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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM 2011 Chevrolet Volt Ever since that cold day in January when the Chevrolet Volt concept rolled onto the stage at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show , the single biggest question has been the battery. More specifically, could GM find a lithium ion battery that would provide 40 miles of range on a charge, last the life of the car and not drive the price into the stratosphere? Although we still don't have any independent evidence that GM has achieved those goals, the company does claim to be meeting its targets. The first step on the path was evaluating more than two dozen battery suppliers in spring of 2007 followed by the awarding of two development contracts in June of last year. Although Bob Lutz acknowledged that one of those battery suppliers was in the lead last June and in August acknowledged that one had been selected to supply batteries for production, no official announcement had been made. Reuters is now reporting that Korea's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM 2011 Chevrolet Volt Ever since that cold day in January when the Chevrolet Volt concept rolled onto the stage at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show , the single biggest question has been the battery. More specifically, could GM find a lithium ion battery that would provide 40 miles of range on a charge, last the life of the car and not drive the price into the stratosphere? Although we still don't have any independent evidence that GM has achieved those goals, the company does claim to be meeting its targets. The first step on the path was evaluating more than two dozen battery suppliers in spring of 2007 followed by the awarding of two development contracts in June of last year. Although Bob Lutz acknowledged that one of those battery suppliers was in the lead last June and in August acknowledged that one had been selected to supply batteries for production, no official announcement had been made. Reuters is now reporting that Korea's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM 2011 Chevrolet Volt Ever since that cold day in January when the Chevrolet Volt concept rolled onto the stage at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show , the single biggest question has been the battery. More specifically, could GM find a lithium ion battery that would provide 40 miles of range on a charge, last the life of the car and not drive the price into the stratosphere? Although we still don't have any independent evidence that GM has achieved those goals, the company does claim to be meeting its targets. The first step on the path was evaluating more than two dozen battery suppliers in spring of 2007 followed by the awarding of two development contracts in June of last year. Although Bob Lutz acknowledged that one of those battery suppliers was in the lead last June and in August acknowledged that one had been selected to supply batteries for production, no official announcement had been made. Reuters is now reporting that Korea's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM 2011 Chevrolet Volt Ever since that cold day in January when the Chevrolet Volt concept rolled onto the stage at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show , the single biggest question has been the battery. More specifically, could GM find a lithium ion battery that would provide 40 miles of range on a charge, last the life of the car and not drive the price into the stratosphere? Although we still don't have any independent evidence that GM has achieved those goals, the company does claim to be meeting its targets. The first step on the path was evaluating more than two dozen battery suppliers in spring of 2007 followed by the awarding of two development contracts in June of last year. Although Bob Lutz acknowledged that one of those battery suppliers was in the lead last June and in August acknowledged that one had been selected to supply batteries for production, no official announcement had been made. Reuters is now reporting that Korea's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Paris Motor Show , Chevrolet , Rendered Speculation The Truth About Cars' contributor Andrei Avavarii is one of those rare individuals with a real knack for using Photoshop. Being a dedicated car guy, Avavarii's photochoppery is often a very good representation of what a real production automobile could look like. Such is the case with his latest piece , which offers an early glimpse into the design of GM's most highly anticipated vehicle before it's finally released to the public sometime in 2010 (hopefully). The most radical design element kept in this speculative-image are the transparent sections built into the upper door skins first seen on the original concept . Lutz says that the production car will be recognizable as a Volt though some concessions will need to be made, so Avavarii has enlarged the greenhouse and streamlined the car a bit for the sake of aerodynamics. Of course, we'll just need to wait till Chevy lays...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Green , Chevrolet , GM , Earnings/Financials Sales of General Motors' one time cash cow, full-size trucks, are declining faster than the value of the US dollar, but with a birthday coming, GM still wants something to celebrate. This September, the world's largest automaker will be celebrating its centennial under a financial pall unlike any it has faced since its early days under Billy Durant. The car that GM management hopes will represent a new beginning is the Chevrolet Volt, which has been locked in for production for November 2010 and the shape of the production car has reportedly been finalized. The Volt team is apparently planning to unveil the definitive Volt shape as the star of the big party this September. Early powertrain development mules have been running for several months now and GM insiders claim the lithium ion battery packs are exceeding performance expectations so far. The big question at this point seems to...
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Filed under: Coupes , Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Paris Motor Show , Chevrolet , GM Bob Lutz has come out and said it again: " I would say there's almost no reasonable doubt in our minds anymore that this is going to work. " And that isn't just that the Chevy Volt will work -- it's that it will work on time and as promised. In spite of the difficulties GM has had getting Volt technology up-to-speed within its timeframes, the man upstairs is apparently as confident as ever. Lutz said that engineers have driven the car to and above its 40-mile pure electric range already. Two companies are still trying to win the lithium-ion battery pack contract, although LG Chem says it has a 3rd-gen unit that's ready to go. Another hurdle is the car's internal combustion range extender starting up, which Lutz described as "noisy and still a little rough." And of course, it wouldn't be a Lutz piece without him taking a shot at something. Speaking of Toyota's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM According to Bob Lutz, the first Chevy Volt powertrain mule has just passed a major milestone. After several weeks of testing in the lab with a battery pack installed, the Malibu based pre-prototype has rolled out into the fresh air. In fact, according to Lutz, the car has even rolled passed past the security gates of the Milford Proving Ground to drive around on public roads. Even in this early, very rough, form, Lutz says the car is meeting and exceeding the goal of 40 miles of driving without running the engine. With this, the E-Flex engineers have demonstrated the performance viability of this concept. However, they still have a long way to go in validating the robustness of the system in different operating environments as well as the long-term durability of the powertrain as a whole. Perhaps the biggest issue to address is the cost of the system, particularly the battery pack. For GM to sell the Volt at an affordable price...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Tech , Chevrolet , GM The hopes and dreams of electric car aficionados for a purely battery powered successor to the late, lamented EV1 may soon be satisfied. Or not. It all depends on ... you guessed it, the battery. However, the latest utterings from Maximum Bob have people buzzing again. Mr. Lutz spoke to EV site PetroZero the other day and intimated that a purely battery-powered variant of the upcoming Volt is a possibility, leaving the range extender on the cutting room floor. This is actually not a new idea and dates back to the earliest dates of the Volt program. During a media briefing back in December 2006 several weeks before the Volt's public release, the Volt team showed us images like the one above that included several different powertrain configurations. The premise was to demonstrate the flexibility part of E-Flex. This included a variant with a larger battery and no engine to charge it . This pure EV was described as something...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Green , Chevrolet , GM As so often happens when the first spy shots of a new car surfaces, we jump all over them trying to get them on-line and then we stop and take a closer look at what we have. Then questions start to arise. Is this really what we think it is? If not, what is it? Well, when it comes to one of the most eagerly anticipated new cars to come out Detroit in recent years, the late night availability of the first photos causes us to jump first and look where we're going later. In this case, it was the first spy shots of Chevy Volt mules that turned up late last night . We already knew that GM has been testing various bits and pieces destined for the Volt in previous model year Malibu body shells, but now, we had pics. As it turns out the gray car that we posted on last night is only a ride and handling mule. It has various suspension components destined for the extended range EV, but the powertrain is bog...
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