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.

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.

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.”