One year before starting production of the Chevy Volt, General Motors engineers say they are confident in the performance and safety of the electric car's batteries.
GM executives gave an update on the car's plans on Tuesday, saying engineers are making some tweaks to the design but that they are on schedule.
The Volt's chief engineer, Andrew Farah, also implied that GM is close to moving ahead with a project to make a Cadillac that uses the same gas-electric power train that the Volt uses. Last week, there were reports that the Converj concept had been given the green light internally, with expected car delivery in 2013.
For the Volt, GM is preparing the battery and auto manufacturing, which will happen in its home state of Michigan, with the process and product validation scheduled to begin early next year, executives said.
In the meantime, GM engineers are testing the Volt's battery pack, called the Voltec, and putting 80 prototype vehicles through the paces. In addition to crash tests for safety, they are testing the car's performance on a range of conditions, including very hot and cold temperatures, and steep hills.
This crash test shows that the orange T-shape battery pack of the Volt is not impacted during frontal collision, says GM.
(Credit: General Motors)The Volt is a gas-electric hybrid, but unlike the Toyota Prius and other hybrids on the road now, the Volt moves only from electric motors. The gasoline engine is used to supply energy to the batteries through a generator.
Because it's a new car, GM still is trying to project what sort of performance to expect. Overall, engineers are happy, but they also know that climate conditions and driving style will affect the battery's performance, they said.
"Ten years is the target life (for the battery). Depending on how you use it and where you live, you could see significantly longer time," said David Wallace, engineering group manager for Voltec Battery Systems.
The biggest challenge is battery durability in very hot weather, he said. People who live in more temperate areas and do a lot of city driving will have more forgiving conditions, Wallace added.
"But even if you live in Phoenix, as long as you charge at night, and you run during the day, your battery will remain happy," he said.
During its testing, GM has to tune the chemistry of individual batteries, which will be supplied by LG Chem. Various tests, including crash tests, have indicated that battery safety is good, executives said.
For the car itself, auto engineers are now making adjustments to reduce the overall noise during times when the gas engine kicks on for longer rides.
Farah declined to say how big the gas tank will be, which will indicate what the overall driving range is, saying that decision will be made as late as possible.
Separately, Farah said GM's plan to produce an Opel in Europe that uses the Voltec powertrain is still on target, with a schedule roughly one year behind the Volt.
DETROIT--As General Motors Co. expands its lineup of rechargeable vehicles beyond the Volt, it will not brand them to be identified with the plug-in Chevrolet launching next year, a senior GM executive says.
That approach sets GM apart from Toyota Motor Corp., which is considering a range of hybrids identified with the Prius.
"Our thought is to take the Volt technology to other products," Brent Dewar, chief of global operations for Chevrolet, told the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit this month. "The Volt was the original vehicle that we started, but I wouldn't see that as a brand marketing direction for us."
The Prius, introduced in the late 1990s, commands about three-fourths of the hybrid market.
Dewar said the Volt would pave the way for more vehicles based on the same technology--combining a rechargeable battery pack for all-electric driving with a gasoline-powered generator for longer trips.
But Dewar said the Volt name would not be identified with GM's future electric vehicles.
By contrast, Toyota's brand chief has said the automaker was considering a plan to put the Prius name behind a broad family of high-mileage hybrids.
Bob Carter, group vice president of Toyota's U.S. sales arm, told the Reuters Autos Summit that he thought the Prius had become synonymous with hybrid cars.
The Volt is on track to become the first mass-market plug-in hybrid in the United States. It is designed to run for 40 miles on a battery charge and can be recharged at a standard electric outlet.
When the battery is partly depleted, a small gasoline engine kicks in to recharge it and power the vehicle. That will allow the Volt to make longer trips without what Dewar called "range anxiety."
Separately, the Detroit News reported last week that GM will produce the Cadillac Converj plug-in concept car it introduced last January at the Detroit auto show. The vehicle uses the same technology as the Volt.
A Cadillac spokeswoman declined comment.
The Volt will be sold in North America and Europe before it goes on sale in Asia, Dewar said. The introduction in Europe is to be in 2011.
Dewar said Opel will sell its extended-range Ampera, derived from the Volt, in Europe alongside the Volt.
(Source: Automotive News)
Chevy built the Volt for a smooth ride, but now engineers are putting the electric car to the test at General Motors' Milford Proving Grounds. Watch the Volt tackle potholes and a long stretch of cobblestones called Belgian Blocks.
The PowerFuze keeps your USB devices juiced in the car and at home.
(Credit: Scosche)You should see the mess of cables, chargers, and charging cables that clutter my backpack every day. Moving from car to car and home to work while testing a variety of devices means that iPod sync cables, USB cables, Mini- and Micro-USB cables for mobile phones and GPS devices, 12-volt car chargers, and 110-volt wall chargers eat up a good deal of my bag space. For me, this is why Scosche's PowerFuze charger system looks interesting. This charging solution should let you replace a number of cables and chargers for an all-in-one approach. It's a car charger and a wall charger. Ideally, it's the best of both worlds.
The PowerFuze system crams a few different charging configurations into one package. When you're at home, it is a two-port "Made for iPod" and "Works with iPhone" certified USB AC charger that plugs into a 110-volt wall outlet. When you're on the road, a 12-volt USB charger pulls out to take advantage of your vehicle's DC power port. If you have 12-volt DC car accessories that you want to use indoors, the vacant 12-volt port will work as a power inverter to accommodate them. With 1 amp of current split between the two channels, you shouldn't expect to power a 12-volt air compressor on the PowerFuze, but there's more than enough overhead for most portable devices.
Then again, most users only have one car, so they won't really see the point of carrying around the 12-volt charger. That little bugger will probably find itself perma-lodged into your car's DC power port after the first week--when you get sick of bringing it into the house every day. That being said, I still think it's nice to be able to pick up both chargers for one reasonable price and have the flexibility to use them together if you should decide to do so.
The PowerFuze and the PowerFuze Pro (with an included iPod sync cable) sell for $34.99 and $44.99 respectively. If you only need a car charger, look for the PowerPlug and PowerPlug Pro with sync cable for $19.99 and $29.99, respectively. Check out Scosche.com for more details on this cool little stocking stuffer.
DETROIT -- General Motors Co. will spend $202 million to renovate its Flint Engine South factory to build 1.4-liter four-cylinder engines for the highly anticipated Chevrolet Volt--and for a small car that likely will be even more crucial to Chevy's future success, the Cruze.
The automaker also will spend about $28 million on three other plants in the Flint, Mich., area to help build the 2011 Cruze compact and the Volt.
A 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine will power a generator to create electricity for the motor that propels the Chevrolet Volt, above, and will drive the Chevy Cruze.
(Credit: Automotive News)GM is scheduled to launch the Cruze next spring. Production of the Volt, a plug-in hybrid sedan, is scheduled to start in November 2010.
The Flint engine plant will produce 40 engines per day when production starts late next year. Output will rise to 800 engines a day by fall 2011, GM officials said.
The engine for the Cruze will be turbocharged. The Volt's engine, which will power a generator to create electricity for the motor that propels the car, will not be turbocharged.
The initial batch of engines for the Chevy Volt will be imported from a GM plant in Aspern, Austria, until the revamped Flint plant begins production.
The other GM plants that will be updated and retooled are the Flint Metal Center, Flint Tool and Die and Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center.
GM says the key functions at the plants will include development of automated equipment and tooling for the Cruze and Volt assembly plants. The Cruze will be assembled at Lordstown, Ohio, and the Volt at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.
The operations will develop dies and stamp body panels and components for Lordstown and Detroit-Hamtramck.
GM is spending about $30 million on the Grand Blanc plant to build robotic weld tool cells that will assemble the Volt body at Detroit-Hamtramck.
(Source: Automotive News)
Automakers are expected to agree this week to use the SAE J1772 five-pin charging system and coupler as the standard connection for plug-in vehicles.
(Credit: SAE International)The Society of Automotive Engineers International, the organization that sets the standard for aerospace and automotive industry technology, will vote this week to make the SAE J1772 charging system and coupler the standard connection for plug-in vehicles, according to a General Motors executive.
Britta Gross, director of GM's Global Energy Systems, shared the news during a live Web chat at GM's Fastlane blog on Tuesday evening.
"As Jon Lauckner said this morning, the Volt comes with a 120-V charger and if you can find a normal outlet, you can charge the Volt," Gross said.
She went on to add that all major automakers will eventually equip cars with the same charging coupler when their respective plug-in cars in the pipeline reach the consumer market because a standard agreement was being reached.
"Yes, GM's Gery Kissel is chair of the SAE J1772 standards committee. The standard is going to a vote this week after two and a half years of work. All major automakers are expected to agree to adhere to these charging standards. All infrastructure that goes in from now on should be J1772 compliant so all plug-in vehicles can use it," Gross said.
Gross is referring to the SAE J1772 or SAE electric vehicle conductive charging cable and coupler which has five pins and can be used with 120V or 240 V single phase electrical systems.
The agreement would allow charging stations throughout the world to plug in to any standard plug-in vehicle in the same way nozzles at gas stations are standardized to fit gas- or diesel-powered vehicles, respectively.
DETROIT--General Motors Co.'s campaign to promote the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid may be paying off.
Bob Lutz, vice chairman in charge of marketing, says 50,000 people have registered at Web sites and indicate a strong intention to buy the vehicle, which is scheduled to arrive in November 2010.
But many may be scared off by sticker shock. Sources familiar with GM's plans have said the price will be about $40,000.
A federal tax credit of up to $7,500 will take some sting out of the price.
GM will build about 10,000 Volts next year. In 2011, the company expects to build between 50,000 and 60,000 Volts. GM plans to ratchet up Volt marketing at the Los Angeles auto show in December.
Once GM has about 200 preproduction Volts in stock next year, it will "pull out the heavy artillery and get Volt buzz" going with media and customer events, Lutz says.
He adds: "We might even do the same thing we did with the Chevrolet Equinox and have Project Driveway and have real Americans driving Volts where they use it as a daily car for a couple of months."
(Source: Automotive News)
All the droolworthy stuff from Frankfurt, what it will *really* take to sell the Chevy Volt, Toyota's gonna' call everything a Prius, and this is the first episode of 'Car Tech Live', the new live video edition of the CNET Car Tech Podcast.
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EPISODE 136
SHOW NOTES• CNET coverage of the Frankfurt auto show
• What's the funny noise coming from your electric Nissan?
• Hertz NeverLost supports USB drives to load your navigation destinations
If you buy a Chevy Volt, are you a moron? The writing's on the wall for driving while texting. Future Toyotas may call you a liquor face. And we take a ride in really great American hybrid.
Listen now: Download today's podcastSubscribe now: iTunes (audio) | RSS (audio)
SHOW NOTES
• BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept car
• Toyota breathalyzer also checks your face
• Garmin Nuvi 1690 with NuLink service
The Chevy Cruze is a small, economical car that is very important to GM's future.
(Credit: GM)GM generated excitement and much press coverage when it unveiled the Chevy Volt in 2007, and that interest continues unabated as the production launch date approaches. But GM has another arrow in its quiver that could be equally as important to the company's profitability, the Chevy Cruze.
A story on NPR this morning covers the reopening of GM's Lordstown assembly plant in Ohio. The plant currently produces the Chevy Cobalt, one of Chevy's smallest models, and one that is currently enjoying sales growth. The NPR story points out that the plant is being retooled to produce the Cruze, a small car that is set to replace the Cobalt.
The Cruze is a five-passenger car that will be available with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine or a turbocharged 1.4-liter four cylinder. Buyers will also have the choice of a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. Along with OnStar telematics, Bluetooth phone integration and a USB port for iPod and MP3 support will be available. The cabin tech arrangement will most likely be similar to the one we recently saw in the new Camaro.
