GM FASTRACKS VOLT

Bob Lutz is the man at GM charged with getting the Chevrolet Volt, GM’s potentially precedent-shattering plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to market.

Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman, GM: "GM had the technology to do hybrids back when Toyota was launching the first Prius, but we opted not to ask the board to approve a product program that'd be destined to lose hundreds of millions of dollars…In the end, it cost us much more than that; it cost us our reputation for technology leadership and innovation…We made that mistake once…We won't make it again."

That’s about as unequivocal as a Mea Culpa and statement of commitment can get.

Road tests begin this month on the Volt’s lithium ion battery technology. Lab tests are ongoing. GM wants to provide a 40-mile(+/-) range and a 10-year/150,000 mile warranty.

There are other design and technological challenges (fuel tank design, cabling, air conditioner power) making the viability of the Volt by 2010 tenuous.

And GM has disappointed in the past. But this time there's a competitor (Toyota) over GM's shoulder and a history of missed opportunity (the gas-hybrid Prius) driving the company. Here’s hoping…

CEO Wagoner and the car that could make automotive history. (click to enlarge)

GM Puts Electric-Car Testing On Fast-Track to 2010
Terry Kosdrosky and John D. Stoll (w/Matthew Dolan), April 4, 2008 (Wall Street Journal)

WHO
General Motors Corp. (Rick Wagoner, Chairman/CEO; Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman; Frank Weber, Volt program director; Micky Bly, director, GM hybrid development; Roland Matthe, battery engineer)

The key: Will the lithium ion battery do the job? (click to enlarge)

WHAT
GM will begin road-testing its much ballyhooed plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) Chevrolet Volt lithium-ion battery technology.

MIT-spawned A123 believes lithium ion is the answer. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- First road tests scheduled for April.
- Battery test results fully complete: March 2010. Therefore: Commerical viability will remain uncertain.
- GM plans to bring the Volt to showrooms by November 2010.

WHERE
- The initial lithium-ion battery packs will be tested in 3-year-old Chevrolet Malibus.
- The tests will be on GM tracks and in varying environments.

Global climate change adds to the urgency of bringing the Volt to market. (click to enlarge)

WHY
- Both CEO Wagoner and Vice Chairman (in charge of the Volt project) Lutz have pushed Bly to get the vehicle on the road but until now Bly has contended it is not ready.
- GM defines “ready” as a battery range equal to the typical commute, presently estimated at 40 miles, with a 10 year/150,000 mile capability.
- Testing is done in a high temperature chamber that reproduces a 10-year stress in 2 years.
- Battery systems being tested: (1) one from South Korea's LG Chem Ltd.’s U.S. subsidiary; (2) an A123 Systems Inc. battery from Continental AG's Continental Automotive Systems unit.
- Other hurdles, none with easy fixes: (1) a special fuel tank design; (2) more capable high-voltage cables; (3) reduction of power drawn by the air conditioner.

There are a lot of compelling reasons for a PHEV. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Frank Weber, program director,Volt: "[The Volt is the] No. 1 priority project that we have at GM…"
- Micky Bly, director, GM hybrid development: "We're talking about real vehicles on the road…"
- Roland Matthe, battery engineer, GM: "It's not a done deal…That's the unusual thing about this project...there's still a risk that we [will] stumble on something."