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.

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.

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.

What isn’t yet clear is how the Volt will behave when the battery is depleted and the gasoline engine kicks in to provide more juice. In this so-called range-extending mode, the electric motor will be limited to the power provided by the 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine under the hood. The gas engine is never used to charge the battery; the engine turns a generator that directly feeds power to the electric motor. If the engine is revving at 2000 rpm and making 25 hp, the electric motor will be able to make only 25 hp. If more power is needed, the gasoline engine could conceivably run at its power peak at a very high rpm. Taking the point further, if the gas engine is rated for only 100 hp (our estimate of its power output), the 149-hp electric motor will be able to make only 100 hp. The upshot: The Volt will be quicker running on battery power than it will be when the gas engine is providing the electricity.What isn’t yet clear is how the Volt will behave when the battery is depleted and the gasoline engine kicks in to provide more juice. In this so-called range-extending mode, the electric motor will be limited to the power provided by the 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine under the hood. The gas engine is never used to charge the battery; the engine turns a generator that directly feeds power to the electric motor. If the engine is revving at 2000 rpm and making 25 hp, the electric motor will be able to make only 25 hp. If more power is needed, the gasoline engine could conceivably run at its power peak at a very high rpm. Taking the point further, if the gas engine is rated for only 100 hp (our estimate of its power output), the 149-hp electric motor will be able to make only 100 hp. The upshot: The Volt will be quicker running on battery power than it will be when the gas engine is providing the electricity.

“There’s no degradation in performace,” said Rob Peterson, communications manager for the Volt, while showing car at The Business of Plugging In electric vehilce conference last week.”That would be death to electric vehicles and death to the Volt.”

Peterson said that while C/D’s calculations about the relationship between the electric motor and the gas engine are correct, the magazine didn’t account for additional power from the battery once the car has switched to its gasoline engine. Peterson said the battery will get some energy from the gas engine and regenerative braking, but it will not get enough power to revert to using battery power alone.

“We want the driver of the vehicle to arrive home with an empty battery as often as possible,” he said.

Peterson and other executives at the conference excitedly described a recent 1,200-mile, multi-state drive of eight Volt development mules.

GM plans to begin production of the Volt in late 2010 as a 2011 model. The company has promised that the Volt will travel up to 40 miles on battery power after a full charge. After exhausting the battery, the gasoline engine generator will power the car, giving it a range of 300 miles.

While GM has not finalized prices, it expects it to cost about $40,000. A $7,500 tax credit will soften that price.

Gov. Granholm wants electric vehicle companies to locate in Michigan

What if the price of gasoline drops below $2 per gallon? Electric vehicles of all stripes no longer look very appealing. But if gasoline prices increase to $5, consumers will be stumbling over each other to get them. If you’re an automaker, not to mention a supplier, how do you plan how many to build? They might as well throw dice.

Bringing cost certainty to fuel prices would help the automakers make reasonable product plans.

So here’s an idea to do it:

This proposal would use a flexible tax to maintain fuel prices within a range that would be set by a government board.

As an example, gasoline is about $2.60 per gallon including state, federal and local taxes as of this writing. If the board set a target price of $3.50, it could authorize an additional tax of 90 cents on each gallon.

Next summer, as the economy rebounds, let’s say the price of gasoline jumps to $4.25 per gallon. The board would use proceeds from previous low points in the market to pay to reduce the price back to the target of $3.50. The board would allow the price of gasoline to fluctuate in a range of 50 cents to allow for price competition, regional differences and day-to-day ups and downs of the fuel market.

The board could also raise its target price incrementally with plenty of advance notice. Right now, consumers find out that gasoline has climbed over $4 when it’s time to visit the corner gas station for a fillup. But this program would allow consumers to know when prices were going up and by how much.

In a way, the plan is similar to what many consumers do when they opt for the budget plan for their heat bill. Instead of bills that fluctuate between summer lows of $20 per month and $250 per month in the winter, they opt to pay a set amount each month, so they pay $100.

Without cost certainty, automakers and all of the others planning for the electrification of the vehicle are spending development money on something that the public might not want or need. Sure, General Motors is about to introduce the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle with it’s promise of unprecedented combination of fuel economy and range, but if the price of gasoline drops to $1.50, GM could lose hundreds of millions of dollars on its investment.

In fact, David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, agreed with the premise.

“We have to have reasonably stable fuel prices or we will have an ongoing disaster in the auto industry,” Cole said.

Who is going to buy a Volt, which will be more expensive than similar-size cars, if you can fill the tank of a regular one for $25?

In fact, John Lauckner, vice president of global program management for GM and the father of the Volt, said that even today’s fuel costs could cause problems for the Volt.

“At the cost of fuel today we’ve got a lot of work to do to make them cost competitive,” said Lauckner, speaking at the conference at the MotorCity Hotel and Conference Center. He said he would not call for a new gas tax.

Establishing this sort of program would take true leadership from Congress. Many people would complain that the government couldn’t be trusted to spend the money as intended.

For that reason alone, it’s unlikely to happen.

Waraniak, vice president for vehicle technology for the Specialty Equipment Market Association, said during a panel discussion at the conference that tuners will continue to have fun modifying electric vehicles, just as they do with the current internal combustion engine in today’s cars.

“Horsepower and green power can coexist,” Waraniak said.

In between friendly jabs from fellow panelists about his mullet hair style and cowboy boots, Waraniak said aftermarketers will create the buzz to show that electric vehicles can be cool.

“We’re talking about hot rod hybrids and high-performance electrics,” Waraniak said. “This is one of the neatest times to be in the auto industry.”

He said there are four megatrends that dominate the auto industry: Green, safe, connected and cool.

Sure, performance cars will be different. While today’s generation of hot rodders grew up on the sweet smell of exhaust and the loud sounds from big-block V-8s, the next generation might take a completely different view of performance. Waraniak said it is sort of like today’s young people who never heard a dial tone on a home phone.

“My car’s quieter than yours,” Waraniak said future hot rodders might say to each other.

At the same time these new machines push the performance boundaries, they will also get superior fuel mileage. For example, Waraniak talked about the Lincvolt, a 1959 Lincoln with 500 horsepower that gets 80 mpg that is owned by musician Neil Young. Waraniak said Young chose the massive Lincoln to show high fuel mileage is possible in any car.

Waraniak said SEMA’s members are working on other technologies, such as using suspension motions to generate electricity to help drive the vehicle. So the pothole actually is good for something.

He said that green performance is a major growth area for SEMA and will have a major presence at the association’s annual mega show in Las Vegas Nov. 2-5.

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.

The media was invited to attend a celebration at Flint Engine South where the Volt’s 1.4-liter four cylinder engine will be built alongside a turbocharged variant of that engine that will power the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze.

“This is going to change the country,” said Duane Zuckschwerdt, regional director for Region IC of the United Autoworkers. “This is the future.”

If the Volt can deliver on GM’s promises, Zuckschwerdt might just be right.

The Volt is an entirely new kind of car, called an extended-range electric vehicle or E-REV. It will have a 16 kilowatt battery capable of powering the car for up to 40 miles, allowing most owners to drive their daily commute on battery power alone. Plug it into the wall socket at home and drive to work and back. Repeat.

But battery-powered cars are not new. Where the Volt breaks new ground is it will also have a gasoline engine to generate electricity once the drive battery is exhausted.

Consider a possible scenario. You live in Troy and all week you make your normal commute to and from work in Pontiac, running a few errands along the way. Your commute is 15 miles each way, so you’re driving on battery power alone. The gasoline engine never even starts.

But on the weekend, you decide to head up north to Traverse City. In an electric car, you’d better plan on stopping every 100 miles or so — for eight hours each time — to recharge the battery. Or you could bring a really long extension cord. But in a Volt, you’d be able to make that trip as in any other regular gasoline- or diesel-powered car. The first 40 miles of the trip would be on battery, then the gasoline engine would kick in, giving the car a range of 300 miles. Stop at a gas station, fill up and you’re good for another 300 miles, just like in a regular car.

The key to the system that GM calls Voltec will be expanding its availability to other types of cars. GM has already shown a Cadillac with Voltec at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Expect more E-REV news from GM at the 2010 show. Such announcements could include new battery technology allowing for even greater electric-only range or scaled-up versions of the technology allowing for use in bigger vehicles.

As the battery industry ramps up for large-scale production, expect vehicles such as the Volt to become more common. Within 10-15 years, it’s possible that several types of vehicles, from crossovers to pickup trucks, sedans to sports cars, could offer E-REV as an option.

Zuckschwerdt said that the most important message is that the Volt is being created right here in Michigan.  And Flint, where GM was founded 101 years ago, will be at the forefront.

“My message today is be proud of this community,” Zuckschwerdt said.

Flint Mayor Dane Walling is heeding that advice.

“This is a great day,” Walling said. “I know that Billy Durant and Louis Chevrolet are up there celebrating.”

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.

Electric-vehicle technology was the theme of much of the conference. The importance of the technology was highlighted by the Wednesday announcements in Elkhart, Ind., and Detroit by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, of $2.4 billion in U.S. government grants for battery research and production. Michigan will benefit from as much as $1.3 billion from those grants.

Sastry said the grants, along with upcoming government mandates for increased auto fuel efficiency and reduced environmental emissions, have put a lot of pressure on the battery research community.

“The problem is prodigious; the market is huge,” she said. “We’ll have to hurry.”

Sastry admitted that it is difficult for researchers to work on multiple generations of the battery technology at the same time.

“We’re simultaneously looking at different architecture to see if we can make further improvements,” she said.

One of the biggest problems with the batteries that will power electric vehicles is the large amount of weight that does not contribute to energy storage, experts on the panel said. The industry has dramatically improved automotive drive batteries — the 1996-99 GM EV1 used a nickel-metal hydride battery that weighed 1,200 pounds, compared to the Volt’s battery of similar output that will weigh about 400 pounds — but there is more work to be done.

That’s where Sastry’s solid state battery technology comes into play. She said her battery will provide 140-220 watt-hours per kilogram compared to 90-150 for the wet slurry battery that will power the Volt. That increased efficiency will allow Volt designers to either reduce the size of the battery pack or increase the electric range, or some combination of the two. She said that solid state technology will allow more even distribution of charge and temperature and fewer conductive additives that add weight but not energy storage.

In fact, Ric Fulop, founder and vice president of A123 Systems, said that in the current technology, only 25 percent of the battery’s weight contributes to energy storage. He said the challenge for the industry is to get that number to 50 percent. Fulop’s company has become one of the largest producers of small lithium-ion batteries for power tools, laptop computers and cell phones. Now the company is working on entering the vehicle drive battery segment with its strategic alliance with Chrysler.

So why lithium? Prabhakar Patil, CEO of Compact Power Inc., the company that will supply the Volt battery, said that lithium-ion is the clear choice because of lithium’s position on the periodic chart of elements. Lithium has one of the lightest atomic weights, only slightly heavier than hydrogen. Compact Power is a subsidiary of LG Chem, a Korean company.

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

2011 Chevrolet Volt

The Volt represents a new type of car. It’s possible Chevrolet is inventing the future of the automobile. Best of all, the automaker has invited us into the test labs and the design studio to see its progress.

The Volt will use an lithium-ion battery to power the car for up to 40 miles after a full charge. After that, a gasoline engine will act as a generator, giving the Volt all of the range of a traditional gasoline-powered car. GM and others say that most people drive less than 40 miles a day. But unlike battery electric vehicles, the Volt will have the ability to go for a weekend up north — without a 300-mile long extension cord.

It’s a bold plan. While GM is generating tons of publicity for itself, it is also leaving itself open to criticism once the Volt hits the road. If there are problems with the Volt when it hits the market, GM critics will have even more ammunition because of the Volt’s very public birthing process.

GM has a history of introducing cars before getting the engineering completely right. GM’s X-cars, the Pontiac Fiero and the latest example, Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, are all cars that went to market before critical flaws had been fixed.

It can be argued that the Volt is the most important product in GM’s history. The company has compressed the normal development time and this for a new type of car, leaving itself even less margin for error on this most critical product.

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.