The Story of the Volt

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After having had the chance to talk with executives, engineers and designers at GM, I feel like I understand where the Volt came from, why we didn't see it sooner, and where the concept might soon be headed.

Bob Lutz pointed out that this is not really a new idea. Concept electric cars who's batteries were charged by an onboard generator existed as early as 1968. What has changed is battery technology.

In a short interview with Bob Lutz, he told me, and a group of other bloggers, that he honestly never believed battery technology would take off the way it did. He says, and I can't say whether or not he's being entirely truthful, that GM thought, after the EV1, that all-electric cars could never work. So, instead of investing heavily in battery technology, they invested in fuel cell technology.

More after the Jump

This was a mistake. The craziest thing is, I think GM realizes it. There isn't a sense of regret that they spent so much money on fuel cells. But there is regret that they ignored battery technology. Even Bob Lutz seemed to recognize this, though he certainly didn't use the word "regret."

As battery technology advanced, some very high people at GM, possibly Lutz himself, asked engineers to come up with ways to create low-emissions vehicles using new lithium ion technology. They put their heads together, and the concept that stood out most among the field was the E-Flex system. That was about one year ago. The engineering team was put together a short time after that, and then the design team was given specifications just six months ago. By all accounts, they're moving quickly, at least on the concept.

But the overwhelming sense from everyone I talked to is that they're continuing to move quickly. Lutz expects other car companies to move forward with E-Flex like systems, but says it will take them a while to catch up where GM is (a complete reverse from general hybrid technologies.) The designers of the car don't know what they're going to work on next, or weren't allowed to say, while the lead engineer on the project didn't say whether he was continuing to work on the E-Flex system, but did say that he wasn't immediately moving to another project.

Lutz, in the blogger interview, said that GM is 90% sure that this car would become reality. His point was that GM, just five years ago, would never do anything that it wasn't 100% sure would succeed. But it's too bad that they aren't 100% sure, I myself am 100% sure that it would sell, but we'll see how the percentages add up in the next few years.

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Don't be distracted - GM has a long way
written by Matt, January 09, 2007

It's great to see a major automaker finally moving forward on what small companies have been proving possible for several years (see Energy CS, CalCars and HyMotion). But while the announcement is exciting, GM still isn't giving any solid timeline on WHEN we can see these cars on the road or HOW MANY cars are actually going to be produced - at best they say 3-4 years if the battery technology is available. There is a demand for plug-in hybrids NOW - there are hundreds of cities, counties, utility districts and fleets already placing "soft orders" for such vehicles. Such early-adopters of these vehicles would provide test markets for GM to refine the technology and build public confidence and interest in these cars.

I have to admit I'm a little concerned that they will use the announcement of these concept cars more to clean up their image than clean up their product line. There is a lot GM can do between now and when we may see these concept vehicles actually on the road.

We all know increasing fuel efficiency is the direction automakers need to head – so let’s get past the hype of a handful of concept vehicles and look at what they are doing with the rest of their fleet. Overall average fuel economy from the Big 6 is worse today that it was 10 years ago and GM is still heavily dependent on its gas guzzling truck lines. In addition to that they are still fighting tooth-and-nail against increasing fuel economy regulations, suing states that try to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and in December argued before the Supreme Court that carbon from tailpipe emissions was not even a pollutant. GM is still planning to expand their Hummer line to become 25% of their overall sales. Consumers still have limited options to find fuel-efficient cars that are affordable, well-built, and fun to drive. There are plenty of things automakers can do today to increase fuel economy – and I'm tired of being shown distracting concept cars that we won't see for 3-4 years if ever.

I've been working with the Freedom From Oil Campaign to make automakers honestly prioritize fuel economy and move beyond oil – check out what we do at http://www.FreedomFromOil.org

The power of the dollar
written by Celia, March 08, 2007

To keep the industry moving in this direction, we, as consumers, must buy vehicles with this technology. I like the fact that alternatives are multiplying.

First car was electric, but cannot compete the internal combustion engine yet.
written by Engineer, February 21, 2012

The reasons why smart people do not buy Electric or Hybrid cars are: Batteries are expensive, short lived, efficiency isn’t 100 % and the electricity is not free. Going electric you won’t decrease Air Pollution because, 50 % of the electricity is produced by burning COAL. By the way a Jetta Diesel, TDI for $23000 makes 40MPG. With a full tank of Chevy Volt, driving non-stop, you make 37MPG, plus $3 or more, the price of electricity you charged 16.0-kW-hr lithium-ion, the hefty $10000 of the 750-pound battery pack.
Using Chevy Volt, in the Electric Mode Only, Charging and Discharging the battery pack every day, is going to cost you $1000 in electricity, plus $3000 in the battery amortization, with a TOTAL of $4000 per year.

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