Power On
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
We’ve weathered a lot of skepticism since the Chevrolet Volt concept was introduced at the 2007 Detroit show. The Volt has been called “vaporware” by some members of the media. We’ve heard executives from other manufacturers tell the press that the battery technology won’t work. We’ve even been accused of using the Volt to “greenwash” our image.
Well, as everyone knows now, the Volt is real, and the covers have come off. And it represents nothing less than the first step in the reinvention of the automobile.
The vehicle’s design has come under some criticism, most of it, to me, unwarranted. The challenge to the designers wasn’t to design the most beautiful car imaginable and accept the compromises you have to make to do so. It was, make no compromise to fuel efficiency and electric range, and then do the most beautiful design possible, around those aerodynamic dictates.
When you look at the exterior of the Volt, you might notice certain aerodynamic shapes and design elements of some other cars you might see on the road. But beneath the skin, it shares very little with any other car that’s ever existed. So I submit that while it’s typically design that makes an emotional connection with buyers, in this case, the Volt is going to be bought for emotional reasons, but it will be for the emotion tied to the technology contained therein.
The Volt means a lot to General Motors, and to the industry, on a variety of levels. First of all, this is solid technology that is going to be proven reliable. It’s a practical way that we can electrify the automobile and drastically reduce our dependency on imported petroleum. It’s also important to GM to help reinforce and continue its proud history of technological innovation, and to help restore the image of leadership that accompanied that history.
In terms of the impact of Volt on the automobile industry, I think you’ll see lithium-ion technology filter out to the rest of the industry, even to our competitors who initially said it wouldn’t work. I think they’ve figured out that we may well be onto a winning formula here, with 40 miles of driving powered by electricity from a battery and a small engine — powered by gasoline or E85 — to create additional electricity to power the vehicle for several hundred additional miles. I suspect most of our competitors will have vehicles with technology similar to the Volt within four or five years.
What does that mean for society at large? I think it can have an enormous benefit. Our statistics show that 78 percent of Americans drive 40 miles a day or less. That means that nearly 80 percent of Americans can commute powered by electricity from the grid, never using a drop of gas.
When we achieve substantial production, and if our competitors do as well, and the public takes to this new way of driving — and there’s no doubt in my mind they will — we will drastically reduce gasoline and/or diesel consumption and we will simultaneously be drastically reducing our dependency on oil. This puts the country in a much more comfortable place geopolitically and also helps the environment. So at this point, I think it’s very hard to overestimate the importance of the Volt for GM, for the industry and for society in general.
The production version of the Volt represents our progress, and our commitment to seeing that all become a reality in short order. We’d like nothing more than to see everyone drive a Volt and stop going to the gas pump so often to fill up on ever-more-expensive fuel imported from an ever-more-unstable part of the world.
With the Volt, you go home, you plug it in, and you’re done. And for roughly 80 cents’ worth of electricity, you’ve got a fully-charged battery, ready to take on another forty miles of gas-free and tailpipe-emission-free driving. If that’s greenwashing, then come on in — the water’s fine.
ken kwiatkowski
I am a GM North American employee. I just viewed the simulcast of the GM centennial celebration around the world. I feel I was slapped in the face, not one mention of the people in America that have built this company to what it is today enabling it to grow around the world. At our plant here in Willow Run Michigan it is business as usual, if I had not viewed the monitor you would not even know a celebration has taken place. I have 33 hard working years of dedication and loyalty not to mention selling the product to non-GM buyers of how much our products’ quality has risen in the past few years. Thank You GM!
Pierre Roberge
The Volt will sell well if it makes economical sense. Right Now, if you buy a Prius, I don’t have the exact numbers handy but, it takes 6 or 7 years of driving to offset the buying cost compared to a car with the same size.
Success for the Volt comes down to the price you put on it.
I would buy a Volt in a hard beat if the price premium could be compensated in 2 years.
Euroclydon
I think you’ll see lithium-ion technology filter out to the rest of the industry…”
Semi-trailers hauling lithium-ion batteries need to display a HAZMAT placard so first responders (especially firefighters) know what they are dealing with when arriving at a crash scene. Will the Volt need to display a HAZMAT placard?
Is the Li-ion battery case robust enough that it won’t burst open scattering the lithium-salt electrolyte in the event of a high-speed head-on or T-bone crash?
Mark
The Volt looked great in the broadcast video today. In my opinion, moving video makes it look better than any still image I have seen. If it hasn’t been done already, I highly recommend someone in an official capacity post it to You Tube.
Luis O
I’m ready to buy one. Where do I go? In all seriousness I hope GM puts a edict out that dealers are not allowed to “gouge” the buying public with this car. Here’s a great chance to reintroduce Chevrolet and it’s dealer network to a whole new audience. Please don’t mess that up. I will buy a Volt when they come out, but not if my local dealer wants to tack on a $5000 “market adjustment” fee.
Euroclydon
“In all seriousness I hope GM puts a edict out that dealers are not allowed to “gouge” the buying public with this car. Here’s a great chance to reintroduce Chevrolet and it’s dealer network to a whole new audience.”
Here’s a great chance to start selling your cars on the Internet directly to consumers. Pretend you are Amazon, Gateway, Apple or one of those other companies that have been out in front pioneering Internet marketing. Convince people the Volt is more a new electronic gadget they need to have such as an iPod, or iPhone instead of nothing more than transportation.
Cordey Lash
GM is making tremendous strides and unlike their fellow American Auto companies, they have their direction and are moving ahead aggressively and the amazing automobiles continue to come of the assemply line (Cadillac CTS, Pontiac G8, GM Trucks, Kappa platform, Chevrolet Malibu and the Chevrolet Corvette). We tend to forget that GM started the electric car and energy conscious phase many years ago with the EV1, and then their japanese competitors came and took their introduction to new levels, with the VOLT we have the opportunity to show the world that American Car builders are leaders and among the best for a reason! Kudos to GM!
p.s. A little dissappointed that your employee’s didn’t know about the celebration though…people can’t celebrate if they don’t know - let’s get the word out!!!
Luis from Colombia
CONGRATULATIONS GM, Simply the best car company in this world!!!!!
Congratulations BOB LUTZ, you did it! It´s the reinvention of the car. I´m really proud of GM, eventhough I´m not a GM worker or associated. Just a car freak that think GM is the best car company in this world.
Here from Colombia I wish you and GM the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The VOLT is just a PERFECT car, beautiful design and amazing technology!!
Congratulations to the leader!
LUIS.
jg
Love it. Looks great.
How about a Buick version called the “Electra.”
Blue Wing
Let me guess: The Volt design team and the Cruze design team have been sharing ideas.
Young
Congratulations, Bob!
GMisCARKING
Happy 100th Birthday General Motors! Take a look of this greeting too from Ford Motor Co (http://jalopnik.com/5050325/ford-wishes-gm-happy-100th-birthday-on-side-of-world-headquarters-saves-money-on-card-cake).
Now if anyone thinks a $40,000 Volt is expensive, you have to know that you gonna get a $7,500 tax credit with a Bill pending in Congress. So you are effectively paying $32,500 for the car. Now, a Prius starts at $22,720 and if you add a HyMotion module from A123Systems (http://www.a123systems.com/hymotion/products/N5_range_extender) which costs $10,000 that converts the Prius into a plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) that gets 100 mpg (same as Volt), you practically are paying the same price for either car.
But wait, there’s where the difference ends here. According to David Cole of Center for Automotive Research (http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10041451-54.html), if the engine that recharges the battery runs on E85 cellulosic ehtanol, the car could get 400 miles per gallon! I REPEAT, 400 MILES PER GALLON!!!!!! GM recently acquired a stake in Coskata, which is gonna mass produce cellulosic ethanol within 5 years.
And I really couldn’t understand the attitude of EPA. The Volt passed all tests with flying colors and achieved a rating of 100 mpg, yet the EPA insists the Volt runs on a full tank of gas and gets 40 mpg instead. WTF are they thinking? For God’s sake, IT’S A PLUG IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE!!!!! EPA should have a different set of criteria for PHEVs. What happens if Toyota rolls out a plug-in Prius in 2010? Are the EPA gonna bully them too? Seriously, if this thing doesn’t pan out, GM should consider SUING THE EPA!!!! This thing really has gone too far, just when a domestic automaker has achieved a huge breakthrough.
Pierpaolo
I am writing from the land of $ 8-9 a gallon fuel, I am writing from Italy, Europe.
Since several months, I have been following with much excitement the development of the Volt (which I happened to know about absolutely by chance, browsing some tech sites).
This is the car that could give us back the pleasure of joyriding, that could free us from the noise and pollution of gasoline cars, that could save us a lot of gas money, that could free us from the increasing dependance on the most hostile and dangerous geopolitical areas of the world and that could, ultimately, give us back the “freedom of movement”…
I have discovered today that it’s also a car both classy and sporty, a real looker.
Start selling the Volt in Western Europe for the right price and I bet you would make a killing, helping us while rightly “helping” the company and putting it back where it’s showing it deserves to be.
We are used to drive smaller and less powerful cars than Americans do and we drive, on average, shorter distances than Americans. Excluding some small, particular markets, we are also paying the highest prices in the world for our fuel. The Volt solution is at this time the perfect answer for us.
Do your market research, all of the people I have talked to about the Volt (by the way, nobody I have talked to knew about the Volt yet) are extremely interested in it, if it works as advertised and the price is not too high.
PLEASE GET IT HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, I LOVE THIS CAR AND WHAT IT REPRESENTS!
Doc Hanna
Recently released full body images of the production Volt show that it’s actually quite attractive. Sure, it may not have the jaw-dropping appeal of the concept version, and as a result may not bring in crowds as big as the concept design might have, but it’s not likely turn buyers away either.
I hope Bob is right that the important energy efficiency message that goes with this car is strong enough and pervasive enough to replace the role of obvious beauty in grabbing the consumer’s attention and interest.
It’s just that using this kind of message as a sales tool is much harder work. When a car looks great, it’s obvoius. It sells itself. All you have to do is show it to people, and they react on an instinctual, emotional level. It draws consumers in and gets them asking more practical questions about the car (How’s the efficiency? quality? price? etc..) . You end up appealing to a much broader market.
When you start with only ‘pretty good’ looks (and the production Volt does look ‘pretty good’), a lot more effort goes into peaking the consumer’s interest, getting them in the showroom, and overcoming any concerns (such as price-point, for example). Your market may shrink a bit.
I hope GM does what’s necessary to really score big with the Volt (as an employee and a shareholder, I truly do), not just as a symbolic gesture, and not just for a niche market, but as a valid mainstream product that has broad appeal.
Remember the old advertising addage: “Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle”
All the best to you.
Gregory Tocco
I am very fearful that all of this ‘Chevy Volt’ hype will blow up in our faces for the simple fact that the very ‘premium’ price this thing is destined to come out at (probably somewhere from the High-30’s to, heaven forbid, somewhere in the 40’s, will essentially stop the vehicle line in its tracks. Only the affluent few will be able to afford such a one-dimensional vehicle (anyone remember the ill-fated Pontiac Fiero?) . So we will be putting out the ‘negative press-type fires’ on two separate fronts. First, the ones that will be able to purchase this commuter car that will quickly realize that it is so limited in its uses that the buzz factor will quickly evaporate (after the first couple years, or so, the Fiero went from a HOT car to where we almost couldn’t give them away in the end). And this is based on the vehicle being bullit-proof, because if there are reliability issues early on, look out! Second, what about the legions of regular, average Joe, customers that will be priced out of owning this vehicle at the outset? Just more negative feelings for our company that already has a severe image problem anyway. I’m sorry, but I think we have made possibly a fatal error in judgement in letting this vehicle become our single ’silver bullit’ in the Media’s and the Buying Public’s eyes. I understand that a good chunk of our product portfolio will have ‘Volt-type’ varients in the coming years and that is where we will be changing the industry via cumulative mass production of the technology, but once again, if the premium price of the varient (adding maybe an additional 5-figures to the cost of the vehicle is in the cards), I just don’t see it. People are going to have a much tougher time being able to afford a new car going forward. So expecting them to be able to afford the premium cost for this technology is just unrealistic.
ken kwiatkowski
I was a little hard on GM in my initial blog… I do think the Volt will be a success….Bob Lutz is very good for GM….it will be a sad day when he retires.
Joe F
The production version of the Volt looks great. I fully understand the reasons it can’t look just like the concept and they make sense. I come from a family that never drove anything but Chevrolets … until the 1979 Monte Carlo with the cheap THM 200 transmission that GM denied was defective and refused to fix. I haven’t had a GM car in 30 years. If the Volt is as good as you say, I will be pleased to return to Chevrolet.
gm pickup dude
One Engineering Snafu on the Volt:
I noticed in the overhead cutaway that the charging port is near the driver’s side rearview mirror. What short-sighted Engineer decided that? It’s fine if you park the vehicle in your garage or driveway, but if you live in an urban environment and have to parallel park along the street then the charging cord will stick out on the street side of the vehicle …..
Matias
The Volt embraces the kind of engineering and technological leadership that has carried GM through a century. Give people what they need, what they want, and what they can afford and GM will be around for another century. The Volt is a game changer for the US. Simple as that. Thanks GM for putting this vehicle at the center of your product pipeline into the future! Good luck!
Euroclydon
“but if you live in an urban environment and have to parallel park along the street then the charging cord will stick out on the street side of the vehicle …”
You’re right, that does seem to be a major oversight. But what urban environment do you live in where you could leave your car parked on the street and expect a charging cord to either side of the car to still be there in the morning?
It’s been discussed here before, but I don’t think GM had those who must park overnight on urban streets in mind when designing the Volt.
Gereon (Germany)
@Pierre Roberge:
The fuel-efficiency of the Prius seems to be overrated. Just a few days ago a very large German car-magazine conducted road-tests, showing that the Smart ForTwo and the Toyota Prius are those supposedly super-efficient vehicles, which missed their ratings most significantly. As far as I recall, the Prius was about 35% above the consumption, as mentioned in Toyota’s brochures. Considering the fuel-prices over here, my LPG-driven 2001 Olds Alero effortlessly can compete with a Prius regarding the costs at the pump. Assuming, that the figures from that magazine are correct, the Prius could be regarded as a gas-guzzler in comparison to the Volt, even then, if the Volt would miss its supposed efficiency by 50%, what for sure won’t happen. So automatically the amortisation of the higher price for the Prius will take notably longer.
With gas-prices approaching 10$/Gallon, I seriously could imagine to buy a Chevy Volt as my next vehicle and, if doable, even with an LPG-conversion.
chance
Hi Bob
Looks a little like the Malibu?
I’ve told you this before. This is the last time I’m going to be on this page. We have technology right now, working, that will blow the Volt and the Prius off the road in terms of fuel ecnonomy, and performance. I’m not going to try to get through the gate keepers at GM. If you want to put GM back on the cutting edge? We can help with that. The Volt is a niche market car. Not a mass market car. What’s next, the Amp and the Ohm? Look, un-throttled control with programmable power on demand will flatten GM and Toyota technology. Stoichiometry for Hydrogen is 34:1. Stoichiometry for Ethanol is 9.6:1. These like the Volt are not alternatives. GM is waisting time and money hoping the fuel crunch and the eviormentalist will go away. It’s not 1975 anymore, and GM doesn’t have 55% of the US market. If you want to see the answer, working, I’ll be happy to show you. If anyone on this blog believes the Internal combustion engine is going away any time soon your way out of touch with reallity.
Hope you have peachy day!
wowguy
Very nice design! Way to go! No more Aztecs, please! Chevys have really caught up in the design department: Cobalt, Malibu and Impala are all really beautiful cars. Thanks!
motorman
the cost to drive your car is going to keep going up even if you get better MPG so don’t think the VOLT is going to save you money. it will cost you the same and maybe more than driving a gasoline powered car because the reason for the VOLT is not cheaper transportation but to keep the USA from having to import arab oil. GM said today the cobalt replacement will be a higher price car than the cobalt because it will be a upscale car that gets better MPG.
mike weber
Hey Bob, que cullo! I just saw the clips on you tube, and that rear end is the best angle. Really tells the story. The interior also tells me I’m in something different now.
Fred
Love the design inside and out. There are a few things that bother me, like the area around the A pillar and the low beltline look, but it’s still mostly good, and certainly a lot nicer than the Prius.
What really concerns me as a graphic designer is the interface. I love all the flashy graphics, but some of it is really tacky. The typefaces aren’t really good, there’s too much color, and the screen that shows the fuel level, battery level, and generator looks really terrible. Hopefully you’re still working on it. Look at apple’s interfaces for inspiration if you have to. Minimal designs are hot right now and they age really well. If you keep the graphics the Volt has right now, it will be extremely dated by the time the car comes out.
edvard
My hat is off to you guys. I think it was an extremely intelligent decision to make the production model of the Volt look more like a conventional family sedan. This is the type of mass-production design that will appeal to everyone from soccer moms to business execs.
I’ll tell you one thing. My Wife’s Dad was an Aerospace engineer. He built his own electric car back in the 80’s out of an old Beetle and drove it to work for 2 years. He was also one of the first to drive a Prius when it came out. We inherited it when he passed away. By the time the Volt has been out for awhile, we hope to replace the Prius with a new Volt in honor of his steadfast belief in technology that freed us from using fossil fuels.
KeithO
Happy Century to my favorite car company! My best wishes for many, many more years of great cars and great innovations! I think the Volt is a great start for GM’s second hundred years, and I hope all the innovation and passion that went into it extends to the rest of the GM line-up. Now kick butt, take names, and don’t mess this up!!!
Giovanni
I’d be very happy to see these models (non only la volt, but also the corvette zr1, the camaro, the caddy xlr-v and cts-v, exhibited in the respective sites whit many more details about their features. How long shall we have to wait? (Sorry for my english, but I’m writing fron Italy).
Yours sincerely, Giovanni
thesby
why can’t they sell this car in 2010.it will be 2 years before this car hits the streets!they need to make this car lats about $1000 miles before saying it’s the real thing!i have a trailblazer but will not trade it in for this car unless it’s more than 40 mlies!
thesby
in 2009 not 2010
Gary Dikkers
Volt as an emergency power supply?
With millions of people in Texas now without electricity, it reminds me how useful it would be if Volt owners could use that big battery as an emergency power supply when their houses go off the grid because of hurricanes, thunderstorms, blizzards, etc. If the emergency lasted for several days Volt owners could even use the small ICE to keep the battery recharged and their houses running.
So, does this production model offer the possibility of plugging into the battery to run a few light bulbs, a TV or radio, and perhaps the refrigerator during emergencies such as Hurricane Ike?
After seeing video of all the people on the Texas coast lined up to buy emergency generators, they might all wish they owned a Volt they could plug into during a power-out emergency.
It would be easy to build that capability into the Volt ~ provide a plug and an inverter/rectifier ~ and could become a strong value-added selling point.
Gary Dikkers
Conspiracy Theory
Home run!! Kudos to all involved. The attention to detail is evident everywhere. The nuance is is just amazing. What a fitting 100′Th birthday present.
Grand slam remains to be seen because of ……PRICE. GM Has blown it so many times on pricing that vehicle incentives have become the norm for GM. This in turn devalues new and used GM vehicles and gives their vehicles a lower “perceived” quality. I don’t pretend to know the magic number but I hope they get it right. The Volt isn’t a Prius wannabe…….The Prius is NOW a Volt wannabe!
Keith Scott
Regarding the Volt Concept, or any other electric car, it’s always bothered me that servicing any car is one of the biggest costs. Now I’m concerned that the process for servicing and disposing of the batteries, and generating the electricity, (for example coal fired electricity generation), has not been fully thought through.
What would you have to say about this?
Keith Scott
Adam Denison
I just viewed the simulcast of the GM centennial celebration around the world. I feel I was slapped in the face, not one mention of the people in America that have built this company to what it is today enabling it to grow around the world.
Ken, I’m also a GM employee here in the states and watched the broadcast this morning. There was some mention of American workers in the beginning. They had the plant manager from Hamtramck assembly talking about the work they’re doing.
Edward Hayes
Happy 100th Birthday GM!
And I say that with an added air of appreciation seeing the fate of Merill Lynch and Lehman Brothers. GM indeed had many close calls and I am one that will never take your survival for granted but will support you vigorously when you are right and tell you when I think you are wrong. Of course, I may be right or wrong myself but as a consumer it is paramount that you at least listen.
So when GM was on the ropes (perhaps now it still is) I supported GM, her management team and her business plan of quality and design spearheaded by Wagoner and his highering of Lutz.
When Buick and Pontiac were threatened to be put on the chopping block I defended them vigorously, way before the Enclave and Solstice ever hit showrooms.
When the combined sales channels were being implemented I fought to save Buick, Pontiac, and GMC’s independent showrooms. Although my hope may have failed I will continue to fight for strong, independent (at least in the eyes of the consumers) and self reliant brands. There is no reason financial or otherwise why Buick can’t take the track of Audi. Less dealerships but good, single brand ones as it is not a volume brand like it’s other brand Volkswagen.
Now, like no one else I am fighting for Hummer’s survival. It seems a no brainer to me, that even after the oil shock trucks still account for over 50% of the US market and Hummer is easily the #1 truck brand.
I will borrow a phrase, “GM and the environmentalists can have my Hummer when they pry it out of my cold…” Anyway, moving on…
I know GM is fighting an up hill battle as Bush said, they have to “Learn how to compete.” Well I say, “GM must learn how to cheat.” Because don’t forget, the survival of Toyota, Honda, Nissan and every other Japanese brand is garenteed, it’s practically written in their constitution. So the bottom line is it’s not a free market by which we can compete fairly on an even playing field. Whether it is trade barriers, protection from foreign control, currency manipulation, or the infusion of cash and talent from foreign automakers that can only have partial ownership, the bottom line is, it’s not a free market at all. So the industry going forward will be challenged with Japan’s juggernaut that has the affect on the idustry that is like the opposite of OPEC.
So looking to the next 100 years, I am happy with the current management, happy with the current brand selection, product selection and their designs. I am happy with the direction GM is going overall and hope that the face of GM would generally look the same 100 years from this day. I can guarentee you one thing, Japan’s automobile industry will likely look the same, Including foreign penetration of their market at below 5%.
And one more very, very important point.
That Chevy Volt, let me tell you, for design, it is the most beautiful non-luxury family vehicle to come from the automobile industry in decades. And I am so glad others disagree because popular opinion is mostly wrong. They complained about the second edition of the Taurus redesign as too conservative, that is when it had its best sales. They yielded to them in the third edition and the radical redesign killed the Taurus instantly.
One more time, the Chevy Volt is the finest looking non-luxury family sedan to come along, in decades and one would have to go back to the original Taurus to find a vehicle that compares so exceptionally to others on the market in its time. It definately looks better than the Prius, the current version or the next one. It looks 1000 times better than the Camry, Maxima, or Accord. It has distinctive birthmarks that are required to stand out like the head and tail lights. It has a distinctive side mirror design as well as unique glass work on the roof. And below the door glass more distinction abounds with the black out effects. The grill is unique, different and sexy. The cars size and shape also stand out.
I always said, don’t judge the design until it’s on the road, but I can imagine the Volt on the road next to the Prius, and I can see the Volt owner laphing already.
God bless you GM, and may God continue to bless GM for another 100 years, along with its new baby that wonderful Hummer brand.
James
Maximum Bob, I really love the Volt but please change the interior/dash before this car goes to market!
Seriously, I’m a big proponent of this car and have been telling my friends and family that they need to be the first to buy one. Heck I’m ready to write a check today… well that was before I saw that really ugly dash. I didn’t think it was possible that there was a more ugly interior than my 2007 Prius, then GM had to go an prove me wrong.
How bad is this dash? Where do I start? Here’s my top five complaints, in no particular order.
1. Resistance/capacitance based touch controls are terrible in cold and humid climates. Will require people in the north to take off gloves in winter to tune radio or control AC and in the humid climates to dry their hands before using.
2. Information and graphic overload. People have a hard enough time driving and talking on the cell phone let alone a graphic display that provides every spec of data the car’s computer is tracking. I can see someone suing GM in an accident claim over the fact that they were presented with too much data.
3. Good lord its a car not an iPod!
4. CarPuters should be left in the realm of KITT from Knight Rider.
5. The powertrain is unconventional enough that most Americans will simply be confused by the car, why make matters worse by giving this car a completely unconventional interior?
Here’s some advise Maximum Bob, put your best foot forward and put a very conventional, but attractive dash in this car. May I suggest that you take the dash from the Chevy Orlando, now that is a beautiful dash.
JDC
The car looks great! I can’t wait to see it in person at the NAIAS this January. It is always second Christmas in January when the NAIAS is going on. BTW - Happy Birthday GM!
SteveG
The Volt looks great. Maybe you should also make a pure hybrid version for those of us who don’t have access to an outlet and can’t afford the plug in? Price it like the next Insight ($18,000) and you won’t be able to keep up with demand.
Now if only the Cruze looked like the Volt! You should have kept the design of the Cruze in NA. Your designers here in the USA are far superior to GMDAT’s. The Cruze is a inorganic mess of a design. Having saddled it with a horrible name won’t exactly help sales any.
Drew
Looking good! I’m very interested in making the Volt my next new car purchase. Great job on proving the critics wrong! Go GM!!!!!
Nate
Bob,
I love the new design. Though I see a resemblance to Toyota and Honda (Civic)… About time to see the Volt in near finished form. I hope the aero is amazing on this car for once.
I also think that your competition is going to beat the volt to market. Even if it doesn’t, Bob, where are we going to get the power to run them? 80 Cents worth of electric? I don’t believe it. Electric is nearly 8 to 18 cents/KWatt hr. at 10 cents thats only 10KW hr.
Nate
Wayne Williams
I was initally disappointed with the unveiling of the redesigned Volt… The inital design was exciting, muscular and unlike any current vehicle in the world, an excellent design and it did its job, it got everyone talking. The technology was only part of the story. After looking at the additional images I realized that the NEW design is more in line with the target market, certainly better looking then the Toyota Pmobile. I was struck by the design of the Volt when I first saw it but I now realize that I will not but a electric car any time soon and that the design of the original Volt, though very appealing is too HOT for the target “tree hugger crowd.”.. I’m gonna buy the NEW Camaro and keep my Pontiac GRand Prix GXP. Bob, I’m sure you are going to take a lot of hits for the change in design but its the RIGHT DESIGN for the TARGET MARKET… Build it baby, I’ll smile as I pass by in my Camaro!! ww
Canucko
I think the Volt looks great. I don’t know what anybody is complaining about. I think it looks better than the concept and looks cooler than the Prius and even the new Honda Insight that just got revealed. Good Job GM.
Alex
A typical combustion engine car averages 20 miles per gallon. For a 40 miles drive, it therefore burns 2 gallons of gasoline. Assuming $4 per gallon gas, the trip will cost $8. According to the story, Volt will recharge its battery with 80cents of electricity and can drive for the same distance on a fully charged battery. In other words, Volts is *10* times more efficient than the said car (and, with the same reasoning, 5 times more efficient than Prius). That is pretty good!
Craig Storm
I believe there are charging ports on both sides.
Euroclydon
“Resistance/capacitance based touch controls are terrible in cold and humid climates. Will require people in the north to take off gloves in winter to tune radio or control AC and in the humid climates to dry their hands before using. Resistance/capacitance based touch controls are terrible in cold and humid climates. Will require people in the north to take off gloves in winter to tune radio or control AC and in the humid climates to dry their hands before using.”
Excellent point James, and I hope GM is listening.
Though they look high-tech, those touch screen controls offer no advantage. Nothing beats big buttons, toggle switches, and knobs that give positive, tactile feedback when you push, flip, or turn them. (I say big, because where I live, at least six months out of the year a driver is wearing gloves to keep hands and fingers warm.)
That old Marine Corps fighter pilot Bob Lutz should understand that better than anyone. When he climbs in his L39 or AlphaJet, what does he see in the cockpit? Buttons, toggle switches, and knobs that allow him to know exactly what he has hold of and what is happening as he turns or flips it, even with his eyes outside the cockpit.
Here’s a question for Mr Lutz: Could you pass a “blindfold cockpit check” in a Volt with touchscreen controls? No, of course not. With touchscreen controls a driver has to take his/her eyes off the road to make sure their ungloved fingertip is hitting the right spot on a screen. (I’d much prefer being able to keep my eyes on the road, and reach down to find a volume control knob by feel, instead of having to find the right menu on a screen.)
Please, please don’t give us any touchscreen menus where we have to look at the screen and drill down through several layers to find the right command to adjust the heat, turn on the window defroster, or switch from AM to FM on the radio.
Prakash
Here’s a great chance to start selling your cars on the Internet directly to consumers. Pretend you are Amazon, Gateway, Apple or one of those other companies that have been out in front pioneering Internet marketing. Convince people the Volt is more a new electronic gadget they need to have such as an iPod, or iPhone instead of nothing more than transportation
This is a remarkable insight. Truly a remarkable one. It’s particularly important if you’re trying to sell the Volt to people who do not buy GM products.
Put low, fixed pricing in place. Sell online only for the first few months. Let people lock in a final price online, apply for credit, get pre-authorization, print it out, and bring it into the dealership to test drive and drive home their car.
Joe
HOLY COW!!!!
I’ve never…NEVER seen such a gorgeous interior design in ANY vehicle! (except maybe the Camaro…) unbelieveable what you guys pulled off, and if you’re not already — you ought to be VERY, VERY proud! The layout…everything inside the Volt is beautiful!
The exterior design….while it’s certainly not as striking as the concept vehicle, you’ve really got a winner. I understand the role that aerodynamics can play in an electric vehicle — heck, in any vehicle where you desire range. And in my humble opinion, despite the concessions you had to make for aero; I think it stomps on the Prius’s design, as well as the Honda Insight’s. Congrats!
The tech beneath the body is brilliant. And I sincerly hope you improve and expand it to other vehicles in the future. I know you will succeed with it right now.
The only thing I’m worried about it price - because, I can tell you, as much as I want one; I do not believe I can afford 35,000+ dollars worth of any car, as remarkable as this is. I’m holding out hope that once you make a return on your investment in E-flex, once you begin making money on this — you’ll be able to gradually lower the price like a new TV. Because, Bob…GM….I want one!!!!!!
Congrats again, and Happy Birthday — this will be a celebration to remember, I’m sure.
Jeff C. Bailey
I appreciate all of the effort General Motors and Chevrolet put into the building one of the most advanced road vehicles ever mass produced. With that being said, why did you you (GM) come up with a design that so closely mimics the lines and shaped of currently available japanese sedans? If you were forced, due to ergonomic constraints, stray so far from your concept vehicle design, why didn’t you just package the newly developed PHEV drivetrain into one of your currently successful models like the Malibu or Monte Carlo ?
Justin Weber
Bob,
To this point, congratulations -job well done! I share the enthusiasm that so many others have regarding this vehicle. In my 31 years on the planet, this is the most excited I’ve ever been for a car. I will not miss the auto show this year in hopes of seeing -and possibly sitting in- this great car.
I’m looking forward to the first production vehicles to roll off the line and into showrooms!
Bruce Alvarez
Quoting Pierre Roberge:
“Right Now, if you buy a Prius, I don’t have the exact numbers handy but, it takes 6 or 7 years of driving to offset the buying cost compared to a car with the same size.”
Wrong. The Prius and Malibu are nearly identical in interior measurements. Base Malibu LS is $1,700 less than base Prius. That will buy you 472 gallons of gas at $3.60/gallon. The Prius mileage advantage will cover that in about 28,000 miles. After that, gas for the the Malibu will cost you 6 cents more per mile. (And no, the Prius battery does not need to be replaced every 5 years, nor will it die at 100K miles)
Felix
Dear Bob
Congragulation on your 100 year anniversary. For the first 70 years you did great, but then you went to sleep for about 25 years. If that had not happened think where you would be now. Well I guess you can’t cry over spilled milk and missed oppertunity. For the last five years you have been doing a really good job of fixing what went wrong. Although once in a while you still slip back into some of your old bad habits. I guess after being bad for so long it requires a learning process to be good again? I hope you didn’t wait too long because alhough I know I wont be around. I hope GM is around to celebrate many more centanial birthdays. Good luck.
motorman
gary no need for a $40K car as a back up power supply for your home just buy a natural gas/propane powered generator to do this for about $4K like a lot of us have. i can just see some people leaving their car in the garage with the doors closed and the engine running on the volt to power up the house. the lawyers would have a field day with this.
Gasha
How long or how many miles does the battery last (whatever comes first)? What is the cost of battery replacment? Has GM improved battery life when the battery is submitted to a deep discharge cycle every day? I am worried that the cost of the battery replacment will cancel the savings in the gas.
Al
I’m not an expert on alternative fuels, but I was hoping some people here could provide some insight into the Volt strategy. The most alarming stat to me on electric vehicles is the sheer weight of the battery packs - the Volt has a 600 lb battery that provides the same range as 1 gallon of fuel (~40 miles). This really shows you how powerful fuel is and how far electric powertrains have to go.
My question is this: If I plug my Volt in every night to get 40 miles emission free range, wouldn’t I get the same benefit if I had a hydrogen reformer and just filled up with a few gallons of hydrogen per night. I could either have an onboard reformer, which would require a plug in, or better yet I could have one in my garage which would generate fuel up to 24 hours per day and avoid the inefficiency of having to carry extra weight in my car. This strategy doesn’t even require fuel cells, hydrogen combustion would be sufficient, similar to what BMW was exploring on their 7 series. The problem with previous hydrogen combusion / fuel cell strategies was that companies were looking for 300+ mile range - storage was a big issue - the Volt concept proves you don’t need that range. Yes it’s different from an electric powertrain, but the end result to the consumer would be the same - you could drive 40 miles per day emission free and use regular fuel for extended range. Isn’t this a simpler solution than having a 600lb, $10000 battery pack? What would prevent this from being a competitive solution - just wondering.
Bruce Alvarez
GMisCARKING:
“if the engine that recharges the battery runs on E85 cellulosic ehtanol, the car could get 400 miles per gallon!”.
Wrong. GM has stated the Volt will cost about 2 cents per mile (at 10 cents/KWH) using the electricity in the battery and 12 cents per mile at $3.60/gallon after the battery is ‘depleted’, the equivalent of 30 MPG. An engine running on E85 will get about 25% WORSE mileage than when running on gas since ethanol has less available energy, or about 22.5 MPG in the Volt.
And you don’t get to ignore 85% of the fuel and claim you went 30 miles on .15 gallons of gasoline. Even if you did, it would only be 200 miles on a gallon of gasoline not 400.
Lets not compare the price of a 2008 Prius with a $10,000 after market plug in conversion to a 2010 Volt. Toyota is working on a Plug in Prius, due out about the same time as the Volt (don’t know the ‘miles on electric’). I doubt it will cost anywhere close to $10K more than a 2008 Prius. Small quantity aftermarket conversions are much more expensive than factory designed and built. For example, you could import a SMART ForTwo a couple of years ago and after modifications to make it legal in the US, it cost about $25K. You can now buy a 2008 ForTwo for about $15K.
If GM tries to sell the Volt whole for $40K, or sell it for $30K and lease you the battery, it is DOA.
Of course, they could just fire all the lobbyists and lawyers they pay to fight CAFE standards and use the money to make the VOLT affordable.
Dimas
I’m 22 years old and I grew up thinking GM’s cars are ugly, technologically outdated and mechanically crippled. The recent revival of the Cadillac brand, and now, the Chevrolet Volt, has completely changed my perspective.
When my friend showed me a photo of the production car’s interior, I could not believe my eyes. It was a concept car interior in a production car! Amazing! When the Chevrolet Volt arrives in Canada I will be the first in line to buy it.
danny coward
I think the Volt looks great ! I think technically its out ahead of everyone else.
What’s not to like ???
Bruce Alvarez
Gereon (Germany):
Do you have a web link to the magazine article? I know every one’s mileage is different, but my 75,000 mile calculated average is 49+ MPG. The EPA rating is (city/highway/combined) 48/45/46
Clearly I am not running 35% off the EPA numbers. To do so, I would have to make all of my travels no more than a mile and ALWAYS on a cold engine.
Vazir
Bob,
Fantastic effort, but seriously - the one aspect that you need to work on at GM is DELIVERANCE. It’s not just the time - for example the Camaro was promised years ago and ended up late; but also the concept to production design angle. For example the Buick Bengal - you justified its scrapping because engineers couldn’t meet requirements.
So why build such fantastic concept vehicles when your final production cars can never live up to them? Look at Mercedes - the F200 Concept carried over to the W221 S Class, (and I’m not talking preview models like Vision GST carrying over to R-Class - just the CONCEPTS!!) ; then the VW Iroc carried over to the Scirocco, the Ford (of Europe) Iosis carried over to the Mondeo and so on. None of these was an exact replica but very close to the concept and the public immediately takes to them.
On the other hand, Cadillac has had moderate success, so it’s not like GM can’t do the same? The Imaj (XLR), Evoq (CTS), and Provoq (SRX) came pretty close - so why couldn’t you guys could have atleast tried to keep the Volt to the original concept specs?
Yes fuel economy and coefficient of drag, but hey, hey - why design a concept that doesn’t work and then have to redo the whole thing at the design boards? Makes no sense and frankly, destroys the public’s whetted appetite. Now Honda does an Insight that looks like a Prius clone, that’s okay - but Chevy? This is supposed to be your game-changer vehicle - it’s gotta look different. Chevy is not Saturn, it will never be - so don’t make Chevys that look like Saturn junk!!
V@z!R………
Mike Russell
As a former car guy (corporate marketing for Mercedes-Benz and sales for Porsche), I want to congratulate Bob and Ed Welburn for their leadership in superior GM product development and design! Both your contributions are going a long way to GM regaining their original marketing “Mark of Excellence”.
As a past owner of five Honda & Acura products, I had decided my next vehicle purchase would be the 2010 Acura TSX Ultra Clean Diesel (city 35 mpg/hwy 52 mpg). With an 18.5 gallon tank it will have an highway range of 962 miles. My first car was an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, the Cadillac CTS and now the Chevrolet Volt are the first GM products I have paid any attention to as an adult.
Bob, the Chevrolet Volt product content feedback I would like to give you is this. As a near luxury priced vehicle ($30-40k). Make damn sure it stand up across the board (e.g., quality, performance, switch gear, standard equipment and options) to the near luxury products of M-B, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura.
For example, make sure full GPS navigation is optionally available (not just your standard OnStar turn by turn navigation monthly subscription), xenon headlights should also be standard, vehicle stability control should also be standard. I will not even consider a near luxury vehicle that does not offer these three items.
It would be a real coup if GM’s marketing/advertising and its exciting growing portfolio of product designs, could successfully make a sustained emotional connection in the minds of consumers. I have my own ideas about doing it, and can’t understand why the company’s team members and hordes of agency personnel can’t accomplish this. It’s really too bad there are many more Bob Lutz’ and Ed Welburns’ across the GM entire spectrum. Keep up the good work!
H J Carballosa
Glad to see the Volt. GM, Wagoner, Lutz, please ensure it is manufactured and serviced to new world standards, and GM will succeed. I’m buying GM stock NOW! I’ll buy more if GM continues to move toward making the entire corporation “the standard of the world”. GM coming out with the Volt now reminds me of why my father emmigrated to this country: it represents values we saw in WWII movies, values that selflessly rebuilt Europe and Japan, values that collaborated with international partners, values that sent humans to the Moon. Perhaps my immigrant perspective biases these views toward excitement compared to others who haven’t lived without an America to inspire dreams, but I’m glad to imagine that the Volt and its associated green oriented technologies will filter throughout the economy and the culture.
Michael Hoff
How did the Volt start out as a sleek, cool, exciting concept car and end up looking like a Honda Civic? Honestly, you guys need to adopt the Apple philosophy: designers give ideas to engineers, and if the engineers can’t produce it, they get new engineers. I’m looking at the concept and production photos side-by-side. I’d be interested in buying the concept version. I’ll pass on the Civic.
ray
all i have to say is wow, what a car - I’ll buy one if it’s affordable enough
Ted Lewandowski
The Volt is still TWO YEARS AWAY from production - at best case rosy picture scenario.
However, what if gas prices continue to go down - especially with the advent of better technology to pump out Iraqi crude - adding BILLIONS of gallons of additional crude to the marketplace.
How is GM going to market a $50,000 Chevrolet if that happens? What if there is a production glitch and thousands of the Volts have to be recalled? It happened to the Toyota Tundra!!!
Even in the best case scenario - what if GM cannot keep up with demand of the car and there’s so many people buying the Volt that it creates a major burden to the electrical grid. Most electrical plants use oil/natural gas to produce electricity so any savings in importing oil could potentially lost.
Is the national electrical grid prepared for the additional burden of having a million cars being plugged in every day? All important questions that need to be addressed either by Mr. Lutz of by GM.
Consumers a lot more educated then they were just a decade ago.
In addition, what if dealers ADD $10,000 to the MSRP of the Volt - it happened with the PT Cruiser?
How many people would be willing to spend $60,000 on a Chevrolet then - especially if we are in a recession until then!!!
GM needs a car NOW to fill in the gap - produce a small car that uses Hybrid and flex fuel technology adding CNG fueling capacity - all technologies being used by other GM models.
Such a model designed on a chassis already being used by other GM models could be ready in less then 12 months.
As the saying goes - don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
H J Carballosa
One more thing. I was disappointed by the exterior when I compared it with the concept, but I understand the constraints of designing an efficient shape. It is nonetheless a good-looking car, though a little similar to … sorry … the Civic. Still, can there be, 10 years time, a Volt SS? Imagine, a Volt using KERS-like technology to dust up Murcielagosand ZR1s!
True, the interior is iPodish, and I’d worry that the touch screens would wear out prematurely or be sensitive to certain conditions. How about saving money with at least a few basic, good-ole guages and switches designed to good tolerances?
Finally, please, keep the price of entry realistic. I’ll pay $25,000, no more.
Gereon (Germany)
Hi Bruce,
yes, I have a link: http://www.autobild.de/artikel/verbrauchswerte-auf-dem-pruefstand_444828.html
It’s in German, but you may get this site translated via Bablefish. The Prius is shown on image number 85, when you are going through the gallery.
By using that link, you could convert Liters/100 km in MPG:
http://opelgt.org/isolde/umrechnung.html#Verbrauch
Thanks for your feedback.
Kyle
I think you all did a great job. It really does look nice. I have only one concern I noticed on pictures of the charging port and in a video on GM Next. I noticed that you have to plug in the cord to the charging port. Bob Boniface also comments on the video that you can take it out of your trunk. I think this is to inconvenient and should be rethought. If many people end up using a charging port at work or they use it while on the road this will be inconvenient. I think the cord should be self winding and be pulled out of the car or it could be stored under the hood where it would be easy to get to quickly. Or it could be a self winding unit stored in a cubby in the cabin.
Great job!!!
CDAVIS
_____________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Lutz,
The VOLT design team has done a good job with the production VOLT. It will appeal to a wide audience. No single design will satisfy the entire audience otherwise this would be a very dull world and GM would have no reason to refine future iterations of the VOLT nor have reason to implement the VOLT technology platform in other GM portfolio models.
I agree with you that the production of the VOLT will help inspire an automotive revolution that will make America more secure. The “VOLT Revolution” will be remarkably swift.
I believe the VOLT will go down in history as the most important production car since the 1908 Ford Model T.
I plan to buy a VOLT because I know I will enjoy driving this car and because I believe I owe it to my seven year old son and five year old daughter to do my part in helping secure their future; the power of one.
Thank you for your leadership in helping make this car happen. Also my thanks to the entire VOLT Team…job well done!
CDAVIS
____________________________________________________________________________
Tim
Ted,
I’m trying to figure out how you get a price of $50,000? I haven’t heard anything above $40k right now. And then later in your post, you say $60,000. Let’s just go out on a limb and say it’s going to be $130,000? Let’s get real.
Oh, and by the way, no, most power plants don’t rely on oil. Most are coal or natual gas - both of which we have very large supplies of in the US.
Micheal Hoff,
While design is in the eye of the beholder, physics is law. If you want maximum range, you need to have certain shapes. Unfortunately, a good shape for aerodynamics is the shape of a Prius and Civic. Secondly, you do realize designing (and engineering) a car is much harder than designing another new look-a-like iPod right? If you use Apple’s philosophy, you’d just get the same car with new colors, and a bigger gas tank every few years.
Tom Mariner
OK, I am getting some enthusiasm back for the US automakers. Not because of the Volt — Because the blog was written by the Vice Chairman of the Board!!!
I did a lot of embedded computer work over the years for GM and the rest of our auto crew and have been wickedly dissapointed that we ceded the technical high ground to the folks from Japan and Germany while we toyed around with financial incentives, marketing gimmicks and anything but build a sexier car.
I am a technical manager and know for sure that it all has to start with management that “gets it”. A financial or a marketing guy just will not make the correct technical decision — and it is turning out that the folks who are buying Acura’s, Lexuses and Civics are making their decision on technology.
So I’m hoping, praying and assuming that this blog entry was not ghost written.
Eric Planey
To Michael Hoff-
The Volt concept, while cool looking, was about as aerodynamic as I am. This is why the Prius, the new Insight, and the Volt have a common look. These cars are meant to be energy efficient, which means slipping the wind as easily as possible, which means tear drop shaped.
Bob, good job man. She’s a beaut!
Eric P
Rob
Thank You BOB! The Volt is a AWESOME CAR! Please do not listen to the negative comments!
I wonder if other car companies might be planting negative comments to try and mess with you.
I will buy this car!
A 1000% Volt, GM, Chevy Fan!
Larry
“Such a model designed on a chassis already being used by other GM models could be ready in less then 12 months.”
It takes a lot longer then you think. It takes more than 12 months to satisfy government emission and fuel economy regulations. Then after you complete everything CARB insists on 90 days to review your application. If they find anything that is not to their liking, it takes even more time. Anything new has to be negotiated with EPA and CARB. They WILL pile on new regulations for anything out of the ordinary. Just because we produce CNG vehicles outside of the US does not mean we can sell them here. A few years ago EPA and CARB made it much more dificult for mainstreem vehicle manufactures to certify for sell vehicles with CNG. Aftermarket and small volume manufactures do not have to meet the same government regulations that we do.
I AM GM
READ THIS FOR A COST COMPARISON BETWEEN A GAS ENGINE AND THE GM VOLT
The price for the Volt has not been determined as of today but is a big concern. Every customer has to analyze their own driving habits, how far they live from their place of employment, weekend use, how many miles they travel in a year, how big a carbon foot print concerns you, and etc. But to be fair to this vehicle and bring some awareness to the customer, let’s push some numbers around.
Let’s say I buy a new car (with combustion engine) today for $21,000. This car gets average 25 mpg. The avg. price for gas is $4.00. Like all my cars I plan to keep this for 5 years. After paying the initial $21,000 and driving it home I will continue to buy gas for at least the next 5 years.
In this scenario I happen to live exactly 40 miles round trip from my job at GM. On the weekend I drive an additional 40 miles each day on Saturday and Sunday. So, the total miles driven in a week is 280. I continue to repeat this every week for the year. That gives me a total of 15,000 miles driven per year. Dividing the 15,000mi/yr by the 25 mpg, I will use 600 gallons of gas/year. $4.00/gal times 600 will cost me a total of $2,400. After the full five years of owning the car, I will have paid a grand total of $12,000 for gasoline. If I add the price of the gas to the price of the car, it has cost me $33,000 to own and drive this car. For a conclusion, I have driven 75,000 miles and burned 3000 gallons of gas in 5 years. 3000 gallons of gas from foreign oil to pollute our environment. If I chose to continue to own this car I continue to buy more gas. It continues to reap money from my wallet. It never stops costing me.
Now hopefully our government will give incentive rebates for buying the Volt. It would only be fair to the American auto industry since they do it for the Japanese auto companies.
In this new scenario the driving pattern is the same. The exception is, now my chose of vehicle is the new GM Chevy Volt. It cost me $40,000, but I will get a $7,500 incentive rebate check back from Uncle Sam. My cost for the vehicle is $32,500. My driving pattern is the same. I buy no gas for 5 years. (Volt gets 40 miles on a charge). At the end of the 5 years the Volt has cost me (watch this) $32,500. In my first scenario with the combustion engine at the end of 5 years it cost me $33,000.
So for cost difference there is none. So what is the real difference? No more dependency on foreign oil. Zero, let me repeat Z-E-R-O emissions. This is huge when you start thinking of all the cars on the road today.
The battery is being tested for 10 years/ 150,000 miles. So if I decide I want to keep the Volt another 5 years it will cost me nothing. Compared to the gas engine it will be an additional $12,000. Let’s break the 2 different scenarios down after 10 years of ownership. The gas engine will cost me $4,500/yr while the Volt will cost me only $3,250/year. The delta is $1,250/yr you keep in your pocket to own the Chevy Volt. This will even get better once infrastructure is in place to accommodate electric cars to be recharged while parked at most places. New technology always cost more in the beginning. Look at plasma TV’s or X-Box and many more products brought to the consumer for the first time. They continue to get better and cheaper cost to the consumer.
I didn’t even mention the savings from not having to do oil changes. The time to drive to the gas station and waiting in line or getting out of your car in those below zero windy days to fill up with gas. Everyone will lose weight because now you won’t be tempted by all those goodies in the filling stations as you go in to pay.
I think you get the picture. Like I stated once before, there is not a company that is more exciting to work for right now then GM.
To coin a phrase, “You haven’t seen nothing yet !!”
Regards
Steven GM Strong
Ted Lewandowski
Besides the ability to drive for up to 40 miles on just electric power - I have not read or heard what type of MPG the internal combustion motor will get if the Volt needs to be driven further. Also, will winter conditions affect the range of the batteries as it does with the current hybrids that are equipped with non lithium-ion batteries? I would imagine low weight would be a priority in the overall design so maybe the engine might be too small in terms to the power/weight ratio. All things that should be considered. I have also read that the constant on/off switching between the electric motor and the gasoline engine tends to wear the motor out - think about if you started your car a 100 times a day.
At minimum, GM should not take a shortcut and put one of their famous 2.8/3.1 V6 engines in the car - the ones with the ‘piston slap’ when you start them - just to cut production costs.
Mr. Lutz is doing a fine job at GM but there are many former GM customers that will be standing on the sidelines before they will make a decision on buying the Volt.
As a former customer I went from owning a Pontiac Montana that had nothing but problems straight from the dealer lot to owning a Mercedes-Benz with ZERO problems.
Everyone at GM might be wearing rosy-colored glasses at the moment - but I am still skeptical - due to my bad experience - until GM proves itself otherwise.
Glossy photos of a clay model will not create a success until the car proves itself in the real world.
Bruce Alvarez
Gereon:
Their result of 6 l/100km is about what I get in the winter when it is -20C and I am doing only my local 15 minute commute, no Interstate. I get about 5.3 l/100 km in the winter on the Interstate at 104 KPH, 4.9 l/100 km at 88 KPH
As best I can tell, the magazine used the old EPA combined mileage of 55 MPG (or is there a German equivalent test?). The new EPA tests show 47 MPG for the Prius (5.0 l/100km) so the test result changes to 20% off, not even top 20 anymore.
The EPA tests are STILL pretty sad examples of ‘average driving’. They never go over 60 MPH (96 KPH) (6 minutes of a 13 minute, 10.5 mile test, otherwise no more than 80 KPH) on the ‘highway’ part. They hit 55 MPH twice and stop 23 times in the ‘city’ test. They account for some idling time, but don’t have the equivalent of a long line of cars at a stop sign. The new 2008 tests include a ‘high speed’ test where they go 65 MPH or higher for 4.5 minutes, including 2.6 minutes at 70 MPH (113 KPH) or higher, hitting 80 MPH (129 KPH) once.
I don’t know what mileage I would get at 120 KPH since I don’t speed and the highest legal speed limit where I drive is 104 KPH. I do know that if I drive 104 KPH I use about 20% more fuel than at 88 KPH on long repeatable trips so I presume 120 KPH would be a serious hit and the magazine test has 34 kms at 120.
You can see that the more real wold test from the magazine isn’t at all like the EPA test.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml
And thanks for the link to the conversion page. It is great, interactive one stop shopping!
Bruce Alvarez
One last comment on the car itself ( maybe my first comment on the CAR!)
I know some have said they like the interior but frankly, after I drove my Prius for just a week, I saw the brilliance of the designers with respect to the ‘instruments’ being placed forward on the dash just under the windshield. The Volt, like most other cars, requires you to look down much farther off the road and through the steering wheel to see the ‘instruments’ . Very poor design, much more dangerous and not at all ergonomic. Also, the Volt designers clearly do not have, nor do they know anyone with arthritis in their hands. Nothing worse than a smooth knob you need to grip to turn.
Also, I don’t know what the Volt has for a gear shift lever, but I ASSUME it is a standard console mount. The designers should have looked at the Prius ‘joystick’ shifter. It takes up little room and the motion to get to any ‘gear’ is the same, no matter what ‘gear’ you are in at the time as it always returns to ‘home’. Plus, the car puts itself in Park when you shut it down. And, I hope the Volt does not use a ‘turn the key’ ignition. More old technology that has negative implications for those with limited hand/wrist mobility.
Gary Dikkers
Motorman said: “…no need for a $40K car as a back up power supply for your home just buy a natural gas/propane powered generator to do this for about $4K like a lot of us have.”
Motorman,
You Sir, are forward thinking and obviously well-prepared. If I lived in a hurricane-prone area I’d have my own generator also. All I have to worry about are much shorter-term thunderstorm outages.
But nevertheless, using the Volt as an emergency power supply is an attractive option. All GM would have to do is build-in a socket to plug into, and an inverter to convert the battery’s DC output to 120 VAC. It would be easy and low-cost, and something GM could take advantage of and advertise as an added value option.
There’s even the possibility of taking the Volt camping and using that big battery to power things at the campground. A big battery on wheels with all those amp-hours would be a tremendous resource. I’m surprised GM is not taking advantage of it.
The Volt’s Warranty and Price
Conspicuously absent from the roll out announcement of the production version are what price point GM expects to sell the Volt at, and also what kind of warranty they will offer.
The Volt’s style
Many have commented on the bland, plain vanilla look of the production version vs. the concept car of 2007. The appearance doesn’t bother me, but I will say this:
People will be reluctant to spend $40,000+ on a series-hybrid such as the Volt if it won’t be obvious to onlookers that they were clever and successful enough to be able to afford a Volt. The kind of people who will want to spend that much money, will want their ride to jump out and scream, “Look at me, aren’t I a successful environmentalist, I’m driving a Volt.”
If casual onlookers can mistake a Volt for a Civic or Hyundai, many of those people (it’s sad to say) will choose to spend their money elsewhere.
I understand the aerodynamic issue fully, but the Volt should have been distinctive enough that people know immediately it is a plug-in, series-hybrid when they see one go by.
Why a Chevy instead of a Cadillac?
Latest estimates of the price point are mid to high $40s. Who will pay that for a Chevy, especially if its not obvious it is a plug-in electric? Why not re-brand it as a Cadillac? You are the marketing experts, but you must realize that the great mass of Chevy-type people won’t be able to afford it, and many of your upscale, Cadillac-type customers won’t touch it because you’ve branded it as a Chevy.
V/R
Gary Dikkers
beken
The Volt isn’t in production yet, but I’m rooting GM delivers on its promise. You and I both know that the devil is in the details. I will reserve judgement on this car until it actually makes it to a dealer where I, your potential customer, can actually drive the consumer production version. Having owned previous “game changing” GM cars (Vega, Fiero - which I still have, amongst other GM cars), I am a skeptic as to how the version that will actually be for sale will turn out in the end. Will Mr. Goodwrench even know how to service the thing when problems happen, let alone routine maintenance? Would I get good value for money for my $40K? Your successful tenure at GM will be judged on how your promises on this car are kept. I wish you all the best.
By the ways, where is that Camaro?
Dennis
The Volt? Big deal. I’ve gotten excited about GM stuff in the past, and in fact owned quite of few of their products that I enjoyed very much, but their hype will no longer work on me. Sorry guys, but this thing is ugly, lumpen, totally derivative, and bound to have an injection-molded plastic interior just like everything else they make these days. Yes the Malibu interior is attractive at a glance but to the touch? C’mon. I know GM is trying but man, it is too little too late. To get excited about the Volt is just setting myself up for a big letdown. I appreciate Mr. Lutz’s enthusiasm and would love to see GM return to its former glory, I only hope that the company will be able to convince enough consumers that GM values them rather than considering them (the customer) an obstacle to running their business. They would not be where they are now if not for their contempt for us… their former loyal following, we’ve moved on. Sorry. Hell, I even gave Chevy one last chance… my reply from them was a form letter!!! Later guys.
Charlie H
How about photos of the back seats and trunk?
Kyle, people are just going to throw the extension cord on the floor in the back… easier than getting into the trunk and the trunk is easier to deal with than under the hood.
I just hope it has fairly standard connectors, so I don’t have to buy a $300 replacement cord from Chevy if the original gets damaged.
Jason Betts
Bob,
I just hope you tell Bo and his cost cutting beancounters to stay away from the Volt. At the price you are looking to charge, you just can’t have them cutting any corners on this car.
Ken
When I saw this car on the news today, I could not help but say ‘yes!’ to myself. Smart styling, plug & play technology that everyone can ‘get’…and then I heard the projected price tag of $30-40,000. Are you kidding me?
The American car market has suffered duldrums of design and market share for years. For the first time in my recent memory it actually looks like we may have an original idea and concept with the Volt. And then it was shot down by a price tag that is clearly a marketing mistake or, at worst, greed.
I live on the west coast and self-rightous Prius orders are almost as common as gun racks on pickups in Texas. The Volt seems to me to the first alternate fuel car to be for everyone. A good bridge between old and new transportation technology. I work in advertising and marketing and can say for certain that people are not going to pay a premium to ‘go green’ for much longer. And with this weeks market crash, that time got even shorter.
It’s time for an American car revolution and I hope you guys can be a part of that without pricing yourselves out of the game.
Rooster
For what it’s worth — I own a 2006 Honda Civic sedan and a 2005 Acura MDX. Both have been, and are, excellent vehicles. When I was in the market for both vehicles, I did not consider any GM products. My opinion at the time was the domestic manufactures were lagging behind Honda, Toyota and Acura, so I had zero interest in visiting a GM showroom.
I mention this because the engineering, vision and passion that I observe going into the Volt (and the E-Flex chassis) has my full attention, and I am impressed. I applaud the leadership that is clearly being demonstrated by GM in bringing this revolutionary vehicle to the market. If you want to get consumers like me out of import showrooms and into a GM showroom, you are on the right path. I fully intend to trade in my 2006 Civic for a Volt when it becomes available – I want a legitimate reason to support GM, the Volt is giving me that reason.
Post Corrections for Mike Russell
CORRECTIONS for Earlier Post
- Both your contributions are going a long way to GM regaining meaning to its original marketing tagline, “Mark of Excellence”.
- It’s really too bad there are not many more Bob Lutz’ and Ed Welburns’ across the GM entire spectrum.
QUESTION & SUGGESTION
Why does this blog not have an automatic grammar and spell check function, before final posting? Some other blogs do. It would help out your posters tremendously. We all over look things inadvertently when writing. Thank God, I doubled back and read my original post.
Tony McAdams
The “Original” Volt looked like an electric Camaro, the “production” Volt looks like Saab.
It’s so frustrating, & before I go much further, I’ve been an anything-but-GM-guy for
decades. With those angles, & $30K price tag, I was hoping GM wouldn’t blow it. It breaks
my heart, like somebody chopped a foot off the front-end, stuck it in an oven & melted it,
& then came up with excuses why they did what they did to it. Maybe it was the hope that
an American company would build a wedgie/edgey, beat ‘em at their own game American car.
There are a million “melted chocolate” designs in the world and at Fourty Thousand Dollars
I can get other cars that say something in the driveway. (300-C/Cadillac/Mustang GT/Crown Vic/almost 2 Prius’!)
The headlights went “cat-eyed” rather than trapezoid, why when you have a clean sheet go
cat eye? (the fact they look like the BMWs & Camry lamps doesn’t help the cause, Boss)
The front grille had to go “flush” ok, I can even “get to” an “arch-ed chin to the wind”
But the angular grille & headlamps looked “very sharp” as my father would say, they could
have been flush without killing the long hood - short deck core design.
The tail went “tall boat”, I’ve noticed BMW went this route as well, is this just a cubic
feet issue or is there some federal height issue going on here?
Why not just kill the door handles, if your really trying to save a few drag coefficient,
why not either go with the keyfob button or hide a release button like the hot-rod or
customizers do? (these are the kinds of things that knock your credibility, you chopped the
big arch wheel wells & pointy nose for Cd, remember?)
Why in the lower front-end, are there body-colored inserts rather than turn signals or air
intakes for front brakes?
I wish you guys luck, I really do. But without that front-end, at 40 Grand, I’m out.
PS. Why have a non-functioning grille at all if your gonna stick that big black air intake
under the front bumper anyway? Oh & happy birthday!
James
Can we please stop using the term “car guy” to apply to car enthusiasts?
“Car Guys” build race cars, weld, fabricate, modify, swap engines, rebuild transmissions, etc.
“Car Guys” are a subset of “car enthusiasts”.
Not every Doctor is a heart surgeon.
Chance,
The thermal content of Hydrogen is MUCH less than Ethanol or Gasoline. The mole size of Hydrogen requires massive amounts of fuel for a short distance, especially given the same amount of work. DI of liquid Hydrogen is the only realistic alternative. Of course the dangers of hauling around 10 gallons of liquid Hydrogen in a motor vehicle offset everything.
Jonpaul
Mr. Lutz,
I saw you on Colbert Report and I want to thank you for appearing on the show. Though we don’t agree on everything, I think the Volt is an amazing product, and I think you re a good man for putting yourself out there against Mr. Colbert who has a tendency to do anything for a laugh. I did laugh. But I also learned about the product, so I want you to know you did your job well.
Laurent (France)
I am ready to buy it, It’ could be the car I ever dreamt of. BUT the cargo is too small 300 l (10.6 cu ft) is not enought for a 4 seats sedan. The Press release says “the Volt offers the space, comfort, convenience and safety features that customers expect in a four-passenger sedan”. I do not agree on that point, the cargo capacity should be 400 l (14 cu ft).
I would be very sad not to buy it just because of that.
Jay M
Hi Bob,
Gutsy move going on the Colbert report to spread the word on Volt. Despite his manic demeanor you handled yourself well, apart from him grilling you on the global warming topic. It definitely will help get more young folks into the dealerships come, 2011?
It’s been a long time since I’ve even looked at a Chevy, but the new Malibu is looking good. And the Volt seems poised to be the iPod of the electric car movement.
George Diebel
Congratulations to GM for another milestone in not only automotive history, but a stride for all industry into the next industrial revolution. As for the styling, I personally like a little greenhouse. The chopped top look is something I could never get into (mentally, or physically). The volt looks great, especially next to the Prius. I wouldn’t have a Prius in my driveway, it would depreciate my (already struggling) property value.
For the Toyota lovers out there, Japan has long been known for the ability to copy. Innovation costs money, so let someone else do it. That is one reason why the American Automobile industry struggles financially. The benefit of subsidized R & D afforded to military, aerospace technology, and foreign competition is essentially non existent in the American auto industry. Hats off to GM for investing its resources in our future. This is just the beginning. We should all pause to be aware of the history we are living today. Personally, I am excited to be part of it. I hope the sticker doesn’t stand in the way progress.
Car Fan
Bob,
I like the Volt..but what about the large population of mostly young people who must park their car on the road or in a place that does not have private supply of electricity?
Perhaps when the battery pack is small enough to take out of the car and plug in at home I will be able to buy one (until then, the Honda Insight is looking mighty fine for me)
And No excuses for the Volt’s stylling!
A true iconic product must be able to present a technical revolution in an un-compromised and trully beautiful aesthetic.
Think of the iPod - technically it works like no other product..BUT (..and here is what makes the iPod the success that it is) it ALSO looks amazing and feels exceptional to use.
The exterior styling & proportions are a let down compared to the heavily cheated and over-hyped show car,
The interior looks like an iPod of 8 years ago. That screen on the centre stack looks like it is as thick as 10 current iPods…hmmm..
Craig Macrina
WOW! What a good looking vehicle. I am committed to driving my ‘99 Cavalier until the day I drive it on the lot and drive away in my new Volt.
Euroclydon
“The Press release says “the Volt offers the space, comfort, convenience and safety features that customers expect in a four-passenger sedan”. I do not agree on that point, the cargo capacity should be 400 l (14 cu ft).”
Laurent,
I plan to wait until GM makes a hatchback or compact pickup truck version of the Volt available. It wouldn’t surprise me if those are already on the drawing board. There should be a large market for the compact pickup version.
Wonder why they call it the Chevrolet Volt instead of the “GM Volt?” If it was the GM Volt, then Buick, Pontiac, GMC, and Cadillac dealers could all sell it. (Which I’m sure they would want to do.) Why limit it just to Chevy dealers?
A “GM Volt” could cross demographic lines in a way that “Chevy Volt” can’t.
Eric Planey
Hi Bob -
Real quick, I saw that Pontiac is going to get the “G3″ in the U.S. Not a bad idea, but PLEASE dont call it the G3. You are doing the G8 and G6 a disservice by watering down their perfornamce mantra. Go with the “Wave” name you use in Canada. And I really think co-marketing the Vibe and Wave is the smart way to go…your going to give instant credence to the Wave.
One last thing. I have seen some great images on the internet of ideas people would like for a new Firebird, that were significantly different from the Camaro. One of them pays homage to the ‘77 T/A. I think you really should consider it. It would a first to have the same platform, but with influences from the Gen 1 Camaro and the Gen 2 Firebird. Really, Pontiac is suppose to be the performance brand. It needs a halo 2-door sports car as much as Chevy.
edvard
I wanted to make another comment about the design of the production Volt because I saw all of the videos on GMnext. I have to say that you all got it right on the rear of the car. More often then not, when driving down the freeway, you’re going to spend more time looking at the rear of other people’s cars rather than the front or sides. 75% of the new cars I see on the road seem to have their trunk, bumper, and tail light sections designed as an afterthought. In most cases the treatment is incredibly bland with few breaks in the lines.
The Volt has a fairly attractive, yet tasteful design treatment for its rear. In some ways, it almost reminds me of the more aggressive design treatment for the new Camaro. Nice use of materials .
Sort of switching gears, Tesla motors announced plans to build a new plant in San Jose this year and have production all-electric cars on the road by 2010- the same time that you intend to launch the Volt. From a practical standpoint, I can understand that the Volt will probably have more mass appeal. That and the cars Tesla will produce there will not be the 100k Tesla Roadster, but a sedan costing anywhere from 50-60k, which frankly isn’t a huge amount more than what the latest 40k guesstimate has been for the Volt. I’m sure you are well aware of this. I live fairly close to Tesla and see their roadsters on the freeway from time to time. They seem to be serious about making these cars.
So my question would be is GM working on producing an all-electric equivalent? Seems to me that if the Volt architecture is already being put into place that room would be also allowed to develop an all-electric version of it as well. I love the Volt. But it seems that exclusively battery powered cars are making rapid inroads and will become completely viable options sooner than later.
Keith H.
Bob,
I am an attorney and am willing to step up and buy one of these for cash when they come out, but not if my local dealer is allowed to gouge me on price. Please do a Saturn deal on these, set a reasonable street price, and then enforce that price. If my dealer adds $5k as a market price adjustment, I won’t be coming back to GM. Better yet, cut out the dealer and just let me order one online direct from GM, let me choose interior and exterior color and do away with all the options. You will reduce tooling and customization costs and you can do production based on presales. If you let the incompetent dealship network get ahold of this, they will only screw it up. All you need if you do online sales direct are pickup/delivery locations in various cities. Cutting out the dealer will also lower the cost to the consumer. And lets face it, the dealers are anything but a value add to the industry any more.
Euroclydon
Did Bob Lutz announce a photo-voltaic roof for the Volt on Colbert?
Just listened to Steven Colbert’s interview with Mr. Lutz. Bob said one of the options GM will offer is a photo voltaic roof for recharging while sitting in the Sun. Let’s hear more about that on this blog.
* How long will it take to fully charge the battery sitting in the Sun? (Lutz said something to Colbert about “two weeks.” Is that correct? Or was that in jest?)
* Was Bob Lutz making fun of granola-eating, non-makeup wearing, non-leg shaving, environmentalist women when Colbert asked what kind of ladies driving a Volt would help him pick up?
Norman Conquest
“Better yet, cut out the dealer and just let me order one online direct from GM, let me choose interior and exterior color and do away with all the options. You will reduce tooling and customization costs and you can do production based on presales. If you let the incompetent dealership network get a hold of this, they will only screw it up.”
My sentiments exactly Keith. Let’s hope GM gets the message and sells the Volt on-line. Let us order it on-line to exact specs and a set price as you suggest, and leave the dealers out of the picture except for maintenance. GM’s Volt assembly plant at Hamtramck can then build it to the customer’s specs once they receive the order.
Why not get rid of the dealers altogether, and set up a network of GM-owned (and standardized) maintenance and service centers around the country. The poor dealer system has contributed as much to GM’s difficulties as the poor cars of the Roger Smith era.
tim bell
I signed up on a list for the volt. the concept car was perfect in the styling dept I was ready to buy one now that chevy decided they wanted to build a prius you guys can keep it it is no wounder you are going under if you dont want to build what you show the least you can do is dont show it you had a winner and a customer and you want neither
Bruce Alvarez
George Diebel:
“For the Toyota lovers out there, Japan has long been known for the ability to copy. Innovation costs money, so let someone else do it. That is one reason why the American Automobile industry struggles financially.”
That would be why Honda (series) and Toyota (parallel) had hybrids on the road in Japan in the late 90’s and on the road in the U.S. starting in 2001. In 2005 Bob Lutz was saying hybrids are a joke, don’t buy them, wait for GM’s hydrogen cars. HYDROGEN is the future, coming in only 5 years (and every year, it is still ‘only’ 5 years away). Then he figured out people were buying the Japanese hybrids (how DARE they) and jumped on the band wagon, producing ‘hybrid’ cars with less than 10% better mileage compared to their gas counterparts and about half the mileage of the Japanese hybrid cars.
And in the case of the Volt, the concept is only a hundred or so years old:
http://www.modernracer.com/features/historyofthehybrid.html
Now Bob is wiping the egg off his face, hoping the Volt will come through as a viable consumer vehicle. I HOPE SO TOO, because the technology is MUCH more environmentally friendly than gas and diesel vehicles. MOST of the oil we import goes to transportation, most people drive less than 40 miles per day. If everyone had a Volt ‘like’ vehicle, we wouldn’t be fighting wars in the middle east or listening to Hugo Chavez run his mouth. Nor would we be arguing about whether we should or should not drill offshore or in ANWAR (we can argue about whether we should put wind turbines there
). The price of gas wouldn’t jump every time there was geopolitical nervousness in oil producing areas or when a hurricane MIGHT cause production to be interrupted.
I expect Toyota will stick with their hybrid design that allows the ICE to both run the wheels and the generator to create electricity for the electric motor and battery. The design already ALWAYS starts the car moving on electric power, starting the ICE when needed. As battery technology improves, the percentage of miles driven solely on electric will increase, using an increasingly more powerful electric motor and a decreasingly powerful ICE which will run rarely, only on trips longer than 40 miles, just like the Volt.
Gereon (Germany)
Hi Bruce,
you are welcome. Found that conversion-link a time ago just accidentally. As mentioned on the fueleconomy.gov-website there’s finally valid “Your MPG will vary”. You’ll always talk to drivers with better-than-expected fuel-efficiency on the one hand and those, who are disappointed on the other hand. Basically I think, the new EPA-ratings in the US have much more to do with reality, than those figures, we are reading over here in our brochures. I would appreciate if the new EPA-ratings would be adopted by the Europeans. Well, unfortunately I have not to decide about that.
Kyle
Check out this flattering article about the Volt that outlines what Jalopnik feels are the top 5 interior and top 5 exterior features of the car. The author does a nice job of focusing in on what is unique and great about this design.
Great job once again to the Volt team.
http://jalopnik.com/5050624/chevy-volt-five-key-interior-features
Hakim Williams
Another reason why GM is the best Car Company. Beautiful car, and amazing technology.
Max
I have a complaint about all of this Volt talk. First, the car will not be available for two years, so why is GM beating the introduction to death? And with all due respect to Mr. Lutz, a great car guy and businessman, until these roll off the line it might as well be vaporware. In the meantime, the sense of anticipation needed for a successful launch will have been exhausted (pardon the expression) when they actually DO become available.
A million press releases, handouts, interviews and autoshow displays between now and the actual release will assure GM that when the car arrives, people will just yawn. And every competitor to GM now knows what they’ll be up against well ahead of time, in order to better blunt GM’s edge.
Shrewd.
Want to know how to roll out a product and whet consumer appetite? Watch Steve Jobs, a brilliant engineer AND merchandiser.
I hope there are no delays in getting this thing out- they are plentiful enough with conventional designs. In fact, what is needed is to shock the competition by getting this out a lot sooner.
David Eby
For you guys who say dont let the dealer do a market adjustment. I agree, I hope dealers dont overprice these cars. But I have never heard anybody complain that they have bought a car from a dealer for under sticker. Fortunatly this is the United States of America and the market wil determine the price.
With the problems GM has running the manufacturing business, weather it is their fault or not, what makes you think they can do retailing any better. As a matter of fact they have tried and not done very well to say the least.
getalifeagain
Not as cool looking as the prototype, but it is likeable. I hope it is priced right!
David
Bruce,
May I remind you; GM was the company that built the EV1; an advanced product which they marketed agressively, capitalized fully with an entire assembly plant and supplier base only to have more than half of the production go to the crusher without being sold. You’ve been watching too much “Who killed the electric car”.
It’s been widely reported with comments from people who were associated with the EV1 project that due to lack of demand; the EV1 program cost GM over 1 Billion dollars.
BobT
The Volt is great but seems to be expensive.
My challenge for GM is to go out on a limb.
Put out a PO for 1 million batterys for 2010 to drive
the cost down and allow you to reduce the cost of the Volt.
Use the same battery in a Saturn offer 20 miles of Electric and
much higher MPG when not in electric mode.
Offer the same pack again in the VUE, Astro Van
and a small pickup.
Getting them all over 40mpg in the city (NOT highway) will
really shake up the market and make you the leader in the
industry. Can you do it? I think you can. Will you do it?
I have little faith that you will take such a bold move.
I am sure you are still very worried that people wont buy.
At the current price point you announced and economic conditions
most of us cant afford to buy. Even with a big government backing.
For those of us that travel more than 40 miles a day,
(me I travel over a 100 city and highway) I challenge you to
make a compact that can get 40mpg CITY not highway.
Thanks the Volt is a great step in the right direction..
Be the leader of this market of guts and determination.
Good luck,
Bob
peteMT
MPG! That seems to be all anyone thinks about when it comes to the Volt.
How about this:
What is the cost to the environment of the production of the battery? How much energy and pollution is produced during the mining of materials for and the production of that battery? Is it better for the environment than simply operating a gas powered vehicle?
What about the environmental costs for recycling or disposing of the battery?
Think big picture here.
If GM has developed something that’s truly sustainable - cradle to grave - I would be incredibly impressed.
Gene Smith
40 miles based on epa city driving. What is the estimate for interstate highway driving?
Nick
The Volt (or any plug in electric) will not be the panacea claimed. The battery requires 16 kWh. Somewhere I saw that it will cost 80 cents per day to recharge. Not sure where that figure came from. Where I live, electric rates are 25 cents / kWh * 16 kWhs = $4 per day. That’s $120 per month for “electric fuel”.
Matt Plevrakis
So what if it does not look like the Prototype. Remember the word prototype means the 1st of it’s type. Naturaly you would expect changes. What a brilliant design. The Prototype design is far reaching, and great to stir up public curiocity and intrest. The production version is clearly someting the people can relate to and it shows that it is clearly diferent from other cars. With this much uncharted technology we need to make sure we get it right. From the company that has lead the auto industry the past 100 years one would expect nothing less.
Bruce Alvarez
David:
“GM was the company that built the EV1; an advanced product which they marketed aggressively, capitalized fully with an entire assembly plant and supplier base only to have more than half of the production go to the crusher without being sold. ”
They were NOT sold, they were LEASED at a calculated MSRP of $34K to $44K. Otherwise GM could not have forced the happy owners to return them to be crushed. The EV-1 was hardly the world’s first electric car. And it had a major flaw for large scale sales - the 120 mile range, half that in cold climates. Only so many people will ‘buy’ a car with such limited range followed by up to 8 hours of charging. What GM ‘learned’ from the EV-1 at the time was “Throw the baby out with the bath water”. Toyota stopped making the EV RAV4 in 2003, but they didn’t take them back and crush them, they are still on the road. I suspect this is in large part because the EV RAV had a lot of components in common with the non- EV. The EV-1 was unique and if left on the road, GM would have been legally required to keep spare parts available for many years (I believe 5 years past last production but I don’t know WHY I think that!). Perhaps that is why they crushed them.
The Volt IS the proper response to the range problem. The expected all electric capacity fits the daily miles driven by a HUGE number of potential buyers. There is no penalty for those with a need for greater range, it still gets much better than average MPG once the ICE starts.
“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1″
“You’ve been watching too much “Who killed the electric car”.”
I’ve never seen it.
“It’s been widely reported with comments from people who were associated with the EV1 project that due to lack of demand; the EV1 program cost GM over 1 Billion dollars.”
Which they squandered by not redesigning the EV-1 into the Volt 10 years ago. I do not know what EV range the EV-1 could have achieved in a PHEV design with the battery technology available at the time. Perhaps that is why Honda and Toyota started with Hybrids which they had on the road in Japan in 1997 (Toyota) and 1999 (Honda).
Bruce Alvarez
Nick:
“Somewhere I saw that it will cost 80 cents per day to recharge. Not sure where that figure came from.”
Somewhere with CHEAP electricity!
Where I live, electric rates are 25 cents / kWh * 16 kWhs = $4 per day. That’s $120 per month for “electric fuel”.”
Yes and if you get 40 miles for your $4 you are STILL ahead unless your alternative vehicle averages 36 MPG or better at $3.60/gallon. Certainly they exist.
Your $4/day presumes you would drive the Volt to ‘battery empty’ 30 days a year (which may be true!) .
The expectation is that people will charge the cars at night (doesn’t do anything for people on the graveyard shift) when many electric companies have ‘off peak’ rates with prices at a lower rate than “on-peak”.
Sheth
Bruce,
I see you are one of many people who likes to pretend that certain automakers are “for the people” or pro-environment while others like GM are out to pillage the earth. Lutz is not the only auto exec who didn’t think hybrid would catch on. Carlos Ghosn has said on numerous occasions that hybrids dont add up and he was skeptical about their long term appeal. This is one reason why Nissan only has one hybrid. You keep touting the Insight and original Prius but don’t note that those vehicles did not sell in appreciable numbers or that Toyota nor Honda ever claimed those vehicles existed due to their concerns about global warming. Both of those hybrids were simply examples of advanced technology released as halo cars to demonstrate what their automakers could do. They weren’t meant to be volume models and they weren’t advertised. This idea that GM spent big money on the EV1 but wanted it to fail is ridiculous. VEry little marketing dollars were provided for the Insight or Prius and the Insight didn’t even make it to a 2nd generation. Honda has released three hybrids so far and two of them have been failures. Only die hard environmentalists paid the Prius any attention until 2006 or so when gas prices really started to get high. Even Toyota has admitted they were taken aback but the sudden interest in the Prius and that’s one reason why they didn’t have their capacity alighned with demand.
If you believe that Toyota has all the answers in terms of fuel efficiency then I would suggest you buy their products and stop trying to attack GM for what you perceive to be sins of the past. For teh record, Toyota’s plug in hybrid is reported to have a raneg or 7 or 8 miles on electric power only. IN additon, Toyota has only promised to have a plug in ready for fleet use (read extended testing) by 2009 or 2010. They have said nothing about a model available for purchase by the public. I would expect something similar to Honda’s small scale lease program for their fuel cell vehicle.
Euroclydon
“The expectation is that people will charge the cars at night (doesn’t do anything for people on the graveyard shift) when many electric companies have ‘off peak’ rates with prices at a lower rate than “on-peak”.”
Sorry to say, but I don’t think those who work the “graveyard shift” will be the Volt’s primary demographic. At a price point of the mid to high $40s, Volt will be more for the well-to-do, environmentally-conscious elite.
Still can’t understand why GM is calling a car that will definitely not be targeted at the masses, a “Chevrolet.” It will be too expensive for most of the Chevy-crowd, and badged as a Chevy, will be looked down on by many of the Caddie-crowd.
Charlie H
Euroclydon: “Still can’t understand why GM is calling a car that will definitely not be targeted at the masses, a “Chevrolet.”"
The only other choice is Saturn or Saab. What greenie would set foot in a Cadillac dealership? Pontiac? Buick? GMC? Hummer? There aren’t a lot of Saturn or Saab dealerships.
I’m concerned about the price. From the outside, that’s not a lot of Chevrolet for the money. They’ll probably sell 10K in that first year but volume after that? That will be heavily dependent on future price reductions. And I’ll bet the $7500 tax credit dissipates pretty fast.
Sheth: “If you believe that Toyota has all the answers in terms of fuel efficiency then I would suggest you buy their products and stop trying to attack GM for what you perceive to be sins of the past. …”
Well, that right there is GM’s problem, isn’t it? Many have switched. This highly fuel-efficient/alternative-propulsion GM isn’t due until very, very late 2010. And GM just introduced a badge-engineered version of the Aveo, which gets mediocre fuel economy, as a Pontiac. What message does that send?
… “For teh record, Toyota’s plug in hybrid is reported to have a raneg or 7 or 8 miles on electric power only. …”
Toyota has not declared the range of the production vehicle. Those are prototypes only running upsized versions of the current pack.
… “IN additon, Toyota has only promised to have a plug in ready for fleet use (read extended testing) by 2009 or 2010.”
Toyota said the fleet vehicles were scheduled for 2009. I imagine they’ll ship AFTER the 2009 Prius is introduced, which would be Spring of 2009. Notice, GM’s got a moving target on this.
More troubling to GM should be Toyota’s capacity plans. They’ll have nearly a half million units/year production in place in 2009 and start producing another 200K or so in the US in 2010. That’s a lot of GM cars that won’t be sold. And Toyota says the program is profitable. This stopped being a loss-leader experiment in December of ‘02. Toyota’s going to have a lot of economies of scale going on this - never mind that, they already DO have economies of scale - and GM’s flagship product will be a very low-volume vehicle through 2011 and a relatively low-volume vehicle for the foreseeable future.