GM announced that the Chevrolet Volt has made a giant step toward becoming a reality, design is finalized and a production version will be revealed in the very near future. GM wants to built more than 100,000 units a year after 2010. Volt will be built at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center that now builds full-size luxury sedans.
"We intend to show a production version of the Chevy Volt publicly in the very near future," said Rick Wagoner, GM chairman and CEO, in perhaps the most encouraging news to come out of the GM annual shareholders’ meeting here. "We remain focused on our target of getting the Volt into Chevrolet showrooms by the end of 2010."
Wagoner added: "The Chevy Volt is a go. We believe this is the biggest step yet in our industry’s move away from our historic, virtually complete reliance on petroleum to power vehicles."
As both exterior and interior design are finalized, the next step toward production include validating the car’s lithium-ion batteries and working on "ancillary systems," such as its air-conditioning system and stereo.
As you know the future Volt is expected to have a price close to $40,000 when will go on sale in 2010. That’s pricey compared with rivals such as the Toyota Prius hybrid, but taxpayers may help lower that sticker.
GM is lobbying Congress to create tax credits benefiting "extended-range electric vehicles" such as the plug-in Volt, says GM spokesman Greg Martin. "We need to make sure the legislative language does include extended-range electric vehicles."
The Volt concept is powered by an electric motor running off lithium ion batteries. A small gasoline engine recharges the batteries after the vehicle has traveled 40 miles or so. Owners can recharge the batteries overnight by plugging the car into an electrical outlet.
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Bob Lutz officially announced that the first Chevrolet Volt prototype with the full lithium-ion battery pack has hit the test track. He said “It is reliably meeting its objectives. Even with a rough calibration, even with the wrong drive unit, the wrong body, etc. etc., it has been hitting its 40 miles on electric power.”
He also confirmed that the dynamometer tests have been successful even under various thermal conditions. Lutz said the Volt’s powertrain, comprised of an advanced lithium-ion battery and a small gasoline engine, was installed into a mule vehicle and is being driven on public roads around the automaker’s proving grounds in Milford, Michigan.
Lutz said he s pretty confident the car will debut in November 2010. "Three months ago if you asked Frank Weber ’November 2010?’ he’d get flustered and say he wouldn’t answer until he knew more," said Lutz. "Now if you ask him the same question, he’s calm and relaxed and says unless we encounter some completely unforeseen obstacle - November 2010 looks good."
Over 20,000 people have expressed interest in buying a Chevy Volt when it arrives by signing up on GMVolt’s virtual waiting list. It still isn’t clear how much the Volt will cost, although most estimates put it around $35,000. Also not clear is how many Volts will be produced in the first model year, estimates put that at at least 10,000.
There are about 4000 Chevy dealerships, so if only 10,000 cars should be made, how will they be distributed? GM vice-chair Bob Lutz has mentioned the possibility of early distribution to “smile states” such as California, New York, Washington D.C., and Florida, but also indicates that final plans haven’t been made yet.
GM Volt will be powered by a 160-hp electric motor that will allow it run on electricity for up to 40 miles. Recently Bob Lutz was reported saying that the price of the Chevrolet Volt could reach about $48,000. Lutz said that $40,00 would be possible only if GM doesn’t make a dime on the car.
And this is not a rumor. Bob Lutz himself confirmed that the first fully operational Chevy Volt protptype has hit the road!
But this is only the proof that the concept car exist! But, on the other hand, the mule has all of the basic components the final Chevy Volt will although in rough form, now most importantly including the full 16 kWh 40+ mile range lithium-ion battery pack. So, this means the car is on its way! It will be unveiled in two years.
Here’s what Lutz had to say: "The only things that were wrong with the EV1 (GM’s first electric car) was that it was way too expensive to make; it was only a two-passenger; and the battery technology was not ready," Lutz said. "It was a noble effort, but it was a technological force job and at a time when nobody cared. We could not find more than 800 buyers for that thing no matter how hard we tried or no matter how much we dropped the price. Finally we had to lease them out."
"We’ve got the first car running (with lithium-ion batteries) ... and what the guys get on ’sightings’ is a picture of an old Malibu with black wheels and a very long extension cord," he said chuckling at the thought. We have gasoline and 350 to 400 volts (of electricity) in the same vehicle and we have to be careful about it," he said.
Lately a spy shot with a supposed Chevy Volt mule with li-ion pack started to circulate on the internet. But what’s the real deal with the car in that picture? It is true that GM is testing E-Flex mule vehicles for a few month now, but this is not one of them.
According to GM EFlex spokesman Rob Peterson: "We have had E-Flex mule vehicles testing components on our test tracks in Milford for over five months. However, the one being shown is not one of them. The photo circulating on the web is a Volt ride and handling test vehicle. It does not include E-Flex propulsion components - specifically, it does not include the li-ion t-pack."
So, what you see in this pictures is a real E-Flex mule with the E-Flex drivetrain, but no li-ion pack.
In an interview with the BusinessWeek magazine, Bob Lutz said that the price for the production version of the electric Volt could reach about $48,000. He said that $40,000 is possible only if GM doesn’t make a penny on the car. Only if the government throws on tax incentives for purchasing a Volt, could only take the price close to the $30,000 mark.
And he continued that the Volt is the next big step for GM. Well, yes you know that already, but are you ready to pay that price for an electric car? This is the price tag for most of the luxury-cars available on the market at the moment. So, what will Volt bring that important to worth the price? Well, we will see, won’t we?
Chevrolet Volt Concept was unveiled last year at the Detroit Auto Show. It is powered by the E-flex System – GM’s next-generation electric propulsion system. The Volt is also designed to run on E85, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
Sometimes, you get the impression that Bob Lutz is the John McCain of General Motors. You know, says things “from the hip,” stuff that comes across as being revolutionary because people in his position aren’t supposed to talk that way. Stuff that, when you start thinking about it a bit more, makes no sense.
The latest comes from comments Lutz, product boss at GM, made to Wired magazine during the North American International Auto Show. According to Wired, Lutz said that the forthcoming Chevy Volt might not meet its target price of $30,000 and might, in fact, actually come in at $40,000. According to Wired, Lutz says the car’s not about sales, but prestige: “If it doesn’t work, it’s not fatal. But if it does work, it’ll be sensational.” Lutz portrayed the car as nothing technologically revolutionary – “[t]here is nothing magic about the technology” - and says that others will be doing the same three years after the Volt is introduced. “But there is no doubt you’d like to be able to leapfrog Toyota and come out with a car they aren’t ready to do.”
It brought to mind TopSpeed.com’s own questions to Lutz about the effect of price increases due to the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which Lutz projects at between $5,000 and $6,000 per car, possibly more. Asked during NAIAS if that wouldn’t make people want to keep their older cars and, thereby, drive down demand for new cars, Lutz seemed unprepared to answer the question, struggled for a while, and then said that higher new car prices would just increase the prices for used cars, narrowing the margin between new and used. Even though the predicted CAFE-caused price increase amounts to raising the real cost of a new car by 20%, Lutz expressed no worry over the effect of that increase, either on the company’s fortunes or that of the overall economy.
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A fleet of gas-friendly vehicles from Chevrolet will bring an eco-friendly presence to the 50th Annual GRAMMY® Awards on Sunday, February 10. As the “official vehicle of the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards,” Chevrolet will provide both Hybrid and FlexFuel E85 ethanol SUVs to transport talent to the Awards telecast and other GRAMMY Week events. In addition, Chevrolet will “electrify” the red carpet with a show-stopping display of the extended-range electric vehicle Chevy Volt Concept car.
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Every now and then, you get the impression that Bob Lutz and Rick Wagoner don’t often compare notes.
This past Thursday, General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner told the press that the Chevy Volt couldn’t be guaranteed for 2010.
But today, in a posting on GM’s FastLane blog, Vice-Chairman Robert Lutz says the company is “holding tight” to the 2010 target date.
Perhaps there is no more to this than a difference in emphasis. The two comments are (...)
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