Yesterday, General Motors announced that Rick Wagoner, the company's CEO, would be driving from Detroit to Washington in a Chevy Malibu Hybrid. This is true. But, it's not the whole story. After arriving in the nation's Capitol, Wagoner will ditch the Malibu at GM's Washington offices and hop into a Chevy Volt mule. The latest mules are based on the Delta underpinnings that the production Volt will feature and sport Cruze bodies. Depending on the length of the trip, the car may not use a drop of gas.

According to our friends at GM-Volt.com, Wagoner will be making a planned stop at 9:30 in the morning at the corner of Delaware Ave. and C street just outside the Russell Senate Building to show off the latest working extended-range electric vehicle. So, if you happen to be in the area...

One salient point that we expect each of the Detroit automakers to make is that all of their plans for eco-friendly vehicles, like the Chevy Volt for instance, will be impossible to realize without the help of a cash infusion from Congress. Tomorrow we see how it all plays out.

[Source: GM-Volt.com]

In lieu of taking private jets for their upcoming second visit to Washington, a new suggestion has recently been made: caravan to the nation's capitol in next-gen, fuel efficient cars. As far as being green goes, perhaps the only better option would be to carpool together, and since we can't see that happening any time soon, let's investigate the other option. Ford would have the easiest choice, as the Blue Oval has just recently introduced its new Fusion hybrid, which is the most efficient vehicle in its class by a wide margin. We suggest they leave the equally-new 2010 Mustang in Dearborn. Chrysler's team could all pile into its new Chrysler EV, which is an electrified minivan. It may never make it into production, but it would at least be visible.

General Motors is a bit tougher. As Motor Trend points out, the General's most advanced hybrid models are trucks and SUVs, not exactly glowing green examples. The Mailbu hybrid would take a major second seat to the Fusion, so that wouldn't do. That leaves us with the, um... Volt? Lutz has stated that the cars are performing well in testing, and we can think of no better or more public way of proving that point. So, what'll it be?

[Sources: Detroit Free Press, Motor Trend]

Last spring, when General Motors starting track testing its first E-Flex powertrain "mule" prototypes, the cars were based on previous-generation Chevrolet Malibu body shells, the Mali-Volts. The engineering team has now moved on to the next generation of its development cars. The latest batch of testers are now using Chevy Cruze bodies, which is appropriate since both the Cruze and Volt share the same Global Compact Architecture (that is the next-gen Delta platform). In many respects, Volt is a Cruze with the ER-EV powertrain and different styling. I spoke with Denise Grey and Tony Posawatz of GM in Los Angeles the other day about progress and there are a number of E-Flex Cruzes now running at Milford. Some of these vehicles will be heading North soon to do cold weather development. In the meantime Bob Lutz has had a chance to drive Cruze based car and talks about it at the Fastlane blog.

[Source: GM FastLane]

General Motors is still hard at work on its Volt concept, as proven by these latest images of the car's interior. To the uninformed person, there doesn't seem to be many real changes made, but a closer examination proves otherwise. First, the LCD screen at the top of the car's center stack has been revised and it now looks better integrated into the dash. Before, says Volt design chief Bob Boniface, people thought that the screen moved, which it doesn't. The design team has also added "pill-shaped targets" that offer a tactile feel for the flat-surface buttons, which also make an auditory sound when activated.

Another slight change was made to the center vents, which are now oriented vertically instead of horizontally and are better integrated into the center stack. We liked what we had seen from the first interior, and we think it's even better with this first revision. There is still quite a bit of time before production Volts make it into consumer's hands, so this may not be the last modification made to either the interior before all is said and done. See the original interior design here.


[Source: GM-Volt.com]

The lithium ion batteries being used for plug-in hybrids such as the Chevy Volt are easily the single most expensive part of the car and now, AFS Trinity is claiming that they will only last 25,000 miles before needing to be replaced. The company has its own plug-in hybrid technology and claims their batteries can last 150,000 miles and avoids this rapid deterioration because of ultracapacitors they employ that act as an energy buffer. They will be showing off their "Extreme Hybrid" prototypes and making further details available across the street from the LAConvention Center, since the LA Auto Show will kick off this week without them. AFS Trinity stakes its claim on an independent study conducted by Mobile Power Solutions.

So is it true? We haven't seen the study for ourselves yet, though we are curious to read what exactly was tested and how. We feel, however, it is probably pretty safe to assume this claim is as dubious as their 150 Mpge assertion. These batteries have been used in electric cars and plug-in hybrid conversions for some time now without mention of such a disastrously short life span. As well, GM have been targeting 150,000 miles / 10 years as the minimum requirement for its lithium ion packs. Stay tuned for more details as they emerge. Press release after the break.



[Source: AFS Trinity]

One of the most persistent questions around the Chevrolet Volt - aside from whether or not GM will be around long enough to build it - is the fuel economy rating. The problem arises from the unique combination of plug-in electric drive and internal combustion range extender. The current standard test cycles used by the EPA for purposes of calculating the mileage of internal combustion cars are only 11 miles long for the urban cycle and 10.3 miles for the highway. Both of those distances are well within the 40 mile battery range of the Volt. If the current test procedure was used the car would use no gas and this is clearly not a realistic evaluation.

According to the New York Times, the current plan is to run car through each of the test cycles until the battery reaches the "depletion" point. From this data an equivalent mpg figure will be determined. The Volt will then be run on each cycle in charge sustaining mode to calculate fuel consumption. Researchers from the Argonne National Lab are currently studying real world driving habits to determine a "utility factor" for blending the two figures. It is expected that this procedure will yield a final sticker value that tops 100 mpg. Of course, because all of these choices are somewhat arbitrary, the bickering will surely continue for the foreseeable future.


[Source: New York Times]

Perhaps one of the biggest fans on the planet of the Chevrolet Volt is Dr. Lyle Dennis, a New York city neuro-surgeon. Immediately after originally seeing the Volt concept in January 2007, Dennis launched GM-Volt.com. Ever since then he and his readers have been cheerleaders for GM's extended-range EV. Dennis set up a waiting list for people to register their interest in the car, and over 45,000 people have signed up. With the financial crisis that's engulfing General Motors right now, the Volt has remained the only upcoming product that hasn't seen its development dollars cut yet. However, even though the engineering teams are still working on the Volt, the car is ultimately dependent on the survival of the company as a whole. Lyle Dennis wants to maker sure that GM, and thus the Volt, survive. To that end he has written a letter targeted at President Bush, Congress and Treasury secretary Henry Paulson urging them to provide financial aid to GM as soon as possible. If you're interested in expressing your support you can print out the letter from the site, sign it and send it to your representatives.

[Source: GM-Volt]

"Spending levels for the extended range electric Chevrolet Volt and other fuel-economy improvement initiatives to meet increasingly aggressive global fuel economy standards have been increased." And with that statement, General Motors looks to dispel any rumors that it will be cutting the engineering staff or any funding to the Chevy Volt program. In fact, the automaker intends to increase its spending on fuel-saving initiatives, including the replacement of older utility vehicles with crossovers and rolling out new small compact cars like the upcoming Chevy Cruze.

Of course, considering that GM lost a whole heap of money last quarter (see here and the two complete press releases after the break) the investment into the Volt program and the like will come at the expense of other programs and, GM hopes, the sale of the gas-guzzling HUMMER brand along with a 30 percent reduction in salaried employment costs. GM's CEO adds, "We remain focused on retaining our focus on product excellence and our commitment to advanced propulsion technology leadership and returning the business to profitability despite the current market conditions."

According to the beleaguered automaker, though, all the self-help in the world won't save its hide. In other words, General Motors has got its hand out and is looking for Federal help. Without it, GM claims, it can't continue to exist - making the Volt, along with the rest of its future automotive operations, a no-show. Also canned, for now at least, is any merger or purchase of Chrysler, as GM has got its own problems to deal with at the moment.

[Source: GM]

Some of you may have noticed a story posted elsewhere on the interwebs late last evening about the Chevy Volt. As the story goes, a friend of a friend of a friend, etc told the writer that the Volt program was being put on indefinite hold due to the company's money troubles. With GM releasing its third quarter results in a couple of hours and a huge loss expected, virtually every program at GM is being cut back or delayed. The one exception to that (so far at least) remains the Volt. We checked with the primary spokesman for the Volt program at GM Rob Peterson first thing this morning on this rumor. Peterson tells us that "there's no truth in that statement whatsoever." So the Volt remains on track but GM is expected to announce some other big cuts this morning including lay offs among engineering staff (not related to the E-Flex program).

[Sources: General Motors, Jalopnik]

The issue of the sound, or lack thereof to be specific, of hybrids, electric cars and everything in-between isn't likely to go away any time soon. The problem, as some see it, is that electric motors do not make the same kind of noise that internal combustion engines make, and this could be a problem for blind or deaf people. Is it a real concern? That's difficult to say until these types of vehicles really begin showing up on the roadways and people are interacting with them on a day-to-day basis. We've witnessed first-hand the fact that electric vehicles do indeed make noise, but is that sound enough to ensure the safety of pedestrians? We'll see.

In the meantime, engineers are considering all of their options when it comes to making artificial noises for their EVs and hybrids. For instance, the Volt's designers, led by Frank Weber, intend to add a driver-activated "pedestrian-friendly alert" to the Chevy Volt. The Star Trek-like (seriously) noisemaker would be turned on and off manually it seems. Of course, the Volt will indeed have an engine, but it won't always be running and may, in fact, hardly ever operate depending on its driver's habits. We look forward to seeing how this plays out.


[Source: GM-Volt.com via Inside Line]

Conflicting stories out today on the fate of new vehicle development at GM. AutoNews is saying that the General's cash crunch is means it is "postponing nearly all of its spending on product development in 2009 and 2010." AutoNews' unnamed sources also said that "nothing has been officially canceled, but nearly everything is delayed."

Meanwhile, over in the Detroit News, the word is that GM is "downplaying" the negative-sounding AutoNews report. GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson told the News that "We think [AutoNews is] probably overplaying this a little bit." The good news from both articles, though, is that the Volt seems to be safe, no matter what is happening to the rest of GM's upcoming programs. GM's Rob Peterson confirmed to AutoblogGreen that the cuts will have "no impact" on the Volt program at this time. Full speed ahead, apparently.

[Source: Rob Peterson, AutoNews, Detroit News]

The Chevy Volt has drummed up an absolutely huge amount of hype for General Motors. The car isn't expected to be sold this year or even next near. No, those eager to lower their petroleum usage for transportation in a GM bowtie will need to wait until late 2010 before the new car is expected to be available, and that's assuming everything continues to go relatively smoothly with the car's development. But General Motors has still gotten plenty of publicity, and most of it positive, for even starting on the extended-range electric vehicle in the first place. And now, perhaps Chrysler is trying to get in on the positive spin as well. Perhaps the automaker is ENVI-ous? Or is the automaker preparing for its rumored corporate takeover?

Those of you who use Gmail are probably very familiar with the short little advertising blurbs across the top of your inbox. Those brief ads use keywords from your emails to try and predict your interests, and advertising bits for Chrysler's ENVI program are showing up using "Volt" as a keyword. One one hand, this should be expected, considering that anyone who's interested in the Chevy Volt may be interested in Chrysler's ENVI project. Not all agree with that assessment, though, as you can see here. What's more, that ENVI site has almost nothing of real substantial interest to the green automotive crowd. We'd expect more from Detroit's third largest automaker if its actually going to be attracting attention to the ENVI minisite.

[Source: EcoGeek]

According to a Reuters report, General Motors has chosen Troy, MI-based Compact Power Inc. as the supplier of battery packs for the initial production run of Chevrolet Volts. Compact Power is a subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate LG Chem and was one of two groups that were awarded development contracts for the Volt in June 2007. The other contract went to a partnership of Continental and A123 Systems. CPI has been rumored to have won the production contract for some time and GM acknowledged in late summer that a decision had been made. An official announcement is not expected until some time in November, perhaps at the Los Angeles Auto Show. While a technical decision has been made, GM and CPI still have to settle the commercial details including how the carmaker and supplier will split warranty costs. CPI has been considered to be in the lead since very early on when they delivered their first prototype battery packs almost two months before Continental/A123. When we spoke to Bob Lutz back in June he said although one supplier was in the lead, both companies were continuing to work on packs in the hope of accelerating the learning process.


[Source: Reuters]

Here in the U.S. market, the name Electra was used on big Buick sedans for more than four decades but it hasn't appeared in a new car showroom since 1990. It looks like the Electra could be be making a comeback soon, but not in America. It turns out that Vauxhall, the brand that GM uses to sell right-hand drive Opels in the UK, filed a trademark application back in June for the Vauxhall Electra. GM officials have acknowledged previously that both the Chevy Volt and an Opel badged E-Flex vehicle would be offered in Europe. The Opel/Vauxhall vehicle will likely be based on the Flextreme concept that was shown at last year's Frankfurt Motor Show. The Electra (if that's what it's called) will likely debut sometime in 2011. Saturn is also expected to get a version of the Flextreme here in the U.S., and it will be interesting to see if it revives the Electra name here.

[Source: Greenmotor.co.uk]

Although we have to take with a pinch of salt this news, Gasgoo has a story that says that GM will make the Volt in China in 2011 to serve the local market. The story comes from Nanfang Daily, which cites Bob Lutz. According to them, Lutz said that Chinese elements were considered for the design of the Volt and that China could be a great market for EVs. While this could simply mean what we all know - that all cars get parts made all over - it's interesting to see that the Volt is stirring interest in China as well.



[Source: Gasgoo]