Maximum Bob leaks news about Bio-Diesel E-flex in Frankfurt
Filed under: Biodiesel, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GM
During an interview at the New York Auto Show last week Bob Lutz let it slip that there would be another concept car based on the E-Flex platform that underpins the Chevy Volt coming out at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The fact that the car to be shown in Germany is to use a biodiesel fueled auxiliary power unit should not be news to anyone who was paying attention when the Volt and E-Flex were unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. The whole premise of E-flex is that it allows for multiple different types of fuel sources to be used for an electrically driven vehicle.
GM even stated at the introduction that there would be other variants that used diesel engines and even batteries only. The Volt was only the first in a series of vehicles, which will be coming out in the next few weeks and months. You won't even have to wait until September to see the next variant. There is a video of the interview after the jump, where Lutz also takes on critics who question their intentions to build vehicles based on E-Flex. If you still think GM isn't serious about building alternative drivetrains, you might want to check out their career fair.
[Source: PodTech via Winding Road]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-13-2007 @ 3:52PM
Tim said...
Excellent interview!! Thank you.
Everything Mr. Lutz says makes sense including the $25K-$30K price tag. I hope that GM is as sincere as they appear to be. Only time will tell.
No matter what batteries they ultimately use, it will take them 2 years for R&D, certification, and tool-up for e-flex production. If these 2 projects (car & batteries) are handled simultaneously, we may have the cars in the 2010 model year which will come on the market in the fall of 2009. I'd still like to see the biodiesel option in the US as well as Europe!
Concept - Spring 2007. Prototype – Fall 2007. Testing & Cert. – Spring 2008. Tool-up – Fall 2008. Production – Spring 2009. Sale - Fall 2009.
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4-13-2007 @ 5:02PM
1985 Gripen said...
A problem with GM is they're always promising the future but not delivering on it. It's not all that hard to come up with a concept of a "fix all" solution like the E-Flex platform, or the hydrogen car, but by promising those technologies are just on the horizon and not improving the cars we drive TODAY they really do a disservice.
There are tons of technologies out there for making cleaner, more fuel efficient IC engines. The peak efficiency of the IC engine has not yet been reached. Why not improve TODAY's cars while working on whatever your latest idea of a cure-all is at the same time?
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4-13-2007 @ 7:43PM
mikeinBuilding7 said...
This is just Market Segmentation.
The Volt is here to shut up environmental buyers. But, GM doesn't need Magic Tech to reduce fuel consumption. They could offer "Optional" Engines?
Econ 201: Supplier Manipulation of the Market.
Supplier offers incentives, prizes, trips and contests to the company that meets some Supplier Target or Goal, like, build large SUV's with ONLY large Gas Guzzler Engines that technically will burn millions of gallons of fuel wins the incentive.
This is how you Don't Give the Buyer what they want. But, upper management does enjoy some hidden perk.
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4-16-2007 @ 7:06PM
Thomas Brown said...
I honestly think that the only way GM will get back into the black is by developing green technologies. Especially in the next few years. Creating reliable, COST-EFFECTIVE green vehicles will be the key to the longevity of GM's comeback.
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