Chevy Volt First Build on June 1
Yesterday we saw the covers pulled off of the Tesla Model S sedan, but it’s not the only game in town. In fact, the it could be a bit late to the party with Chevy’s Volt nearing completion.
GM will begin its first build of the Chevy Volt on June 1, 2009. This does not mean that the car is entering into mass production, but rather all the pieces will finally come together so that the car can be tested and certified before it hits the market next year.
According to GM-Volt.com, a site dedicated to the car, GM lead engineer Andrew Farah has a countdown clock ticking away before the first day of the build begins.
The builds in June “will look, taste, smell, and feel like the Volt. They are the Volt,” said Farah. “My goal is by Forth of July to be out driving several of them.”
The current plan calls for about 10 cars produced per week until a total of 80 is reached. Those cars will presumably be used for testing as well as submission to government bodies for certification and clearance for the public roads.
Before the car goes into final production, around a hundred Volts will go into the hands of GM testers.
“We’ve got several phases leading up to the production launch where we build larger and larger batches,” said Greg Ceisel, GM’s Voltec manager. “In each phase as we perfect the production process, make sure we’ve got all the fit finish and other details exactly correct and that the quality of the vehicle meets our standards before we go into the first vehicles that will ultimately be salable vehicles that will be shipped to the dealerships.”
While Tesla has come out and said that its Model S sedan will be had for under $50,000 after tax credits, GM hasn’t said anything about the Volt’s pricing. Given its comparably more modest characteristics compared to the Tesla vehicle, we expect it to be priced much lower.
GM’s executive director of global engineering Bob Kruse said during a conference call that the pricing of the Volt could depend on the cost of oil. The fact is that the value of an electric or hybrid car somewhat increases along with the cost of fuel.
“I will tell you though that $1.50 a gallon gasoline is not necessarily helping with the business case, but who knows what the cost of petroleum is going to be in the future,” said Kruse. “I'm not wishing for higher petroleum costs, but I think we all recognize that the low cost we're experiencing now are perhaps temporary and economic forces are going to drive petroleum cost in one way.”
The Chevrolet Volt is expected to be built at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck manufacturing facility late 2010. Read our coverage of the Chevy Volt reveal here.
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This car is so sexy. I want one so badly. However I will only consider purchasing it if it comes in under $20k with loaded options.
From the speculations I've seen so far though, the reality will probably be closer to $25k with the very base model.
I would love to see it closer to $18k though although I think that's unrealistic.
Ok couldn't resist doing some googling.
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffw [...] t-volt.htm
Looks like the price will be closer to $30k, possibly up to $40k. Ouch, no way I can swing that. Oh well I'll just stick with my gas-guzzler for another half a decade.
Yeah indeed they look at us gas burners with frowns and yet they want to charge more then I can afford... Who's fault is that? How come they can't make a car run on Love? Pricks!
can you say dud
If Honda can base the new Insight at ~$18k, then Chevy should base this car ~$20k. The $30k price *is* the "average new car price" sweet spot, but they'll start no revolution pricing the car where the Camry and Accord rule... let alone the fact you only have to spend another few grand to get in to a 3er or a C-class.
Of course, the reality is more likely that this is a total niche vehicle, built to keep the "Americans Can Build Good Cars, Too... Look!" dream alive... and my tax dollars being further pumped in to a business that can't build good, mainstream products.
I'm very much looking forward to this car. Even though I won't be in the market for a new car for quite a few years, I'm going to test drive it as soon as I can. I've followed it ever since the beginning, and have high hopes. Love the look too.
Honestly, it's too bad we (the US) don't have even a skeletal hydrogen fueling network. The FCX Clarity is the truly revolutionary vehicle. This... is just a better hybrid.
Jeeze, that's two Honda vehicles I've fanboyed. Pretty sad, since I'm a VW driver.
What's so revolutionary about the FCX Clairty? That it's powered by a hydrogen fuel cell? GM made their first hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle during the mid-60s. It was called the Electrovan. Like Honda and the FCX Clarity, GM also has a current hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle that they're letting customers use: the Equinox Fuel Cell.
Is it really just a better hybrid? The Volt will use a gasoline engine acting as a generator to keep a battery pack charged (after the initial charge provided by the plug-in has been used). The batteries power an electric motor which propels the vehicle. GM calls this the Voltec platform. This is exactly how a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle would operate, except the fuel cell stack would be providing the electriciity to charge the batteries, not the gasoline generator.
You can see where this puts GM in the overall scheme of things. If hydrogen catches on, GM is in a very good position since their energy storage and propulsion systems are both already in production and have real-world feedback. Adapting a fuel cell stack to this existing system will be considerably less time and cost intensive than developing a system from scratch. Think of the Volt as a half-step to a hydrogen-powered vehicle. It's everything a fuel cell vehicle would be, just without the fuel cell. If hydrogen doesn't catch on, GM can still continue powering the system by a gasoline or diesel generator, maybe using an HCCI engine or perhaps even omitting the engine altogether as battery technologies mature and making an electric-only vehicle. The Voltec platform is pretty darn flexible if the cost hump can be overcome.
thejerk, I'd say actually the FCX Clarity is just a better hybrid. Maybe you don't know that, but the hydrogen car is actually an electric car that has a hydrogen tank to generate electricity instead of a bigger battery to hold what you plug in.
The biggest advantage of the purely electric vehicles over any other is the independence of a single source of fuel, since you can use any kind of fuel/energy to generate electricity. Plus with the convenience of having a 'fueling' network already built so that you can charge it from you house.
Going for hydrogen now would be one of the dummest alternatives given the freaking expensive cost of your dreamed skeletal hydrogen fueling network.
As a Michigan resident looking to get a job in the alternative energy field in a couple years after I finish my program, this has me totally pumped. Looking at the comments here does make some valid points about certain things. With just a couple simple modifications to be able to use a different fuel source, the Volt could become a vehicle that could be always powered by electricity, but also able to use any fuel source. Gas, biodiesel, E85, hydrogen fuel cell, solar cell, wall outlet... it could all work. All you need is a way to generate electricity, and you're golden.
The cost is going to have to go down closer to $7,000. Pretty much every large corporation in America has decided that the answer to the finanicial crisis is to outsource every remaining IT job that isn't bolted to the floor between now and Q3 this year... Myself and literally EVERYONE I know is getting layed off. A car or house is only worth what someone will (or can afford to) pay for it, good luck selling anything that isn't dirt cheap, if the Tata Nano came to America it would dominate the market.
I would save up a bit extra and opt for the Tesla Model S...
Ok, more than a BIT extra, but its so much nicer!
What I was effecting is the US needs a paradigm shift in its vehicle energy useage, and I believe that the FCX Clarity is the larger shift we need. If I wanted a gasoline hybrid, I could buy either a Prius or Insight for far less than $30k.
The following are responses to several people, and I'm too lazy to quote. You'.ll figure it out.
When I said skeletal, I meant foundational, rudimentary, elemental. I didn't mean ubiquitous, as we have with our gas stations. There should be, at least, one hydrogen station in Chicago. There isn't. It's a shame.
None of GM's previous fuel cells could get 270 miles of range from their H2 tanks in the mid-60's. Usefully powerful electric generators have been around since 1832, the argument could be made that the Volt's powertrain is even less of a big deal than the fuel cell. Diesel-electric motors have been used in trains since the mid-20's.
*If* the Volt could be adapted "With just a couple simple modifications to be able to use a different fuel source," great. But, if I buy one when released, I'm still locked in to gasoline. How much will it cost me to convert it to E85/Biodiesel/Solar Cell/Etc?
Plug-in hybrids are fine for local driving, but there are people with massive commutes or, like myself, who do significant amounts of travel that require more than a couple hundred miles before I take a few hours to refuel my car. Or, we'll need significant advances in battery technology... batteries that are environmentally detrimental to create and to dispose of...
I hope you gals and gents understand where I'm coming from. If I'm going to change, I will personally change completely. I want the US to move away from a fossil fuel economy... and either we do it, or we don't. We change, or we don't.
There are no baby steps, and that's why it's so difficult to get us away from oil.
After reading through the comments I still don't understand why hydrogen fuel cells are still being considered as an alternative fuel source. Why not just use pure electricity?
Fuel cells take more electrical energy to create then they produce so why not just skip the middle man and go straight electric.
You would use less electricty, meaning less co2, and eventually batteries will have the capactity for more then 100 miles/charge which would make a gasoline generator unnessary once a the infrastructor is set up.
Thats just my 0.02.
The reason the Volt costs so much more is that it is attempting to do something no other mainstream vehicle has done thusfar...travel completely on battery power for up to forty miles, using the gas motor only when that battery dies. All other hybrids make regular use of their gas engines (Toyota to supplement the electric motor above certain speeds, Honda the inverse). Volt is the first attempt at basically making a car act like a golf cart at highway speeds for decent distances. For folks like myself who rarely travel more than 10 miles one way, that means my gasoline engine would rarely if ever run. That would be the niche market, folks who do routine travel for short distances.
If the Volt catches on enough, it becomes the R&D for a next-generation Volt, which would drop in price and increase in functionality. I don't usually give much praise to the Big Three for their automobiles, but you have to give Chevy a lot of credit for going outside the existing box.
Just imagine if the rapid-charge batteries being played with right now (ones that supposedly charge in seconds) do become a reality, this car could be sitting VERY pretty.
Thejerk, there ARE baby steps.
There are plenty of people who do have small commutes, and setting them up with electric or hybrid cars will fuel the improvement and invention of long-commute electric cars.
Getting the drive train all electric is a huge step its not a baby step.
As has been said above, once the drive train is electric, you can use ANYTHING to power it, you are no longer locked into one fuel or generation source. This is huge.
Electric motors can be 90+% efficient. The theoretical maximum efficiency for gas or desil etc is ~40%, real world efficiency is less then 20%.
Electric motors also can be used in reverse as a generator when you break, you can recover the energy instead of turning it into heat in the break pads. Not all of it but you can recover a significant portion.
Electric motors also dont run when you are at a stop light, no wasted fuel in traffic delays etc.
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The problem of course is energy storage in a car. But, battery technology has made massive leaps in the last decade, with further massive leaps in the lab(hopefully which will mature in a few more years)
But you arent locked into batteries. You can use a small gas/desil generator(still way more efficient then using a large engine directly). You can use a fuel cell, solar, fusion(if it existed), microwaves, induction via cables buried it he roads, etc. Whatever you want to power the thing. All of them would use the same efficient drive train.
Tesla is quoting less then 5,000 for the battery in their model S, if we assume thats the price for their base version 160 mile range one, thats still cheap. Mass production in the millions would lower that much further.
Battery tech we have right now is good enough, let alone whats in the lab.
What are you talking about? $25k? This car is going to be closer to the $40K-$45K range
If Honda can base the new Insight at ~$18k, then Chevy should base this car ~$20k. The $30k price *is* the "average new car price" sweet spot, but they'll start no revolution pricing the car where the Camry and Accord rule... let alone the fact you only have to spend another few grand to get in to a 3er or a C-class.Of course, the reality is more likely that this is a total niche vehicle, built to keep the "Americans Can Build Good Cars, Too... Look!" dream alive... and my tax dollars being further pumped in to a business that can't build good, mainstream products.
You obviously do not understand the differences between Honda's electric assist and GM's extended-range EV.
Honda's drivetrain consists of a small 3 cylinder ICE engine that provides the main power for the vehicle, while an electric motor assists the gas motor with acceleration and very low speed movement (under 10MPH). There is a very small battery pack in the car that allows the vehicle to recover some of the lost energy with regenerative braking.
The Volt's drivetrain is an electric engine that is powered by a battery pack for up to 40 miles before a small gas generator turns on to recharge the batteries and keep their charge just above 30% to allow for fast acceleration. The Volt also has regenerative braking. You can plug it in at home for only a few cents per kWh (and potentially never use gas again).
The main difference between the two vehicles is that the Insight is still driven by a gas engine for 95% of the time, while the Volt is powered by an electric engine for a majority of the time.
Honestly, it's too bad we (the US) don't have even a skeletal hydrogen fueling network. The FCX Clarity is the truly revolutionary vehicle. This... is just a better hybrid.Jeeze, that's two Honda vehicles I've fanboyed. Pretty sad, since I'm a VW driver.
Yeah, if you like paying $300,000 a car, go ahead with your hydrogen fuel cells. Not to mention the pressure that the hydrogen is under could possibly cause the car to become a two-ton shrapnel grenade.
Gasoline is a better alternative to hydrogen, but in ALL cases, a hydrogen vehicle is merely an electric car with the fuel stack supplying electricity to a battery. It might be cleaner than gas, but it's a hell of a lot more expensive and dangerous. It'd be much better just to wait for better battery technology to come along and slap a huge one into a car.
Oh.. and before you mention lithium-ion batteries exploding... that may be a flaw in older lithium-ion batteries, but newer ones, such as Li-poly batteries from A123 will not explode under puncture or pressure, they will burst into smoke and do not burst into flame.
Is GM gonna be around by June?
Don't get your hopes up.
went from a awesome design to this watered down POS.
Great...
from their phrasing it's so obvious they kept the technology from us until they could make a killing from new sales. will some new green auto company come out and clean out GM?
I'm just concerned how much is the cost to replace the batteries in 5-7 years. Since its a chevy the car will depreciate so much that the cost to replace the batteries will be more than the car is worth. Also when you trade this vehicle in just before the end of the battery life are they going to make you pay for a new battery pack and charge you for disposal fees for the old battery?
Hydrogen is basically a really large battery in my view, and you actually do get slightly more energy out of creating it than you do putting into it albeit not significantly (How is this ANY different from batteries? You think by plugging in the volt it suddenly makes extra energy somehow?). However the energy density of hydrogen far exceeds that of battery technology and its able to quickly be replenished like current refueling techniques. The volt is a decent stop-gap, but I can't realistically see it achieving significantly more fuel economy than either the Insight or Prius. I think the FCX is by far the more revolutionary because its the first fuel cell car that regular buyers could get their hands on. The next generation FCX should drop that cost even more, extend the range, and quite possibly make a very strong case for a hydrogen network. Honda had test FCX's a long time ago, before fueling stations even existed! This is actually the second generation of FCX so GM is actually about 7 years behind Honda in their fuel cell development. Is it any wonder GM is going to die before they even get the volt out the door let alone any fuel cell cars?
and what you guys forget about pure Ev vehicles is that it would heavily strain our electric grid. It would reqiure huge upgrades to our electric system to sustain charging millions of batteries over night. Plus, here in the hot summers of Southern CA, we have rolling black outs because off too much demand during the day from ACs, but letz add 3-4 millions cars that need to charge too.
Whatever CO2 emissions you save from the car are brought back in by generating the electricity the power them via Coal, natural gas, ect.
we need a combination of hydrogen and EV vehicles for our future
When was the last time we had rolling blackouts in SoCal? I think it was 4 years ago. It's not like we're going to suddenly have one million electric cars on the grid. We're still 18 months away from the first mass produced electric car and adoption rates will be low initially.
At the same time more people are adding solar panels to their homes, the grid will be updated and things will improve. If the Volt delivers on the 40 mile electric-only range and is closer to $30K than $40K then I will definitely consider it.
Most of you are completely misinformed on this vehicle. This is an electric vehicle. You fill it up with gas, then that gas is used in the ICE to charge the batteries, IF they need it. Here's the rub. Why use gas then? You could theoretically swap any fuel powered engine in there (diesel, hydrogen, LP, compressed air, liquid awesomeness, etc.)
What then is the problem with this? It's a first gen production car that is going to most likely be around $40k.
More specifically:
Bertschkid, do some form of thinking before posting. 10 seconds of research can do wonders. "Pure electricity" you have to have energy storage to make an EV feasible. Energy storage requires batteries or some other form of portable energy, ipso facto FUEL.
intercounter2, the rolling blackouts in SoCal were caused by Enron, and their shady greedy ways. Many powerplants DURING the blackout were only running at 50%. Unless you're referring to a different blackout period. The current administration wants to create a "smarter" electric grid, with more high voltage lines crossing the country. These lines loose less power over distance than current methods. If you believe the GE adverts almost 50% of electricity generated is lost just getting to you. While that may be overstated, plenty of power is lost regardless.
UNDERSTAND THIS, if you read nothing of what I wrote above, this is an electric vehicle. It is driven by it's electric motor, which is powered by batteries, that have a RESERVE power reservoir which is the gasoline ICE.
LOOOOL The volt was a dead doog aa few years ago and since the Tesla s is comming very close to release it makes even less sence...it is butt ugly and expensive concidering what you get...
It is just to justify the extra goverment cash...
Banktrupt the system and help the little guy "Tesla" create a new market..
My 5 cent
It is?
Last I checked, Tesla still hasn't even started to build (or convert, as the case may be) the manufacturing facility that will produce the Model S. How can a model be "close to release," when Tesla doesn't have any place to screw it together yet?
Hang on, they're waiting on some cash from... who?
Ahhhh, there it is!
and what you guys forget about pure Ev vehicles is that it would heavily strain our electric grid. It would reqiure huge upgrades to our electric system to sustain charging millions of batteries over night. Plus, here in the hot summers of Southern CA, we have rolling black outs because off too much demand during the day from ACs, but letz add 3-4 millions cars that need to charge too.Whatever CO2 emissions you save from the car are brought back in by generating the electricity the power them via Coal, natural gas, ect.we need a combination of hydrogen and EV vehicles for our future
Where do you get the engergy from for hydrogen? Same Coal, natural gas, etc. Either way PG&E etc. are generating a large chunk of energy from dams and we should be building more nuke plants also. We didn't have rolling blackouts at midnight when these cars would be charging. Nuclear plants and dams don't stop working at night, so this would be a good way to utilize that energy at night.