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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: 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 Bob Lutz has gotten behind the wheel of a Chevy Volt mule, and he seems rather impressed -- both by the performance of its electric drivetrain's instant torque capabilities and the far-reaching impact that the electric vehicle could have on the marketplace. Of course, we are all familiar by now with the wallet-killing gas prices that are commonplace at our nation's stations, and Lutz was struck with just how important the Volt project truly is as he drove around and saw gas hovering around (and over) $4 bucks a gallon. Although the vehicle that Lutz drove is still very much an engineering mule , the battery pack installed in the electric car was a lithium ion unit which has already been tested in the lab. Apparently, this first test-pack was delivered back in April, which marks a bit of a watershed moment in the development of the Volt. It's way too early in the development of the E-Flex platform to get your checkbooks out...
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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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