Hybrid News

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, GM, Opel, European Union

The Red Dot design award is one of Europe’s most prestigious industry awards. Created under the aegis of the Design Zentrum North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, it has been awarded to the European cousin of the Chevy Volt, the Opel Flextreme (possibly aka the Vauxhall Electra in the UK). The prize was awarded to the Flextreme for being a concept “that has the power to improve our world in the future.” You know, like last year’s winner, the Saab Aero X concept. The Flextreme probalby won because of those Segways in the back, don’t you think? The Flextreme mates the Volt’s plug-in capabilities to Opel’s 1.3 liter CDTI diesel engine (get more technical details here). Pictured above, Mark Adams, Vice President, GM Europe Design, with the Opel Flextreme.

[Source: GM]

Prize time: Opel Flextreme wins red dot design award originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Xavier Navarro

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chevrolet, GM, USA

Lyle Dennis, one of the world’s biggest Chevrolet Volt fans, has an idea on how to help the new halo car roll off the assembly lines at high numbers and help General Motors out of its current economic programs. The idea was inspired by the effort the US made during the Depression and World War II and would make the US General Services Administation, which is responsible for procuring government vehicles, buy massive quantities of Volts to replace the current government fleet. These Volts would be sold to the government at premium and without a battery warranty. This would be a very symbolic move, and would really help GM’s bottom line while also boosting the car’s development. For one thing, the critical batteries would be massively promoted and publicly tested. Dennis thinks 100,000 vehicles would be a good number for the US fleet. According to the Federal Fleet Report for 2007, the government operates a fleet of 231,213 vehicles. About 22,000 are replaced each year, so this is a five-ish year plan. Now, is it a good one?

[Source: GM-Volt]

Should the feds buy flocks of Volts for their fleet? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Xavier Navarro

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM, Green Daily

Conflicting stories out today on the fate of new vehicle development at GM. AutoNews is saying that the General’s cash crunch is means it is “postponing nearly all of its spending on product development in 2009 and 2010.” AutoNews’ unnamed sources also said that “nothing has been officially canceled, but nearly everything is delayed.”

Meanwhile, over in the Detroit News, the word is that GM is “downplaying″ the negative-sounding AutoNews report. GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson told the News that “We think [AutoNews is] probably overplaying this a little bit.” The good news from both articles, though, is that the Volt seems to be safe, no matter what is happening to the rest of GM’s upcoming programs. GM’s Rob Peterson confirmed to AutoblogGreen that the cuts will have “no impact” on the Volt program at this time. Full speed ahead, apparently.

[Source: Rob Peterson, AutoNews, Detroit News]

GM slashing product development funding; “no impact” on Volt program originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GM, Opel

Here in the U.S. market, the name Electra was used on big Buick sedans for more than four decades but it hasn’t appeared in a new car showroom since 1990. It looks like the Electra could be be making a comeback soon, but not in America. It turns out that Vauxhall, the brand that GM uses to sell right-hand drive Opels in the UK, filed a trademark application back in June for the Vauxhall Electra. GM officials have acknowledged previously that both the Chevy Volt and an Opel badged E-Flex vehicle would be offered in Europe. The Opel/Vauxhall vehicle will likely be based on the Flextreme concept that was shown at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The Electra (if that’s what it’s called) will likely debut sometime in 2011. Saturn is also expected to get a version of the Flextreme here in the U.S., and it will be interesting to see if it revives the Electra name here.

[Source: Greenmotor.co.uk]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GM

One of the questions I get most often, especially from people I meet who don’t follow the green car industry all that closely but have some idea of what’s out there, is, “Is GM serious about actually producing the Volt?” I respond with some variation on the idea that we won’t have too long to wait to find out, but that every sign I’ve seen points to yes.

One more example to show that the Volt isn’t just a piece of vaporware is yesterday’s announcement by Buehler Motor, Inc. that it will provide auxiliary water pumps to GM to use in the Volt and some GM hybrids. The only details that Buehler is giving out (as you can see for yourself after the jump) is that the company will sell GM “custom 12W and 50W auxiliary water pumps for the Volt and GM hybrid vehicles. … The two companies have been working together in a technology partnership since mid-2007 to customize the water pump technology necessary to circulate coolant through the Volt’s subsystems.” We recently saw how difficult it can be to keep those big batteries cool. So, next question?

[Source: Buehler Motor, Inc.]

Continue reading Chevy Volt gets an aux water pump supplier in Buehler Motor

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM, China

Although we have to take with a pinch of salt this news, Gasgoo has a story that says that GM will make the Volt in China in 2011 to serve the local market. The story comes from Nanfang Daily, which cites Bob Lutz. According to them, Lutz said that Chinese elements were considered for the design of the Volt and that China could be a great market for EVs. While this could simply mean what we all know - that all cars get parts made all over - it’s interesting to see that the Volt is stirring interest in China as well.

[Source: Gasgoo]

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Original post by Xavier Navarro

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

While perusing the interwebs for interesting stories, we stumbled upon a letter to the editors at Automotive News that suggests the Chevy Volt should come with a generator. We’re pretty sure that they are not talking about the built-in generator that the car uses to recharge its batteries on-the-fly. Rather, what’s being suggested is that General Motors package the Chevy Volt with a gas-powered standalone generator that could recharge its batteries if the need arises. Um, where should we start on this one. First of all, that would be defeating the point of the car in the first place, but the biggest reason that this makes no sense is that the car will already come with a gas-powered generator built-in. If the grid goes down, the car will still run if it has gas inside its tank, as the on-board generator will recharge the batteries anyway. This serves as another reminder that the public at-large (including those who work for competing dealerships in Texas) doesn’t quite seem to understand how the Volt technology works.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req’d]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Etc., GM

Remember all the bravado that Bob Lutz unleashed when we got our first glimpse of the Volt back in early 2007? Lutz has been the car’s biggest champion since then, but he’s thinking that there could be some tough news coming soon for this kind of technology. While the Volt is not named in an interview with Lutz by the LA Times that was published last week (so don’t go starting any rumors), Lutz was pretty clear-eyed about what the recent dip in gas prices could mean: “We may hate high fuel prices, but they’ve been driving us in the right direction when it comes to fuel economy. If we suddenly went to $1 or $1.50 a gallon, that would be really bad.”

This is not a new topic, and we’re in agreement with Maximum Bob on this one. We’ve written as much plenty of times, and we often refer back to this interview with David Cole where he talks about the benefits of an oil price floor for a barrel of oil. He suggested $40 or $45, but that was back in June 2007; more recent estimates I′ve heard from others put a reasonable limit at $60 or so. Whatever happens with oil prices, we can be pretty sure that a lot of old habits will return if gas keeps dropping. What will you change?

[Source: LA Times]

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

Might a second-generation Chevy Volt feature 80 miles of gas-free driving? A high-tech company in Ohio certainly believes so and they hope to have a hand in making it happen. Applied Sciences Inc., located in sunny Cedarville, in a collaborative effort with Pyrograf Products Inc. are using carbon nano-fibers to enhance the electrodes that may one day wind up in the Chevy Volt’s battery. The companies have already been working on their tech for two years and according to Applied Science’s spokesperson John Mackay, “GM researchers say they have not seen any carbon materials that have performed as well as ours.” The company has so far received $500,000 from the Detroit auto-maker for their efforts in addition to $1 million from the Ohio Third Frontier program. Specific details on how the nano-fibers help aid energy storage weren’t given but we’ve seen work done with similarly-sized silicone before and suspect nano materials are indeed a tree worth barking up. It was also interesting to note that the companies in the contest to be the Volt’s battery supplier go unmentioned as well. Could it be that GM wants to build their own batteries? Feel free to speculate away in the comments section after the break.

[Source: Dayton Daily News]

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Original post by Domenick Yoney

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Daily

There are two things that are really easy to understand about electric vehicles - aside from the don’t-need-no-gasoline part. One, they have all their torque available from zero RPM. Two, they’re quiet. Number one means that EVs are fast off the line (see: Tesla Roadster) and that could mean that, once electric motors and batteries are the powertrain of choice in the racing industry, everything we think we know about what a race sounds like could change. CNN describes the possible future this way:

Imagine a sun-swept Texas afternoon in 2015. After the roar of a ceremonial flyover, a Texas Motor Speedway crowd of 200,000 rises to its feet in anticipation of NASCAR’s signature moment.

As the fans join in a full-throated cheer, 43 of the world’s best drivers reach down and press a button. What follows is unprecedented: pin-dropping silence, save for 43 small clicks.

If NASCAR goes electric, CNN wonders, will fans stick around? Do they love the roar or the engines or the speed at which the cars move? Will they be satisfied with one but not the other? NASCAR isn′t exactly at the forefront of automotive greenery (although it is thinking about it), but a U.S.-built Volt might be good enough to change some hearts and minds, no?

[Source: CNN]

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily, Automotive X-Prize

The Progressive Auto X Prize has gotten over 100 teams that have expressed an interest in competing in next year’s competition. While a lot of these teams are small groups with big dreams, the X Prize foundation has repeatedly said they’d like the OEMs to enter. Early this year, the X Prize approached major automakers but they declined to participate.

Now, with the Chevy Volt, we have a vehicle that might get a 100 mpg rating from the feds. While the government’s rating is not what the X Prize will be using to determine their MPGe numbers, we got to thinking: what if GM enters the Volt into the X Prize? It seems like a good publicity move, but would the General entering the competition be like Goliath crashing David’s birthday party? Would the Volt even have a shot at winning, in your view? Also, there is a risk here, a big risk: what if the Volt were to lose to a high school team, how would that make GM look?

So, that leave us with the original question. Whaddya think?

View Poll

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Automotive X-Prize

Following Friday’s report of the agreement between GM and CARB on the status of the Volt, the Automotive X Prize took stock of the deal and issued its statement on the possibility of a 100-MPG rating for the highly-anticipated car. While praising what GM is doing with the Volt, the X Prize also recommended that the EPA, “consider adopting MPGe as a unit of measure that would more accurately reflect fuel consumption of alternative energy vehicles, and we welcome further discussions with them on this topic.” We all know that one of the X Prize’s big challenges is how to rate the many different fuel/energy types in the cars that will compete in the $10 million contest, and AXP executive director Don Foley said in a statement that, “Reliance on an MPG standard alone will soon be outdated and will not accurately reflect the need for higher fuel efficiency.” More details after the break.

[Source: X Prize]

Continue reading X Prize on 100mpge Volt: good, now let’s think of the big picture

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants, Chevrolet, GM

At an event in Flint MI today, GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm were on hand to officially announce that GM will be building its new 1.4L direct injected four cylinder engine in the city in new facilities on the campus of the Flint South Powertrain plant. GM will be spending $370 million dollars erect a 552,000 sq ft plant and tool it up. The company will start building the new factory immediately and full scale production is set to start in early 2010 in preparation for the North American launch of the Chevy Cruze. The Flint factory will also be the exclusive source of the range extending engines for the Volt. The plant will use 300 flexible machining and assembly stations so that a variety of four cylinder engines can be built without retooling. GM is planning to double global production of small four cylinder engines (1.0L to 1.4L) between now and 2011 and expects one-third of its North American volume to be fours by that time. The 1.4L is an all new engine that will produce 140 hp and 148 lb-ft of torque. We’ll have more information on the 1.4L later today after a technical briefing.

[Source: General Motors]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

The big news of the day is obviously the unveiling of the production Chevy Volt. I mean, this is the car that you should be able to buy in two short long years and a few months. We’ve been following the development of this car for a long time now (since January 2007, for goodness sake).

But what if we were political pundits instead of bloggers with a thing for cleaner cars? Considering the amount of BS those pundits have spewed here in the U.S. during this seemingly endless presidential race, I can’t help but think of how today’s Volt reveal could have been, if people like Hannity and Colmes were here with Limbaugh and Olberman. My nightmare imagination runs wild after the jump.

Continue reading If we were political pundits covering the production Chevy Volt reveal…

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet

Click above for more high-res shots of the Chevy Volt

Oops. It seems that the General wasn’t quite ready to show the world it’s new Chevy Volt quite yet, and the pictures of the car with all the guys in the suits was nothing more than an accident. Maybe. Marty Padgett, editor of The Car Connection and the first person to notice the pics were up thinks that the Volt pics could have been GM playing a little game and teasing us with early shots. If true, that could help explain why the shots weren′t studio shots of the car only, but who knows? We′re not complaining, as it’s nice to get an early sneak peek at the car we are most looking forward to in the next few years. For what it’s worth, we expect to see the new Volt first hand when General Motors celebrates its first 100 years as an automaker later this month. You can bet we′ll get some proper shots with nobody in the way.

[Source: The Detroit News]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski