many people will never use it at all except perhaps in cases of emergency.

However, GM’s insistence on not allowing observation of the generator mode has raised the usual suspicions of the blogosphere.

EV enthusiast Chelsea Sexton, who appeared in the film Who Killed the Electric Car, spent a day recently test driving the Volt in EV mode, and highly praised it. However, because she was on the track all day doing interviews for a new film, she actually accidentally witnessed test Volts passing by while in generator mode.

She writes “in range extended mode- the thing is already Prius quiet.”

“And because the generator operates within certain distinct ‘power bands’ depending on the driver’s right foot,” she writes. “Any detectable sound should directly correlate with attendant ambient and road noise.”

She pressed Volt exec Frank Weber as to why GM wont let anyone outside experience driving the generator mode, and he replied sheepishly “well, when the engine comes on, you can hear it.”

So it is the fear of hearing the engine, not its feeling or performance that GM PR wants to avoid.

However, the reality is the Cruze-mules are not Volt. They may have 80% of the final car’s parts but the lack the refinement, component location, and engine noise shielding the final Volts will have. As such they are likely to be considerably noisier.

GM wants the series hybrid mode to feel as butter smooth and maximally silent as possible.

Since the true Volts are currently being built, it wont be long before myself and the automotive journalism universe get to experience them, likely in the fall, and I sure believe it will be quite quite and quite awesome.

Source (EVChels)

Several news agencies now have had their chance at the wheel of the Chevy Volt Mule.

1. Jalopnik – the tongue in cheek and heavily prolific automotive blog had a mule drive with Bob Lutz riding shotgun. They called it “utterly unremarkable” to GM’s delight because that is the goal. Making a car that doesnt use gas seem the same as cars people are used to. They timed the 0 to 60 at 8 seconds letting them call it “peppy”

2. Automobile Magazine – the author seemed pleased by the silence not only at low speeds but of course during acceleration, quite distinct from current hybrids. They wrote “the mule feels like a normal, if slightly pudgy compact.” The also advise us “the team says it hopes to have closer-to-production prototypes for us to drive by fall.” That would be the IVers.

3. Detroit Free Press- Title says it all “Volt is sporty, fun in test spin.” The author experienced a “fast, smooth blast from 0 to 70 mph.”He quoted Volt executive Frank Weber as saying “People must understand that you don’t have to give anything up to drive an electric vehicle, this is something you will really like and enjoy.” A pedestrian alert signal will be installed due to the car’s silence. He noted “the electric steering was responsive and well balanced,” and that the car hugged the road well.

It was also noted, and this I am sure, the true Volt prototypes (and actual Volts) will be sleeker, faster, smoother and better handling. I can’t wait to see.

Also by now its no secret that GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz will be a guest on the David Letterman show tonight. He will be there to redeem the image of the Volt which was maligned and misrepresented by Letterman a few weeks ago when Elon Musk was a guest.

It has also come out that comedian Stephen Colbert with be joining Lutz and Letterman on the show as part of the discussion. Lutz made his famous “the Volt will get you chicks with hairy legs” comment while on Colbert’s show. The Volt will be onstage too, and no doubt this will be an event to remember for us Volt enthusiasts.

In preparation for this historic segment the Detroit Free Press’ Mark Phelan decided to see Mr. Lutz off from Detroit to New York with a Chevy Volt top ten list for Dave to study:

10. With 40 miles of battery power, it’ll clear a driveway that stretches from Times Square to Piscataway, N.J.

9. About 80% of Americans drive fewer than 40 miles a day, so they’d almost never need the onboard generator.

8. For longer trips — say to Muncie, Ind., for Ball State alumni weekend — the Volt’s gasoline-powered onboard generator keeps the batteries charged for up to 400 miles between fill-ups.

7. Jay Leno wants one.

6. The Volt accelerates fast enough to put Letterman back on the New Jersey State Police’s radar.

5. The Volt will be built by UAW workers in GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

4. Danica Patrick will look great in one.

3. The Volt has an unofficial fan Web site, www.gm-volt.com, just like Dave. (my personal favorite)

2. Entering “Chevrolet Volt” on Google produces 3,460,000 hits. Entering “Late Show with David Letterman” gets 1,320,000.

1. Putting your tongue on the terminals of its lithium-ion battery pack would be a really stupid human trick.

What is your number one reason for wanting to buy a Chevy Volt?

Call for Help from GM-Volt.com: Can someone please upload the segment to YouTube tonight and email me the link or video to: chevyvolt@gmail.com

Source (Detroit Free Press)

Newspapers may be slowly dying, but USA Today has the highest circulation in the country with a daily circulation of 2,113,725.

Jim Healey is their automotive journalist and often comes on a bit harsh towards GM. However, after getting his Chevy Volt mule drive he has penned a rather glowing report. Take that Dave!

Healey writes “based on the thin evidence available, folks who buy or lease the Chevrolet Volt electric car — scheduled to go on sale in November 2010 — should be surprised and pleased.”

He believes the car will have a “remarkably punchy performance,” and “a level of quiet refinement that appears to lead the industry.” I would have to agree.

He notes “the Volt motor has some serious guts” and that drivers will be able to “embarrass muscle-car drivers when the light turns green.” He also noticed as I did, there are none of the “whines” nor “howls” typical for most electric cars.

He thinks that the “super-green, super-geek people” will be the early adopters buying Volts as soon as they hit the market. Is he talking about us? More importantly he mentions what it would take for the car to go mainstream. To do so he writes, as GM believes, the car will have to appeal to people who “want a car a lot like the one they’re driving now while using less gas.”

Healey also didn’t test the generator mode but notes GM’s Tony Posawatz promises “it’ll avoid the shudders common on some hybrids.” He adds that GM is considering how to run the RPMs in that engine. Should they be programmed to match the accelerator or not?

He also hints the engine will automatically come on now and then to move the lubricants and stir the fuel a little. That seems like a good idea.

He also writes “GM says it’s unclear whether most Volt customers would prefer to buy the car or lease it and whether the battery pack should be leased or sold separately.”

But the bottom line is this story will have a positive impact on public perception.

Source (USA Today)

On Tuesday, several journalists were brought out to GM’s Milford Proving Grounds to test drive the Chevy Volt mules as I had.

Same Abuelsamid from Autobloggreen, a technical editor with a strong engineering background, documented his experience here and offers a video of Volt vehicle line director Tony Posawatz briefing the journalists.

Sam described his drive noting the mules “electrically-assisted steering has a nice heft that should make the production version an entertaining steer.” He thought “power delivery is seamless” and was pleased with the braking options allowing single pedal driving in L which “induces more aggressive lift-off regen, about 0.25-0.30 g of deceleration — equivalent to the braking most drivers regularly perform.”

Finally writes Sam “Overall, the electric drive system in the mules performed as advertised and GM appears to be well on its way to meeting a November 2010 Job 1 date.”

In the video below Tony Posawatz tells journalists the mules are 80% representative of the final Volt driving experience. He says in 29 days GM will begin construction of the first of 75 eventual true Volt prototypes (IVERs), and that starting in early 2010 “a lot” of Volts will start to be assembled at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant. He says the IVERs will be for “testing an validating of production intent design as well as developing software and controls to refine the full vehicle package, including the human machine interface”

He also alludes to the possibility of additional stakeholder incentives besides the $7500 federal tax credit already approved, which could further reduce the final cost of the Volt to own.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cde6YexWlKg]

Source (AutoBlogGreen)