Many of the pieces in the scrap bin don’t look like scrap because they may have small flaws are were made while testing a new die, GM spokesman Tom Wickham said. Photos by Bryan Laviolette

By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE
FLINT – Making a factory landfill free is obviously a great for the environment, but apparently, it’s good business as well.
John Bradburn, who is in charge of GM’s efforts to improve it’s environmental footprint, said that the company’s efforts have added $2.5 billion to its bottom line since 2007.

Flint Metal Center Manager Amy Farmer announces that the plant is the latest GM facility to go landfill free.

Laviolette is editor of Michigan wllz, a site for Michigan automotive and travel enthusiasts.

Gibbs officials have said that the production version of the Quadski will be significantly different than the prototype, which has been shown for years.

“It’s a clear indication that they’re now moving forward rather rapidly to get vehicles into production,” Gibbs spokesman Larry Weis said.

Read the full story on Amphibious wllz.

Read the full review on mlive.

I used to laugh at the folly that was General Motors. Time after time, GM would follow a familiar pattern with ground-breaking products.

- Some of GM’s best and brightest come up with a ground-breaking new product, something that truly could change the automotive industry.

- Bean counters force the designers and engineers to cobble the thing together with parts-bin pieces and then push them to get it on the road before it’s ready.

- Continue fine-tuning the vehicle after it has gone on sale, essentially turning customers into final development engineers.

2011 Chevrolet Volt

It’s been a familiar pattern for the company since the days of the Corvair right up to the Pontiac Solstice. Aaron Severson has written a very good history of the Pontiac Fiero that shows just how GM found itself in such a predicament.

http://jalopnik.com/5501545/pontiac-fiero-the-definitive-history?skyline=true&s=i

The Fiero could have been a great idea. The unique structure made it one of the safest cars – in a crash – of its day, despite it’s small size. Danger from engine fires was another story.

But saddled with an inferior suspension, antiquated engine, and not given enough development time and money, the first Fieros were awful. Then, just as GM had developed the car to a point where it was competent, they killed it.

Now, GM is on the verge of introducing another revolutionary product, but this one is no boutique sports car. This time, GM’s entire existence is riding on the company’s latest Big Idea.

If the Chevy Volt works like it is supposed to when production begins late this year, it will completely change the way this country operates. Think that is an overstatement? Hardly.

The Volt promises to deliver up to 40 miles of gasoline-free driving after a full charge. After that, a small gasoline engine will power the car, giving it the range of your average modern car, about 300 miles.

For most people, that 40 miles will be enough take them to work and back plus a few errands. Plug it in at home overnight and you’re good for another 40 miles without the gas engine. Most people will be able to get through their entire work week without the gas engine firing.

There have been other electric vehicles that could do that. But here’s the magic of the Volt: On the weekend, let’s say you want to go up north. A full electric vehicle will be of no use because of limited range and the extended time it takes to recharge. But with the Volt, once the battery is exhausted, the gasoline engine is ready to take over, giving you all of the range of a typical car. When it gets low on fuel, pull into a gas station in fill ‘er up, just like a regular car. Drive some more. Repeat.

Change the world: What if people across the country switched to a Volt or one of the vehicles that will GM will develop using the Voltec system? Dependence on foreign oil would go down. We could reduce the amount of the stuff we have to suck out of the ground in places where the people don’t like us.

But to make it happen, GM has to convince the public that they’ve got it right this time. This can’t be like GM’s ill-fated diesels of the late ’70s. It can’t be another Fiero where the public has to endure three years of additional development with them as the guinea pigs.

The Volt is an entirely new kind of car. GM has to get it right or the public might not accept the new idea of extended-range electric vehicles.

By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE

AUBURN HILLS – It’s March, the ice is all but gone from area lakes here in Michigan and those who love summer are starting to dream of warm weather fun.

In the coming weeks, Gibbs Technologies is expected to announce production of the Quadski, its long-awaited amphibious all-terrain vehicle.
Continue reading Gibbs Quadski announcement expected soon

Cristi Landy, Volt Product Marketing Manager

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Make no mistake, General Motors officials believe the Chevy Volt will change the world when it goes on sale late this year.

“There is a strong desire to go to electrically driven transportation,” said Cristi Landy, GM’s marketing manager for the Volt, speaking to Michigan wllz via Skype from the floor of the Washington Auto Show.

While fully electric vehicles might be the goal, GM and many others believe the driving public isn’t ready for them, mostly because of “range anxiety.” Most electric vehicles have range limited to about 100-200 miles, then require as long as 4 hours to recharge. That’s fine for commuting to work, but not very useful for a trip up north.

GM: Volt performance will not suffer once battery is depleted

But the Volt suffers from no such range anxiety. Company officials expect the Volt to be able to travel about 40 miles — enough for most people to drive to work and back — on battery power alone after getting a full charge from a standard wall outlet. After the Volt’s battery is exhausted, a small gasoline engine will kick in to power a generator, providing electricity to drive the car. The gasoline engine will give the Volt a 300-mile range. At that point the gas tank can be refilled, giving the Volt another 300 miles of range.

Landy admitted that one of the biggest challenges for GM is educating consumers about how the Volt, which GM calls a extended-range electric vehicle, works. She admitted that many people don’t know that the Volt will have a gasoline engine.

“It’s a common misconception we’re constantly battling,” Landy said.

Perhaps more than any new vehicle since the dawn of the automotive age, GM will have to do a lot to educate the public about what the Volt is and how the E-REV system works.

“We have a huge challenge,” Landy said.

Fortunately, GM officials know they have a passionate contingent of potential buyers who have driven other electric vehicles such as the GM EV1, Toyota RAV4 and Mini E.

“They see the Volt as a better solution,” Landy said. Those early adopters are probably the Volt’s best ambassadors.

So what does the future hold for what GM calls Voltec? Where might the technology show up next in GM’s lineup?

“The plan for General Motors is to continue Voltec in other vehicles,” Landy said. “We’re talking about a lot of things.”

A vehicle similar in size to the Volt would be the easiest, she said. But bigger vehicles are also possible.

Many observers at the North American International Auto Show earlier this month were disappointed that GM did not show a production version of the Cadillac Converj, an E-REV concept that GM introduced at the 2009 show. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told a group of analysts that GM planned to build the car, but Cadillac officials said later that a decision had not been finalized.

Gibbs Technologies plans to build several first responder and military vehicles using its High-Speed Amphibian technology.

By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE

Mike Davis of the Detroit Bureau thinks antique military World War II DUKWs or “Ducks” as they were commonly known could help aid workers deliver supplies to Haiti following the earthquake.

http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2010/01/wwii-ducks-could-aid-haiti-relief/

But in the future, Gibbs Technologies has a better idea. Among other vehicles, Gibbs is working on some first responder rescue vehicles as well as amphibious military vehicles which would be ideally suited to the task.

Many of those old DUKWs are in use in tourist areas such as the Wisconsin Dells. Davis writes that many of those vehicles have been retrofitted for tourism use, and might need to be quickly outfitted for use bringing supplies to Haiti.

The problem is Haiti’s already incomplete infrastructure has been battered to the point that getting supplies to the island nation has been difficult.

But an amphibious vehicle would solve the problem. An amphibian would be able to drive right up on a beach, eliminating issues with ships being able to get close enough to the island to offload cargo.

Gibbs’ vehicles would have the added benefit of being able to travel at high speed on the water. Faster trips mean more trips in the same amount of time.

The Auburn Hills company is still working on production versions of its vehicles, so the day when it’s amphibious vehicles will wisk supplies to places ravaged by natural disasters is a ways off.

2011 Ford Fiesta bumper.

2011 GMC Acadia Denali mirror

Buick Regal GS air duct

Fiat 500 Abarth

2011 Ford Mustang GT 5.0

Taillights from an electric vehicle

GMC Granite concept headlight

2011 Jaguar

DETROIT — Maybe last year’s show set this year’s up for a letdown.

At the 2009 show, General Motors went on the offensive with major announcements about its plans for a battery research facility, Chevy Volt production plans, partnership programs with battery manufacturers and a new Cadillac concept using the Volt’s technology.

It was exciting because GM, facing the toughest trials of its existence, went on the offensive and actually wrested the fuel economy lead away from Toyota.

But on Monday, Toyota and Ford went on their own offensives. Jim Lentz, head of Toyota’s U.S. sales arm, said that the company planned to develop a “family” of Prius hybrid vehicles. It also announced that there are eight new hybrid models in the pipeline and that the company plans to increase global hybrid production from 530,000 in 2009 to 1 million within the next couple of years.

Lentz went on to say that the company is approaching what it calls “sustainable mobility” with a four-prong approach that includes the company’s hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fuel cell vehicles and battery electric vehicles.

Toyota has already announced a new plug-in Prius that the company will build in limited numbers later this year. Lentz also said that the company plans to market a fuel cell vehicle by 2015.

So what was on GM’s agenda regarding fuel economy? GM showed production versions of the Chevy Spark and Cruze, vehicles it has shown previously. It also showed a sporty concept of the next generation Chevy Aveo and of course the Volt.

It also showed an urban utility vehicle concept for GMC called the Granite,  a Denali version of the GMC Acadia and a Buick Regal called the GS.

As for big announcements about advanced powertrains, GM officials didn’t offer much. It still has a press conference scheduled for Tuesday to talk about plans for Cadillac, but no major announcements on fuel economy are expected.

At last year’s show, GM showed the Cadillac Converj concept using the Volt’s high-tech powertrain. Some had hoped that GM would announce that the Converj was a go, but right now, all that is expected is for Cadillac to show the CTS-V Coupe.

Ford also stepped up with some major announcements. The Dearborn automaker announced plans to invest $450 million and create 1,000 jobs to build lithium ion batteries for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

“This investment underscores how serious we are about delivering a range of electrified vehicles to customers — including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles,” Bill Ford Jr., Ford’s executive chairman, said in a statement.