Welcome to VoltAge
By Ed Peper
U.S. Vice President, Chevrolet
I’d like to introduce you to ChevroletVoltAge, a place for you to share your thoughts and opinions on the electrification of the automobile.
The vision for this site is twofold: to inform and engage concerned individuals about the movement toward alternative transportation energy sources and to provide a behind-the-scenes view of how one manufacturer, Chevrolet, is working to bring its advanced extended range electric vehicle to life. Over the next weeks and months, the perspectives of energy and transportation experts and thought leaders will be shared, providing plenty of stimulation for lively forum discussion.
In addition, this site will host periodic chats with and reports from, the men and women behind the Chevrolet Volt, giving you a rarely seen glimpse into what’s involved with creating new product innovation in the automotive space.
Along the way, there will be an events page to let you know about key upcoming activities that may be of interest, polls to help you and us understand more about some of the issues and questions around energy and transportation use, plus lots more.
I invite you to provide your suggestions for specific content and topics to John Hughes and Natalie Johnson, ChevroletVoltAge co-leaders, on their discussion thread.
Join the conversation about our transportation future at ChevroletVoltage.
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Hi there,
I had a difficult time registering for your site. The UI is a little strange. Perhaps some work to make things like the blog, forum, and other areas more easily accessible would be worth looking into. I think the system they have here- where anyone can comment without actually registering would encourage more interaction.
Mr. Peper your work is beyond so much of the other manufacturers but its all for nothing if you can’t change the dealer experiance and most of all their apperance, just look here in so cal costa mesa area and see the competitors and all the new places, just saying.
bluebaby
Dear ED
I am writing to lobby and to ask you to lobby with all your might for the G8 to become the Chevrolet Impala. If Chevy is to carry GM they need this car almost as bad as they need the Volt. As a matter of fact I bet if you asked Chevy fans which car would they prefer I would be willing to bet a months paycheck that the overwhelming choice would be for the G8 becoming the Impala. I don’t how much pull you have in the new GM but if you could pull this off your status would rise both inside and outside of GM.
Incorporate solar panels in your vehicles. If I can charge my laptop, cellphone etc with solar panels embedded in umbrella’s, or charging your cellphone, iPod etc. with your clothing, I see no reason that this technology cannot be used in vehicles.
I commend GM for its research and development of an electric vehicle, and despite the ultimate cost of the vehicle, GM will sell some- much to the delight of the current administration (and largest stakeholder) However, I do not see electric vehicles playing a huge role in our transportation economy anytime soon. Suitable for short, routine trips, electric vehicles are too costly and limited in range for broad market acceptance. The is no infrastructure in place to support them in terms of re-charging stations or battery exchange locations, and no funding anywhere in sight to put these facilities in place.
For whatever reason, the Administration and to a great extent, Industry has overlooked and/or ignored Cellulose (rather than crop-based) Ethanol and Bio-Diesel as viable transportation fuels. There are vehicles on the road and in dealer’s lots today that can run on these fuels, and the infrastructure for distribution is largely in place. The swift implementation of these fuels could address energy independence, global warming, and political stability in one fell swoop.
“Incorporate solar panels in your vehicles. If I can charge my laptop, cellphone etc with solar panels embedded in umbrella’s, or charging your cellphone, iPod etc. with your clothing, I see no reason that this technology cannot be used in vehicles.”
Petra,
It would certainly be possible, but would also take some time. For example, a solar panel the size of the Volt’s roof would need about two weeks of sunshine to bring the Volt’s battery to 100%. Considering the current cost of solar panels, that’s not much return for the buck.
The solar panels used in umbrellas and clothing cannot be all that expensive, or nobody would be buying and using them. The panels do not necessarily have to be on the roof. They could be utilized on the dash, a spoiler, hood etc. And, I am also not suggesting that this would be the ‘only’ way to utilize electricity, it can be used as backup for the already charged battery…to give it longer staying power. So, the battery will go farther than 40 miles. I think it is a great idea to pursue.
Petra ~
The energy requirements of a cell phone weighing a few ounces you can easily hold in the palm of your hand or so much smaller than the energy needed to push a car weighing several thousand pounds for 40 miles there is simply no comparison.
The surface area of solar panels that would be needed to recharge a Volt’s battery in a reasonable time are much larger than the surface area of the car, including the dash, spoiler, etc.
Mr. Peper, as a retired guy, I’ve been following the Volt story with keen interest
I appreciate the fact that the Volt may get the equivalent of 100 MPG on (for example) an 80-mile trip, and with recharging nightly, it could be the (fixed-income) retirees’ dream vehicle for life!
But while the Volt will be an attractive vehicle for some retirees, many of us live in apartments, condos, and other situations where we do not have access to electric outlets.
So while all mileage-conscious customers will want a Volt in their garage (where their electric outlet is), what about us garage -less folks? (I’ve got to think that that includes many young folks who rent apartments as well).
My point is, I love the Volt, but there’s a large segment of the market that can only use a low cost, full hybrid version of the Volt. Hopefully, new GM recognizes this and is hard at work developing a family of full hybrids, including a Chevy Impala Hybrid to compete with the new Ford Fusion Hybrid
I am sorry, but I cannot support GM in this ‘volt’ thing you call a car. Same thing with the camaro. I remember the concept looked awesome. but when the real one came out, it looks terrible. The rounded back end has got to be the worst design I have ever encountered with any GM product. The interior sucks, and the engine is a very mild choice. If you think for one second that I am going to let you run over Pontiac with the camaro, you got another thing coming. Same with the ‘volt’ and the ‘cruize’. I speak for not only me, but every Pontiac owner in America that GM is heading in the wrong direction. There is no “new GM” without Pontiac in the lineup. Buick and Cadillac are terrible cars brands, nobody wants to drive a car that is meant for old people. And besides, the Lacrosse is a re badge of the Malibu. The Cadillac brand is not a ‘luxury’ brand. If it was a ‘luxury’ brand, it would offer the stuff GM did in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Those were luxury cars. And GMC is a bunch of re badged Chevrolet’s. so what direction are you heading in? you guessed it, the south. Without the Pontiac brand, your company has no excitement or fun to drive vehicles. All of your so called “four core brands” are all just re badges and are all extremely bland and boring. Instead of pleasing the Chinese, why not please the country that made you into the company you once were: America. We want affordable, fast, fun, comfortable, and good looking cars. We want a Pontiac!! We do not want a Buick or Cadillac, they are too old looking and do not appeal to anyone except people over the age of 60. My point is that GM needs to keep Pontiac. If the Chinese do not like it, so what. You have billions of customers in the good ol’ US of A that want to buy an all around awesome Pontiac. Think about your main buyers, think about your loyal customers like me. I grew up with Pontiac and I am sure those billions of loyal customers agree that Pontiac is GM’s only good brand. Do not listen to these”hippie” people who are all about “going green”. Listen to your loyal Pontiac fans and customers that have been buying from the Pontiac line-up for years. Give the people of America what they want, give them a Pontiac.
Well, I apologized for calling GM a ‘follower’ because they ARE incorporating solar panels in the Volt…however, I will have to rescind that ’cause I just found out the Prius, already on the market, utilizes solar on the roof. Follower, follower, follower.
Well I hope this whole Volt concept works you. I think that a lot really good automobiles and a lot customer goodwill has been sacraficed to go this way. In the 80’s disreguarding or misinterpreting what people really wanted plus a genuine disreguard for quality pushed customers away in droves. Yet many customers
who’s parents drove GM vehicles, whose first vehicle, and most thereafter, were GM vehicles remained loyal hoping for a return to the performance of GM glory years. Finally Pontiac began to build excitement again. How a car as good as the G8 can be wasted is beyond me. We had affordable performance with the SS options in the Chevrolet line. Now the GM HPV group has been disbanded with no future past the current product cycle for these performance vehicles. After all the accolades for the G8 and the CTS- V with no plans past current model run. I don,t think a 300 hp turbo V6 is going to be world class. I am a 46 year old professional with 2 kids. The die hard buy American, buy GM. My first car in 1980 was a 79 Z28. You had me from the start. I like the Camaro but Shelby and Ford got there a year earlier when I bought my first Ford. I’m now looking to replace the Tahoe but the 4 door G8 GXP is dead. The kid who’s first real car with some performance is a GM is hooked,I was. I bet most Pontiac buyers are repeat Loyal GM customers.
I bet the average green buyer has little brand loyalty and
would pitch you over for the next Honda, Toyota, Nissan, whatever if it was the current flavor of the month. I really hate to see Pontiac go with great cars in the lineup like the Solstice and the G8. I hope you can
keep the youth interested in GM as that would be the future. I hope that the Volt pays off, but if it’s at the expense of performance across GM’s lineup and great cars like the Solstice and the G8 get the axe. Then I have held up the banner long enough. Buick, even though they have been updated have forgetable yawn inspiring performance and is not a car I really want to be seen in. It’s looking better, but nothing says retirement community like Buick. Chevrolet, outside of the Camaro and Corvette, now essentially just basic transportation. I really would hope that the G8 and the Solstice can live on, if not, I’ll just look elsewhere.
Great work on the Volt so far, GM is pretty much the only one that is providing details as the go along. The Volt is so far ahead of the competition, along with the many upgrades to existing vehicles that I see a very bright future ahead for GM.
Keep up the good work, it IS being noticed!