Inside the Chevy Volt

The Volt is beautiful inside, but I'm not going to see anything like this for another ten years--at least! Even if the Volt were produced before that, I won't be able to afford one.

Oh Wow,

Yeah...

Build it.

Didn't take me long!

Like I said.

The Chevy Volt will be the DEFIBRILLATOR to get Wall Street and America's heart pumping for GM again.

In Short...

Thanks for the defibrillator, I feel a little more secure.

So the Heartbeat of America huh?

While I understand that it is only a concept car, I would hope for a bit more utility in the production car. One thing I love about my wife's Vibe is the number of nooks and crannies it has to stash stuff in.

But I really like the instrument console.

I've never understood the mentality of wasting so much time and energy on an unrealistic interior that will NEVER see the light of day. It would be interesting to set the GM beancounters loose on this one - they probably would come back with something made out of cardboard and construction paper.

Are these done just to appease the large egos of the design staff? What's the point?

Hi Gerry,

I wouldn't be that pessimistic and could imagine it will come significantly earlier than 10 years. I am convinced, all the engineers are ambitiously working on the corresponding battery-technology, what's the key to this. I do trust in their expertise. And as GM chose Chevrolet as the brand for such a concept, I believe GM will do everything to make it an affordable vehicle.

Ten years ? A lot of people are hearing what GM said about batteries the wrong way. More like three years tops. See in-depth explanations here:
http://groovygreen.com/groove/?p=886
And read the comments.

Consider partnering with Apple or Google to design an integrated voice/touch GPS navigation, rear view camera, music, and wireless bluetooth system (call it to the Technology Package option). If you want to lure younger customers it will pay off.

What about the EV1 years ago. It was affordable, fast, and fun. and it was better than what we got now. Why is there talk about a car like the Volt being released so far down the road. It's all about oil and money and the industry isn't ready to switch over because of that. The freemarket is going to suck the lifeline of the world dry and it's going destroy the environment and run our pockets dry at the same time. Well I'm glad the CEO makes millions of dollars and I hope he has something to convert this urine to water and then to hydrogen... It would make since for a millionair... NO need to worry about the price of fuel when you can wash yourself in money.

>The Chevy Volt

I am excited about this but mark me as extrememly sleptical.

I am watching who killed the electric car right now and I wonder if this is just another ploy by GM to try and help bad sales.

Just saw Lou Browning being cut off in the movie.

I know that the EV-1's could get 100Miles per charge with Nimh batteries. That works for 90% of the population including me who travels quite far each day.

So for you to state we need to wait? What battery tech are you waiting for? It seems like quite a bunch of bunk again.

When it hits the show room with commercials that are meant to sell cars I will say, YEAH GM did it!, and cheer you on. BUT big business and big money being very dirty makes me VERY skeptical as to your real commitment. Let me be one of the first to say no GM unitl
its out and viable and I have been a GM buyer for over 20 years. Now I am looking forgien for my next buy. (this year)

Maybe you think if you put a piece of metal on a turntable you think its makes it all better. What kind of suckers
do you think we are? Like everyone has forgotten the EV1. Let me know when you put this on an assembly line.

Bob

I have one other comment. TZero. They seem to use LiIon and can go 300 miles. So whats GM Excuse again?
Bob

Work 7 days a week, 15 hours a day.... BUILD THIS CAR ASAP!!!! You can crush Toyota with this car...

I can see the commercials now..... "GM and 150 MPG" My family would buy three of these cars right away.

GM needs it, America needs it... be a leader and get it done!

I only have one thing to say to GM: Build It. You'll be getting my Honda Civic on trade-in.

This car will happen and will be a great thing for the individual (savings), the country (beat Japan, end Mid East dependence), and the world (global warming).
See the new enthusiast site:
http://www.gm-volt.com

Why can't they develop some kind of electric motor to slip right in between the flywheel and the transmission that could be fitted to any vehicle, like a turbo boost?

As a Prius owner I am glad GM is finally moving forward with a Plug in hybrid. Hopefully this model will not end up as the original 1000 GM
EV-1's... in the crushers.

You folks had most if not all of the Prius technical elements in your hands and you threw them away.

It's a shame it takes major economic losses to get GM's attention focused.

In any event, if you build this vehicle you will finally be on the right track. The Volt is already attracting attention from Prius owners who are looking at plug in technology.

Building and marketing the Volt will be a technological coup that will help restore confidence in GM technical and marketing ability.

Just remember... building it is not enough, you need to market and support the Volt. Please no more EV-1 disasters.

I had the opportunity to meet the constructors of the Volt at Industry Preview (however brief). They mentioned that the Volt was based on the next gen Delta platform. That could mean two things: Delta is what they had laying around (highly doubtful), or the Volt will come out with the next cobalt/pursuit/ion. With GM's push for global platforms, shortened product cycles, and the fact that they already have Delta II in testing, leads me to believe that it will be less than 2 years. Especially for such an important vehicle. So that brings us to 2009 release as a 2010.

in the interim, kill the 2.2. leave a 2L, 2.4L, and turbo 2L, all sidi, cvvt. and figure out how to put the 2.2L gmpp race engine in a production vehicle.

I love the idea of the Volt.

If it was produced with quality and was priced about the same as other hybrids, I'd buy one.

Unfortunately, given history, I question the quality part. For instance will you lubricate the gas engine if the car is only running on electric? I'd hate it if I only used the gas engine 3 times a year and it broke down due lack of oil or some other item. Not to mention how long will the electric controller last.

Please work to put electically driven vehicles on the market soon. They make infinitely more sense than the nonsense that is today's heavy hybrids.

random Bob - the movie, "Who Killed the Electric Car" is nonsense. GM (and later Toyota with the electric Rav4's) just put forth the greatest effort to make electric cars practical. The consumer (and lack of interest) killed the electric car, not some corporate conspiracy.

If you love America, get this into production. I will love your company forever if you do. This is what America needs so badly.

GM has a website where they are taking a survey to decide whether to produce the volt. The website is:

http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/

Pease cast your vote.

Like most companies, GM is driven by what their customers want to buy. To Americans, cars are a status symbol. NOW… Imagine if GM (or anyone) offered a 4X4 E-Flex style series PHEV version of the Hummer, Silverado, Suburban, etc. with 40 mile all electric range and a 100-MPG rating within 70 miles on flex fuel or biodiesel. Now think of a highly flexible drive by wire vehicle layout that is cheaper to build and more robust than the current geared drive train. One Range Extender “engine”, one motor controller, 4 electric wheel motors with max torque from 0-full RPM, The motor controller computer can independently control each wheel motor! Now, the options are unlimited…

NORMAL ECONOMY MODE – Only one drive wheel receives power until slip occurs then power could be transferred as required. Drive timers could make sure that each wheel motor receives equal drive time (power) over the life of the vehicle maximizing motor life. Good for normal or slippery conditions on hard surfaces, rain, snow, sand, or even rock crawling where each wheel’s independently controlled torque and limited slip are paramount.

4X LOCK MODE – All wheels are locked to rotate at the same speed. Good for sticky surface conditions such as mud, hill climbing etc where spinning may help clean the treads and improve traction.

4X SKID-STEER MODE – Right wheels and Left wheels are locked together like a skid-steel loader. Forward the left wheels while reversing the right ones or visa-versa and you have ZERO TURN RADIOUS. There could be a small joystick that takes the place of the old manual shift knob or the steering wheel could lock dead-center and the top could separate into 2 control levers. THE ULTIMATE 4X4!!! Humm…. Military Applications in a HUMVEE Anyone?

Since drive-train geometry is no longer an issue, pneumatic shocks could raise or lower the vehicle to pre-programmed heights as needed and load cells on each wheel could monitor conditions and attitude adjusted to keep center of gravity as low as possible to reduce rollovers. The options are up to your imagination.

I love this car! If they put them to market today, I would go and buy one today!

I love this car, I just saw it for the first time at the Washington Auto show. This is an incredible car and I would buy one now if I could.

All that being said there are tons of applications for a car like this. Not to mention the weekend warrior or emergency situations. Think about it you go camping or something, need a generator just plug in to a standard 110 socket. Or a major storm hits you need some power in your home just run the extension cord. The car or truck is a glorified generator.

The possibilities for this tech are limitless.

For more discussion on the Volt, visit the Volt Yahoo Group at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/chevyvolt

The E-Flex drive system sounds great except for one item - The Battery. Batteries take hours to charge, are affected by cold temperatures and gradually lose their ability to hold a charge. Is GM looking into new "Ultra" Capacitors as an alternative to batteries? A Texas company "EEStor" claims to have developed capacitors that can outperform lithion-ion batteries in energy density, price, charge time, safety and from what I've read, longevity and temperature immunity. Are these capacitors for real? see attached link.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/18086/

That is the idea that many people expect from car makers i hope GM is going to put this car in the market soon.
I want one of this cars.

Gerardo

I think its about time someone stepped up to the plate and challenged the status quo! Let them keep their oil. This IS what America NEEDS. When are they going to be in production!!!

This car is the future of a new world. I imagine ordering these cars with thousands of variations like a Dell computer. I hope they come our strong and keep on pumping. I am buying as much GM stock as I can. The Volt ROCKS!!!