Michigan wllz

By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE

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.

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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.
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The driver of a UPS truck flashes a "Hey Good Looking" sign at the pre-production Chevrolet Volt during an engineering test drive along I-80 near Toledo, Ohio, Oc 13. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)

DETROIT — General Motors wants everyone to know the Chevy Volt won’t suffer any loss of performance when it switches from battery power to its gasoline engine.

GM expects the Volt to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 8.5 seconds. But Car and Driver magazine’s Tony Quiroga wrote in April that the Volt would not be as quick after its battey was depleted.

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DETROIT — A continuing topic of conversation at The Business of Plugging In electric vehicle conference has been fuel cost certainty. Without it, automakers who are investing precious resources into new electric vehicles may have a tough time selling them.

Gov. Granholm wants electric vehicle companies to locate in Michigan

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DETROIT — While speakers all across The Business of Plugging in conference are obsessed with fuel economy and reduced emissions and how to get there, John Waraniak just wants to talk about how cars will continue to be fun.

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Technology has advanced at a dizzying pace and there’s no sign of it letting up anytime soon. Here are a four technologies that will change the face of automotive transportation in the coming decade.

Click here to read the full story on MLive.

2011 Chevrolet Volt

FLINT — Cynics all over the Web wonder if the Chevy Volt will be able to deliver on the incredible promises General Motors has made about the technology.

But company officials believe they are creating the technology that will power the vehicles of the future.
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Sastry

TRAVERSE CITY — The technology that will power the Chevrolet Volt when it is expected to launch late next year is well known, but General Motors is betting that an Ann Arbor company is developing the battery that will power the car’s next generation.

Sakti3, an Ann Arbor startup company, is developing solid-state lithium-ion battery technology, which CEO Ann Marie Sastry says she hopes will replace the wet slurry lithium ion technology that will go into the Volt’s high-tech battery.

Sastry was part of the Advanced Powertrain panel at Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research’s Management Briefing Seminar autos conference in Traverse City. Sakti3 is a spinoff business from the University of Michigan, where Sastry is professor of material sciences.

The Volt will use a lithium-ion battery to power the vehicle for up to 40 miles before a gasoline engine generator starts to power the vehicle through the electric motors. Owners will be able to recharge the car from an electrical outlet. GM believes that most owners will not have to use the gasoline engine for their daily commute. When longer trips are necessary, the gasoline engine will provide range similar to other gasoline-powered vehicles.

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General Motors is taking a completely different path toward the introduction of the Chevrolet Volt than any other car it has ever produced.

Typically, automakers release very little information about new models until shortly before the model’s release.

But this is a different type of car, and these are different times. GM is trying to mount a comeback from bankruptcy, and it desperately needs the positive publicity the Volt is generating. So the automaker has started a Web site, www.ChevroletVoltAge.com, to track the Volt’s progress. But the automaker also is talking about the Volt on its other sites, including www.gmreinvention.com and even the brand’s main Web site, www.chevrolet.com.

On ChevroletVoltAge, for example, key players in the birth of the Volt often host chat sessions to talk about the Volt. Volt’s chief designer, Bob Boniface, will host a chat Tuesday afternoon. Check out this video to hear Boniface talk about the Volt:  index.php-option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&Itemid=3&id=69

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General Motors has started a new Web site for enthusiasts who are interested in news about the Chevrolet Volt. Visit www.chevroletvoltage.com for the latest news on the Volt, Chevrolet’s extended-range electric vehicle, due to come out in late 2010.

The site includes a forum that is moderated by Chevrolet public relations staff, blogs, videos, photos and the latest news on the Volt. GM says the site gives an unprecedented view inside the creation of a new automobile.