GM Volt Battery Delivered

GM Volt Battery Delivered

There are no official announcements of when the GM Volt will actually hit the showrooms in production quantities, but the year 2010 continues to hold up as the unofficial date. Last week in the Detroit Free Press, in a report by Katie Merx entitled “A New Era Dawns for GM,” Vice Chairman Bob Lutz stated he “wants to make up to 100,000 fuel-efficient Chevrolet Volts in the first year of production.” This got our attention.

Yesterday I asked GM spokesman Rob Peterson about the quantity of cars planned and the launch year 2010. Peterson could not make an official comment on the year but confirmed that everything is still moving forward on schedule, and that “GM’s internal target is 2010.” That means cars in showrooms in just over two years.

In a significant step forward, last week LG Chem delivered the first lithium ion battery to GM for testing. As Peterson noted “this is being tested not at the cell level but is a full pack that meets all of our power and energy needs.” As we reported in August in our post “GM’s Volt to use A123 Battery,” GM selected two manufacturers out of 31 respondants to their RFP for an automotive lithium ion battery, A123 and LG Chem. It looks like LG Chem has won this round, but Peterson noted “A123 should have their battery here before the end of this year.”

We’re going to say it again: The GM Volt, and its European counterpart, the GM “Flextreme” which has an onboard diesel, is a series hybrid, very distinct from current hybrid designs, and it is a long overdue breakthrough. It is misleading for mainstream journalists to refer to the Volt as a ”plug-in hybrid” and leave it at that - it grossly misrepresents the significance of this innovation. As the diagram below indicates, a series hybrid’s gasoline (or diesel) engine is not connected to the drivetrain, only to an onboard generator. Electricity from the generator, along with stored (and recovered) electricity from a battery pack, are what powers an all electric drivetrain.

The series hybrid design is simpler, requires less maintenance, and delivers outstanding performance. The only thing it was waiting for was the energy density of a usable lithium ion battery. The mystery is why all major automakers haven’t announced series hybrids - for a variety of political or business reasons they still have not, and GM is going to acquire a huge lead in this technology.

Here’s the specs on the Volt: The range on battery-only (using plug-in electricity) is 40 miles - which will fulfill nearly 80% of the normal daily driving cycles in the USA. The range on gasoline-only, if the battery is completely drained, is 600 miles, at 50 miles per gallon. Because the 12 kWh (usable AC) lithium ion battery pack only weighs 400 pounds, it is not a significant drag on the vehicle. We love this car, and up to 100,000 of them are still on track to hit the road in just over two years.

'Green Team' showcases alternative fuel vehicles

November 4, 2007

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Auto manufacturers are working on a number of different vehicles, including those that run on biofuels, biodiesel, fuel cells that use hydrogen and emit only water vapor, or are gas/electric hybrids. Gunther described GM's "plug-in hybrid," the Chevrolet Volt, as a vehicle that can go 40 miles -- which 78 percent of commuters drive, or less, each day -- on pure electricity and no gasoline.

"We've got our first battery packs delivered to us. (The Chevy Volt) will be ready by 2010."

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Bob Lutz was quoted as saying some very interesting things. See source article here. He was commenting on the Federal decison to increase fuel economy ratings. In the discussion, which took place on May 10th, he said that the Volt’s consumer cost would be less than $30,000. He also said that the Li-ion battery is now only 2 to 3 years away from mass production, and that the vehicle could have a combined electric-combustion range of 750 miles.
He also quite thoughtfully invoked the need for a Manhattan Project-like effort of the Federal government to wean the U.S. off petroleum and onto renewable energy.

For those who follow the Volts’ development carefully these are some very important pieces of information from Bob. Its the first time we’ve heard a possible price-point for the car, and a number likely to make a lot of people happy. Also we are tantalized by the prospect of the car arriving a year ahead of time.

With the Zaap Obvio and possibly Tesla sedan slated to arrive in 2009, an early Volt arrival will be a very good thing.

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