Chevrolet Volt

I agree with \"ex-EV1 driver\" - I hope GM follows through. We need this technology to escape the chains of foreign oil, and the pollution it brings.

While I hope GM continues with EV and hybrid technologies, I have to wonder if has GM had their head in the sand regarding lithium batteries. Altairnano is selling right now a 70KWh lithium battery pack, that can be charged/discharged over 15,000 (yes thousand) times. Just ask Phoenix Motorcars, or Tesla Motors about it.

WHY IS IT THAT A PLUG-IN PRIUS CAN GET OVER 100 MILES ON A CHARGE AND GM CAN ONLY GET 40?? THIS IS AGGRAVATING. AGAIN GM FAILS TO IMPRESS AND IS BEHIND THE TIMES. THEY SHOULD SCRAP THIS PROGRAM LIKE THE EV1 THEN SCRAP THEMSELVES!
:(

Sounds totally insincere to me. I applaude the guy quoted in the article that said, \'Apparently GM\'s magic hydrogen fuel cell isn\'t working either, so now they have come up with another future magical technology that isn\'t quite ready yet. They will tell you they are doing everything they can to improve the internal combustion engine. I don\'t buy it.\'

Neither do I. Emerging companies such as Ecotality and others are fairly far along in demonstrating working hydrogen vehicles, which makes me think that if Detroit were serious, they could do it, too.

Lutz betrays the aim when he essentially admits that the goal is to have a nice-looking prototype to parade to the press and to the public to make us all think this will work someday. The truth is, they are going to miss the boat with energy the way they did with safety, when they said nobody wanted vehicles with safety belts and airbags, and the way they did with reliability, which is when the Japanese started eating their lunch.

Lisa Hart

The major cost comes from lithium battery pack. As a short cut to bring this to market, GM could use lead acid batteries and reduce the battery only distance to 20 miles. The reduction is needed to reduce the battery weight as lead acid batteries do not have as good engery density. 20 mile gas free distance would be very significant step towards achieving our energy independence. Lead acid batteries are reliable and cheap. Besides, the Firefly Energy will come out with the new type of lead acid batteries this year. They would have great impact. :grin

I just saw the special on payperview about about a battery company who had a contract with GM before they canned the EV that made batteries with longevity. Is this true???

plain series hybride
in its basic concept
can provide 30 %
more FE instantly.
Skip all hydro,
plugins and THD for
a few years and
investigate real solutions in Green & alternatives that will be a lasting solution for a world that is used to some kind of
endless energy.

They should bring back the EV1 as well as the geo metro 8) ;) :grin :) :p :roll :eek :sigh :cry :? :zzz

GM could have already made a serious hybrid if only they wanted to. They could use NiMH batteries and a slightly bigger engine. Such a hybrid could be made NOW.But the reality is that GM only likes to make guzzlers. .

Of course I don,t see this particular car going into production, however, if GM really want this car to go into production, the technology probably isn\'t that far away. What GM needs to do is network with companies who are researching this technology and with other car companies to perfect the technology. They would also need to research ways to keep vehicle cost at a reasonable level to the consumer while still making a profit, which, could be the toughest part of the whole project.

I watched this documentary. GM leased the EV1s then took them all back. If GM SELLS the Volt, I\'d buy the Volt today, but if they try that \"First we\'re going to lease them and see how it goes\" crap, I wouldn\'t give GM a dime.

talk is cheap...american car companies do plenty of it. proof is what the japanese seem to focus on. i\'d get something like a volt in a heartbeat if it was reality but american cars are not reliable anyway. i refuse to buy another car until honda or toyota get a plug in electric with flex fuel back up like a volt.

I always have the same question. We can explore outer space, send back pictures from millions of miles and yet we cannot develop a car to get 100 MPG!Why can the Japanese do things we cannot? They are killing us economically but we still buy their cars and American car companies are down the tube. Dosen\'t make any sense!

The only full hybrid patents on the roads are taken, Ford has 350+ on the Escape filed with 22 blueprints borrowed from Toyota, while Toyota has racked up over 650 patent on the Prius...

What hybrid patents are left to corner???

Maybe that\'s why the battery is never ready and the plug is always changing...

We are purchasing Toyota hybrid Prias\'s and highlanders one after another that work increadibly well. Its too bad GM crushed all the EV1\'s 10-20 years ago, after LA abandoned its law that a prercent of the vehicles had to be elecric. GM has all the technology it needs. Maybe GM should go the smithsonian and backwards engineer it the EV that is on display. Its too bad Toyota has had record sales and become the largest car manufacturer while GM sits on their hands. GM could produce and already had produced EV vehicles years ago. GM simply does not want to produce an electric vehicle. I would rather buy a GM product, but I have to buy a Toyota. Given the choice after driving an hybrid or EV, I would never go back to a gas engine.

I just saw that documentary , who killed the electric car.. talk about a smack in the face to GM.. You folks should check out the Tesla Roadster .This is a high end sports car. Base model $92,000 0-60 in 4 seconds, tpsd of 135 mph, range of 250 miles on single charge.. ready to ship to customers this year... www.teslamotors.com. they are currently developing a more affordable 4 dr sedan . They are using the fund to dump into R&d to make cheaper and affordable units for the average buyer..

I am an engineer that designs battery/electric motor systems. There is no reason that this can't be done now.

Just look at the past. Back in the day I had a 1982 VW jetta diesel that got 57MPG (that's right). The problem today is the American need for power and size.

If you had an EV that could go just 40 miles on the electricity, and added 60 miles running on an engine of equivalent efficiency, you would have a car that got about 143 miles/gal. In addition to this, it would be even easier to do this with today's engine technology.

It is a shame that more people don't call these people to the table. Even my 1977 Honda accord got 42MPG on the freeway.

It is all about perception.

I have been watching technology make huge leaps forward since the 70's (I was too young to notice before that) Americans are known to be very innovative and hardworking but why are we following "modern" trends 10-20 years behind the Japanese and Europeans? I will refer to the debit card, atm, Sony walkman and watchman, nintendo, and yes the electric and hybrid cars.
We should be blazing trails not waiting to see if someone else might succeed before we chance our first step.
I always liked to believe the "concept" car was just around the corner for me, the consumer, not something that would stay in the R&D vault, never to be seen again after the car show is over.
Don't give us new tail lights and headlights each year and try to convince us that it is a "new" car. The automakers are way behind and they know it. Finally, the general public is waking up and wants more. Will the foreign car companies beat the US automakers to it, again?

http://www.chevy-volt.net

if it was on the market right know i'd buy one today!!!!!

I am trying to figure out a way to tell Toyota that they should make a small truck like the old nineties pick ups in a hybrid. Does anyone have any ins with Toyota to tell them to do this? I won't be buying a new vehicle until there is a small pickup prius!

Lets get the Chevy Volt in production as soon as possible.

Lets not make this another EV1!!!!

Ocean acidity has risen %30 due to carbon emissions. If we do not change energy sources and deforestation practices, vast amounts of life will go extinct in most of our lifetimes. Oil companies crave profit and have no other motivation. They are very powerful and influence auto design. The change needs to come from people demanding their governments set limits on fuel type and use. How about a carbon tax on non-commercial four wheel drives? Is that difficult to do? How about mandating again EV vehicles? It worked before.

One year later, much of the fog has lifted from this project. Instead of costing under $30,000, it is now forecast to cost under $40,000. Instead of a 40 mile AER, the real world number appears to be closer to 25 miles. Two versions of the battery pack were received from LG for bench testing in late 2007, and the A123/Conti battery pack is expected to be shipped to the GM lab early in 2008, perhaps by the end of January. The car will seat 4 people and should go on sale to the public in 2011. It will have a Cd (coefficient of drag) similar to the Prius Cd of .26. In June, 2008 "mules" (Malibu with Volt battery and electric drive) should be available for members of the information media to drive and evaluate. Wouldn't it be nice if most of this turns out to be true?

It's obvious you did zero research, or went to dealers not interested in selling cars.
GM currently offers 5 hybrids: Saturn Vue, Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Saturn Aura, Chevy Malibu

And several vehicles that get over 30mpg highway:

Cobalt, Malibu (non-hybrid), Pontiac G5, Pontiac G6, Pontiac Vibe, Saturn AURA

And from Green Car magazine: "...Tahoe’s 21 mpg city fuel efficiency rating is the same as that of the city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan."

So I say, let GM research the Volt, and get it right, I'll be waiting.

Imagine how much gasoline and money we could save while helping reduce emissions, with just a vehicle capable of running on electricity, gasoline fuels and biodiesel. Chevy volt has this capability with much more innovative rechargeable electric drive system. Plus, this four- to five-passenger sport sedan still maintains the passenger and cargo capacities of a production car, driver and front passenger air bags equipped with modified chevy equinox mudflaps features. What more?? And a StabiliTrak Stability Control System.

You are showing an unnecessary degree of generosity to GM's endless policiy of deceit and pusilanamy which commenced with the recall of the EV1!
Wagoner and his cohorts represent JUST that bastardized concept of enterpreneurship which has brought our country to it's present "knees".. In a more perceptive focus we should also add on the roll of our present Bush and the "scowling" VP who scandalously sold out our nation's best interest mandating the corn/ethanol caper which has now blownup exponentially - world wide - by creating food scarcities, tremendous inlationary pressures...All, JUST to be get a few extra votes and provide added wealth to their already wealthy agrofriends!!
It is beyond belief that the automotive, petroleum interests and the political structure in Washington are continuing a constant ferment of misleading arguments, backtracks, half/full lies just to simulate a scenario AWAY from the overwhelming advantages of plugin vehicle technology.
And it is not at all any tribute to our so called democratic traditions which project such a brainless apathetic response to the national catastrophe which faces us!
An equanamous response would be to impeach that bastion of perverted politicians and thereafter retire them where they can avoid damaging our lives although I would hesitate to any thoughts of having them righteously in self recognition each drinking a cup of hemlock.

Great point Bill. I have been researching and I would love to get behind the wheel of that car but you are right talk is cheap...put up or shut up.

check out aptera.com for answers to some of your prayers.

Nice article, BUT, the statement "The battery pack will consist of 250 individual cells, wired in series, so that if any one of them fails, the whole pack will be dead" is very likely in error.
While such statements are true of Christmas tree lights, it is inconceivable that GM would not have good enough electrical engineers to implement electronic circuits to bypass bad cells. We even have this on our University's solar car battery pack (which also runs batteries in series).
Hybrid cars are a proven technology. I just hope that GM can catch up to and pass the performance of Toyota's Camry Hybrid. This Volt car seems like a winner to me :-)

Even if it does work, it's not practical for families or businesses. We need an electric mini van and small pickup that can go at least a hundred miles on a charge at up to 70 mph. Most of these early prototypes look like race cars - not that I wouldn't want to have one. But I need something to take trash to the dump, go camping, transport buiding materials, etc. This doesn't work for me.

This is sad to hear about the doubt of the Volt that GM has led the public to belive that would be out in a few years. I can see that BIG OIL has got to them and stoped any chance of saving our way of life. Cant everyone see what the big oil companies are trying to do to our country?

I would love to be off imported oil but we, the US , have oil here we just can not drill because of big goverment. Why is China drilling off of FLA but the US can not? As for the new tech. green vechiles. In the early 90s you could have bought a large BMW 7 and had it converted to run on hydrogen at BMW. This had a 20 grand cost, but BMW stated that if all the cars were hydrogen powered it would not cost more. This BMW would use the same engine that came in the car, no fuel cells or way out stuff. The car only produced water vapor from the exhuast and had more power. Now it also used more "fuel" to get around, but if it is cheap hydrogen who cares. What happened to this car and this tech.?.....oil companies!

GM is talking like these "green" vehicles are witch craft, but other companies have done it in the past, better than what GM is tell you that is coming in 2, 3, 4 years if ever.

My next car is going to be a plug hybrid, and my wifes next car is going to be a hybrid. As the gas price were i live are 14 kroner a liter simular to 2,8 dollars a liter and app 11,2 dollar pr gallon.

If I can buy a car replacing my milage (25.000 gasoling) app 2500 liter with electrical driving for 20.000 km forth and back from work and a bit more, my savings are 28.000 kroner a year i dollars 5.600.

I can buy a car for 420.000 kroner and get a profit of 7,5% compaired with gas.

So i can buy a car for 84.000 dollars and still make a profit og 7,5% a year with no risk. or I can borrow 84.000 dollars at a rate of 7,5% and still my economy will be as before.

In the U.S. you can divide 84.000 by three (4 dollars a gallon) = 28.000 dollars at a rate of 7,5%, and at 5% 42.000 dollars and your economy is still as before.

I dont think it is enything wrong with my calculations. The electricity cost is only 1000 kroner in a year so it is low.

But if this gets to be coummon knowlage everybody will wait to buy hybrids.

If the thecnology is solid over half of the cars in norway are hybrids before 2018.

This will increase the electricity consumtion with 3 to 5%.

Stig

40 miles on nothing but electricity is good. Recovering electricity when you break is better. Good excelleration and top speed of 120 MPH is great. If I had the money and it was available, I'd buy it now...maybe... I need two more things in this car that I have not heard much about. One is climate control (A/C and heat). The A/C doesn't have to be a typical compressor. For generations, the military used technology based on the "venturi effect" to cool air in their armored vehicles (not saying they still use it or not). The vehicle is moving...that alone produces air that can be restricted and its force used to cool air flowing through a liquid. Number two, I live in Florida and the Sun is free. Why isn't the hood, trunk lid and roof of the car covered in photo-voltaic solar panels? Why can't the car charge while driving? Why can't it charge all day in the parking lot at work? If my electric company is still using coal, gas or other natural resources to produce electricity, what good is this going to do when gas is $12 a gallon? I'm right back where I started from now with 30-40 MPG at $4 a gallon.

I also have nothing against fuel cell technology, but the weight of a hydrogen tank or the equipment needed to generate hydrogen is the worst of all these solutions in a car. Fuel cells are good for land and space, not cars (unless you can create a storage tank and hydrogen generation equipment that weighs less than the entire car did before you started) And ofcourse, all of the stations operated by the big 3 oil company sells hydrogen if you don't have the onboard generation equipment...right!

GM, you need to do better than this. I need my A/C and I should be able to drive all day or at least most of a sunny day using solar power to recharge the batteries as I drive or park.

On CNBC I saw the show "Saving GM" and they was talk about the volt. On the show they stated that the price would be in the 40 to 45 grand range and maybe more by the time the car hit the dealers. IF that is the case this car will not sell to the masses and GM will say that the public was not ready for it..