Michigan wllz

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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By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE
Michigan wllz

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.

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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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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So the Pontiac G8 will live on in America after all. Well sort of.

Chevy has announced plans to sell the Caprice police cruiser, which is a modified version of the car sold here as the G8. The vehicle will be available only to police departments starting in 2011.

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Don’t be surprised if plans to save Saturn reemerge in the next couple of weeks. Read more »

YPSILANTI — So connected vehicles are coming, but when?

Experts who gathered for a forum on connected vehicles sponsored by the Center for Automotive Research disagreed about the timeframe.

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Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com raises an interesting point here.

Time for a do-over on how we show energy use in vehicles. MPG was never perfect, but with alternative energy coming it’s officially useless.

The upcoming Chevy Volt will be the first to essentially mock fuel economy standards which have been a staple of new car marketing for decades. GM expects the Volt to carry a fuel mileage sticker of 230 mpg. How is it possible to reconcile that number with other cars, none of which can muster even a quarter of that number? Is it really possible that the Volt is more than four times as efficient as a Toyota Prius?

It will get even harder in the near future. How do you quantify the mileage of a hydrogen-powered car? Pure electric? If ethanol requires more energy to produce than it provides as a fuel, should it be penalized?

So what’s the answer? That’s for people smarter than me to figure out.

A comment that came out of the story about Ford ditching the Crown Victoria reminded me of this Car and Driver story from a few years back. While it appears that GM has taken its excellent Pontiac G8 away and doesn’t plan to let those of us in the states have that great car anymore, it is interesting to note that Ford also has some excellent rear-wheel-drive cars from the Land Down Under. Eh, mate, I wonder if anyone over at Ford is looking at the continued interest in the GM’s own car from Australia.

Think I’m kidding about interest in the G8? Why does the G8, which was essentially a Holden Commodore and was even built in Australia, continue to show up in Google’s 100 Hot Trends? It’s because the car developed a very loyal, cultish following in its only year on the market. Those who love the G8 see GM’s decision not to rebadge it as a Buick or Chevrolet as just another backwards decision, one like the giant automaker used to make on a regular basis.

So, here’s the 2006 article about these Fords from far-off lands.

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