Tony Posawatz, the Volt's vehicle line director, will be answering questions here (http://www.freep.com/article/20101205/BUSINESS01/101205016/Monday-Live-Chat-GM-takes-your-questions-on-the-Volt) on Monday Dec. 6 at 3:30pm Eastern Time.

What's the delivery plan? Your earliest of adopters are starting to get angry.

What's the delivery plan? Your earliest of adopters are starting to get angry.

I would go with antsy and apprehensive, but angry works for me too. Pretty soon I'm going to start thinking of other 'A' words for descriptives...

It is recommended that the Volt be plugged in when temperatures are below 32 degrees to maximize high voltage battery life.

With Detroit temperatures in the 20's this week, do you have all the completed Volts that are awaiting shipment plugged in?

Are extreme cold temperatures a problem when shipping the Volts across country in the winter?

What specific EV battery range numbers make the battery warranty enforceable and what are the conditions/temp that low EV range numbers would have to run under etc...

I'd like to add anxious, worried, concerned, uneasy, aprehensive, restless and fretful to the list of adjectives. When will shipping start. We have tax credits to claim and time is running out, I'd like to not wait another year to claim it.

I'm talking to folks about the Volt and they are worried about the battery life for a couple reasons.

A) Believe they will only last 6-8 years and they are *VERY* concerned about the resale values? Where can we point them to alleviate this fear? (even if the number is 8-12 years they'd still have the same fear)

B) What happens when the battery's life is over?

B1) Can it be replaced and what could be the cost (compare to resale of the vehicle)

B2) What about the disposal or reuse of the battery? Lot of concerns here for the folks that WOULD want the Volt and lot of concerns here for the folks that WANT to complain about the Volt.

I'm talking to folks about the Volt and they are worried about the battery life for a couple reasons.

A) Believe they will only last 6-8 years and they are *VERY* concerned about the resale values? Where can we point them to alleviate this fear? (even if the number is 8-12 years they'd still have the same fear)

B) What happens when the battery's life is over?

B1) Can it be replaced and what could be the cost (compare to resale of the vehicle)

B2) What about the disposal or reuse of the battery? Lot of concerns here for the folks that WOULD want the Volt and lot of concerns here for the folks that WANT to complain about the Volt.

It's modular and can be repaired (individual bad modules replaced).

There's an 8-year 100,000 mile warranty.

The replacement cost eight years from now is unknown but it's likely to be less money than today and very possible that the replacement will be of higher capacity.

There is a program to re-use its parts when no longer useful for vehicle propulsion.

The materials are far less toxic than those in most other battery technology. No lead, sulfuric acid, cadmium, etc.

It appears from the assembly videos that the battery can be dropped out for service with the vehicle on a hoist.

Point out all of the problems the Volt won't have. Brakes that last much longer, ICE hours far less than conventional cars so ring and valve jobs not needed until maybe 400K miles, far less frequent oil changes, etc.

ChrisC asked THE question, and Tony Posawatz provided the following reply:

[Comment From Chris C.]
Tony, I am one of your early adopters, having placed my order immediately after the pricing announcment in late July. Over 300 of us now have completed cars at Hamtramck, and the only status we've been getting is that they are in "QC checks". Can you give us insight into what GM's delivery plan is for these, better than continued QC?

Tony Posawatz: Thank Chris for your continued support and we can't wait to hear your feedback! In terms of delivery status, we're readying to ship our first cars to launch markets here in December. We understand your interest, but we're conscientiously finalizing our last quality checks. We expect quite a few Volt customers will have a merry Christmas. ;)

I asked the following about US-wide roll-out timing:
"Hi Tony! Thanks very much for your hard work on the Volt, you must be very gratified at this point with the reception it's receiving. My question is: Now that we've heard about initial Canadian (limited) roll-out, when might we find out more about "complete" U.S.-wide roll-out?"

... and Tony answered:
"Hi Mike - We estimate that in 12 months or so, the Volt should be available across the nation. The initial focus launch was intended to ensure quality, supplier readiness and, very importantly, infrastructure readiness. (There are only 3,000 utilities in the US to work with.)"

So... by next December (estimated). I think this may be new information!

And I also asked essentially the same question ChrisC did. I asked it at the start of the chat, but for some reason they held it and ran it late in the chat. Tony says they have "started shipment", whatever that means:

[Comment From Bill Robbins]
Now that the Job One kickoff has taken place, why are Volts not shipping to dealers? What's the hold up? Your early adopters are worried about not taking delivery till January, and thus having to wait another year to see the tax credit.

Tony Posawatz: Bill - We're sorry to hear that you're having to wait a bit longer than expected - but as I mentioned earlier, we started shipment this month. Feel free to provide any feedback once you've had some time with your new Volt here: http://www.facebook.com/chevroletvolt

Surely the most bizarre question...

[Comment From coffeetime: ]
"Our attached garage is directly below our master bedroom. I know you guys have tested and tested, but still... with that many lithium ion batteries in the Volt, and with stories off the web of Li-ion batteries in laptop computers bursting into flames, well, I worry. If the Volt were to detect catastrophic failure of one or more battery cells, would it at least start honking its horn to wake up anyone sleeping?"

So this person is worried about the batteries catching fire but has never had a concern about sleeping above several gallons of gasoline?

Tony Posawatz: Bill - We're sorry to hear that you're having to wait a bit longer than expected - but as I mentioned earlier, we started shipment this month.

It's my understanding that no Volts have actually shipped yet, why are they being held?

Tony Posawatz: Bill - We're sorry to hear that you're having to wait a bit longer than expected - but as I mentioned earlier, we started shipment this month.

It's my understanding that no Volts have actually shipped yet, why are they being held?

GM says quality control testing and inspection. This makes sense. This is a new and very different model of car. If something isn't right, it will be probably be the first car of this type seen by a dealer hundreds of miles away.

Other speculation is last-minute software tweaks. A possibility, but not as likely in my opinion. This can be updated in the field, possibly even remotely.

After the car comes off of the line there may be some other preparation and paperwork needed before actually shipping.

If it's indeed mostly QC, the gap should shorten once things get rolling just like we've seen the 3400 -> 3800 gap shorten.

I just had the software updated on my CTF Volt. Very minor tweaks is correct. The only noticeable difference is that the brakes are better feeling at low speeds. (Lyle will report the same thing when he next pulls into his parking spot once he has the software update.)

This is a VERY complex product. Outrageously complex. I will have my order in later than most of you, but I know that I want the car to only leave Michigan when the Volt team is sure it is ready.

I just had the software updated on my CTF Volt.

Was that done FOTA (Firmware Over The Air), or did it have to go to a dealer/depot for the new update?

I also submitted the question from Mark Z, asking if the hundreds of Volts waiting in the DHAM parking lot are all plugged in, since it is below 32 degrees there. The moderator did not run that question though, so there was no answer given.

I'm starting to be thankful that my Target Production Week is next week. I wouldn't want my brand new battery sitting in below-freezing temps for a few weeks without a charge.

I doubt they have the capability to charge hundreds at once. Perhaps they are rotating the backlogged Volts in and out of charging.

Was that done FOTA (Firmware Over The Air), or did it have to go to a dealer/depot for the new update?

Yea, +1. How did they perform the update? As much detail as you can give us...

Derek

The dealer has the capability of updating software in any GM vehicle. Anytime you bring your vehicle in for service they enter the vin into their computer and if there is an update available it ha

The dealer has the capability of updating software in any GM vehicle. Anytime you bring your vehicle in for service they enter the vin into their computer and if there is an update available it haWhile this is true, the Volt is one of the first GM cars where certain updates to software/firmware may actually be transmitted directly to the car (and the module/s involved) via Onstar. But it won't be done without customer contact as the vehicle will not be able to be driven during the process (in fact it will need to be plugged in). But this availability depends somewhat on the module or modules involved in the update. In some cases it MAY still require a visit to your dealer.
More on this process in another post I've been preparing for a while.
Stay Tuned ;)
WOT

I also submitted the question from Mark Z, asking if the hundreds of Volts waiting in the DHAM parking lot are all plugged in, since it is below 32 degrees there. The moderator did not run that question though, so there was no answer given.

I'm starting to be thankful that my Target Production Week is next week. I wouldn't want my brand new battery sitting in below-freezing temps for a few weeks without a charge.

I doubt they have the capability to charge hundreds at once. Perhaps they are rotating the backlogged Volts in and out of charging.

Thank you for asking the question. In doing searches on the web and the owner manual, extended storage requires the removal of the negative 12 volt battery cable, having the high voltage battery SOC at 50% and storing between 14 degrees F and 95 degrees F.

Lithium ion batteries last longer when cold at 50% SOC, so having them sitting outside now is better than if the vehicles were sitting in extreme heat. But many web sites warn about temperatures below freezing. GM must have solved that problem with their 14 degree low temperature limit.

Since there is a charger in each Volt, they could use those with a lot of extension cords!

For Monday, December 13, the Detroit forecast shows a low of 14 degrees F. Don't wait for Santa to put them on his sleigh, it's time to ship them by truck or rail today.

How is it that no one asked about the residual value on the lease?

How is it that no one asked about the residual value on the lease?

I gathered that Tony's expertise was more technical than related to financing options. In addition, the questions were screened. Not all of them made it to the webcast. I would suspect that most did not.