MAY 22

Wow! 15% improvement and MAYBE it will be in production in less than 10 years. Was this article a joke? Let's all pray GM is gone in less than 1 year!

Bret, what is your problem with GM? If you don't like their products, then don't buy them. And don't give me any of that "GM killed the electric car" BS.

If you are complaining about the "within 10 years" deadline, you must remember that new technologies take a long time to develop. Not only does the HCCI have to get developed, it has to be approved by the GM top brass. Then, it must pass the scrutiny and red tape and bureaucracy of the federal government (and some big for their britches states like California). According to Car and Driver, it takes 6 years on average for a new technology to make it into production.

"igniting the air and fuel mixture through compression"
Like the diesel engine patented in 1898?
I guess GM is only 111 years behind the technology curve on this one.

Except this is done with gasoline instead of a heavy fuel.

If you are complaining about the "within 10 years" deadline, you must remember that new technologies take a long time to develop. Not only does the HCCI have to get developed, it has to be approved by the GM top brass. Then, it must pass the scrutiny and red tape and bureaucracy of the federal government (and some big for their britches states like California). According to Car and Driver, it takes 6 years on average for a new technology to make it into production.

That's the problem of big car companies, they spend more time doing paper work than designing new technologies. I quit my job at a car maker design center, because it takes 3 month of paperwork, and 4 meetings to change the color of the seam of the leather gear stick.
Small car companies lead the way in new techs.

and 15% gain in efficiency in 10 years that's a great news, will there still be petrol cars in 10 years?

lots of technology - not invented at the big car companies - gets ignored - check out Coates Spherical Rotary Valves for one - great improvement over poppet valves - but completely ignored becuz not invented by a big car company http://www.coatesengine.com/

HeadTater,
1. I don't buy GM products.
2. GM would be out of business by now if it weren't for our socialist government.
3. GM didn't kill the the electric car. They just crushed the ones they did make instead of selling them for a profit. Hmmm...

Companies like GM aren't evil. They are over bloated behmoths that cannot respond to the market in a timely fashion for a myriad of reasons. They are not too big to fail. They are too big to survive.

Somehow, inventing a variation on dead-dinosaur technology, at a time when burning any fossil fuel is a mistake, is, like reinventing the wheel... Definitely not impressed, but what we have come to expect from GM.

I agree with Bob.
Only thing is, we've had high mileage DIESELS for years. No spark plugs, no condensers. New diesels run CLEANER than gas engines and can run on biodiesel made from waste products. I fill up with locally produced biodiesel that keeps my fuel dollars in the US of A.

I'm with brett on this one.

there is no way I will ever buy a GM as long as the government is attempting to nationalize it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05...ss&emc=rss

Obama says he wants to get out of the car business, but yet makes a move to own 70%. screw G.M. & Obama.

You see the G.M. facade & bow tie badge I see whats under it a government run car company Ah La Yugo that will never be fit to sell and shouldn't be let on the streets.

give me Freedom & Liberty you can keep the Socialist change.

Sure, this advancement is an improvement but It'd be easier to pick lower hanging fruit. I gotta agree w/ bob and gosolar diesel is efficient and already here. Instead of wasting time with most American car companies that tend to half solve efficiency problems (hybrid SUVs for example) here's my 3 step solution:
1.Buy European diesels.
2. Done.
3. Well that was easy.

Bob got it right. Diesel is the way to go, as all the drivers in Europe know. Amazing that we can't get those diesels here in the U.S. fitted with the new emissions control technology. I just got a one-year old Mercedes E320 Blue Tech diesel(needed a full-size car), and it's one sweet ride. Amazing power, and I'm getting 27-28 mpg in suburban driving.

My only disagreement with you guys is that you've got it wrong about socialism. What we're seeing is similar to fascism, not socialism. How can you tell the difference? Ask who's being protected. It's the owner class, the bankers, hedge fund operators, etc., not the working stiffs who are seeing their jobs disappear or, at best, their wages drop, and their benefits shrink.

As though they were operating with a diesel engine?

OK Megan, time to car up a bit.
First, it is a Diesel engine, not a diesel engine, cause it is a dude's name. If you don't know that, then you are the kind of auto writer that would look at an old Ford flathead V-8 and call it a V-6.
Second, they are not adding to the fleet as though they were operating with a diesel (sic) engine. They ARE operating with a Diesel engine. Diesel proved his autocombustion process with strips of paper. I don't think the principle is restricted to a certain fuel. In this regard, the engine design is based on prior art. They probably have some IP in injection, combustion chamber design, induction, or other items, but GM has not invented a sparkless gasoline engine.

In this example, we see GM responding to a criticism that they hold on to the past instead of inventing progressive new technology, by taking a hundred year old engine and giving it a new name. Brilliant leadership, GM. The kind of leadership we have come to expect from a government bureaucracy, which you now are. Yep, GM is now our Department of Personal Transportation.

Now Megan, get out there and save the world by driving around in your Prius!

If you greenies want to help all us gear heads see the light you should at least know some history and not just know that global warming is bad. Otherwise, you could end up touting exciting new technology that is over a hundred years old.

That's disappointing! Not much beter than the FORD Model-T.
Guess what will solve all our problems. The price of gas being $12.97 a gallon.

During WWII automakers switched to building tanks and plains in less than six months.

We are at war people...war over energy (oil).

I think we can do a lot better than within "ten years". Is this a joke? Me and my two-year-old could get this up and running by ourselves in less time.

The problem with GM is that the union workers make $75/hr total benefits and Obama is preserving that instead of letting a regular bankrupcy take place. This car may be good but will be overpriced because GM is NOT COMPETAVE. The great Volt they talk about still does not have a battery that will power it. Too many non scientist are making the decisions on these issues. Al Gore for instance.

So, all I hear is people complaining. Hey, step up to the plate here. Come up with some ideas that don't involve "Buy a Prius". I also think that all you nay sayers are not helping the situation one bit. I think it's sad that Americans are now sitting on the sidelines and tearing each other apart instead of rolling up their sleeves and helping out (I'm not talking about a bailout).

It's not the union workers.. it's the lazy retarded engineers who work for GM. You think the worker on the line has a say on how things run?

He's a grunt in an engine ran by corporate bureaucracy, dictating engineers, without actual understanding of physics (both CEO & Eng) in many aspects. Their first prototype of the Volt, as quoted by Bob Lutz, was more aerodynamic going in reverse. Why didn't they utilize software for prototype cost efficiency?

Also, Hydrogen vehicles promoted by Bush has wasted countless dollars due to design constraints. Such as hydrogen is the SMALLEST molecule possible while burning hotter then readily available fuel. Which demands higher precision conformity and material selection which drives costs.

As much as I want GM to die as a company.. it would cause an instant 2% unemployment increase which would burden our economy even more starving the economic engine due to lack of spending and foreclosures. In which the workers are victims of a failing economy beyond their control. Thanks to GOP rule of trickle down economics.. pissing on your head and saying, "It's good for you!" Economist's, who are non-bias, predicted peak oil's possibility or causing a recession.. which is a variable in the equation of our economic downturn. Comparing mid 90's ($1.25)fuel prices to mid 2000's ($4) there was a ~300% increase in fuel costs.

Mining operating costs are 50% fuel alone increasing electricity costs and minerals (inc. fertilizer) in general. Then you had to transport it around to get it utilized into the economic engine. Which ended up being trickle down butt hurting in every aspect of our economy.

Copper, Nickel, Aluminum, and various other metals sky rocketing causing cost prohibitive economic development. Building materials, batteries (NiMH), auto bodies, power plants, clean-diesel catalytic converters. Ford lost $1 billion due to volatile price fluctuations which didn't end up favorable for them.

Double Major Economics and Physics

The current bail-out focused on the owner class and not the working class is much closer to the term - commercialism. Corporate AmeriKa and the artificial citizen (a corporation) without ethic has been firmly rooted into the thread of national politics. Any interested party can trace A. Greenspan's infatuation with Ayn Rand and her "greed is good" philosophy.

I've been working in industry for over thirty years so I know it takes time for any technology to go from an idea to public use. Over the years we have had many health, environmental and economic disasters. Even with all our testing, permits and other safeguards we still have major blunders and when we do everyone wants to suit. Give them time to work things out.
There are so many people saying let GM close their plants without knowing what will happen to our country's economy if this happened. Just as the US economy has affected the world so will GM's closure will affect the world. There is so much hype about GM's $75 an hour pay but we all want benefits on these jobs. These benefits has to be paid for and the price of their products is where this money must come from. There are many reasons why GM is in the predicament they are in and so is the US. It took many years for this to happen and it will take more than 4 years to straighten out this mess. The last 8 years is not the total cause but it's the icing on the cake. Americans have been demanding more pay for less work while industry have been moving out of the country for less pay and more work. Everything is relative so when one suffers so will others. Some times it takes a long time but what goes around comes around. Some things will not change, the rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer and the middle class will pay them both. This is the greatest country ever but the direction we are headed in will lead to self distruction. Everyone blames the others but this is one country with many people. Everyone counts, if there was more concern for our fellow man it prosper everyone.

not really a saturn fan but it looks like a good move