While it seems the public must wait until September to get a glimpse of the final production version of the Chevy Volt, GM is letting John McCain cut to the front of the line to take a good look at the architecture that the company hopes will propel them into the next decade. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was given a tour of the GM Design Center Dome at Warren, MI today where he later held a Town Hall meeting with hundreds of GM employees. We guess they're not holding that "Some of the jobs that have left the state of Michigan are not coming back," line from the primaries against him.

McCain seems not to caved to the auto industry's wishes on national emissions standards on this visit. Though last month he told the Detroit News that he would like a national standard that would make state standards unnecessary, today he clarified his position by saying, "I guess at the end of the day, I support the states being able to do that,[set their own standards]." He also recounted his earlier ideas for helping the industry get its groove back by giving $5,000 tax credits to low-emission vehicle purchasers and, of course, his $300 million battery challenge.

[Source: Detroit Free Press / The Detroit News via GM-Volt.com]

Click on the image above for more shots of Lutz and the Vectrix

Bob Lutz, GM's formost Volt-pusher, loves himself some electric vehicles. As the owner of four (that's right... dude's got four!) Segways and a Vectrix Scooter, he's surely gotten used to the charging ritual. Still, accidents happen, and Mr. Lutz apparently found himself stranded after a faulty charge gauge left him thinking he had nearly twenty miles left before his batteries were dead. A few miles later, though, the Vectrix rolled to a stop and would move no further.

"When you are out in the middle of nowhere with an electric vehicle, and you have no back-up powerplant, you are truly, truly screwed. You can't go to the nearest wall outlet and bring back five gallons of electricity," Lutz says. Of course, with the Chevy Volt, the driver would need to both run his batteries dry and continue to run his gas tank dry before being stranded, though that distance may come a bit quicker than was initially planned.



[Source: Auto Observer]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Flextreme

The internal debate over whether the upcoming Volt will be badged as a Chevrolet or an Opel across the pond has been decided. The first Euro-bound EV's from the General will be Opels, though we are not sure how much in common the vehicle will share with the Flextreme concept. Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe, indicates that a Vauxhall version is also in the works (this would be nothing more than a right hand drive variant for the British market) and that all three of the vehicles will be quite similar in design. A gasoline range-extending powerplant will see shared duty in the trio as well, though we would expect a diesel option in Europe at least at some point.

For the forseeable future, all three E-Flex variants will be built at the same factory in Detroit, and Europeans should expect to see the Opel in 2012. Of course, the extended-range electric car will carry a price premium, with a €10,000 bump over a comparable gas engined vehicle currently being thrown around. We hope that the Volt and its clones will prove popular enough to see that cost premium dwindle somewhat as the cost of batteries drops and allow the General to make a few bucks in the process.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

The first installment of Transformers pushed some serious gas guzzling on movie audiences by way of the upcoming Chevy Camaro (with V8 power, naturally) and a Hummer. Our esteemed Mr. Blanco was less than impressed by the movie's lack of green credentials. After all, being nothing more than a movie, a perfect opportunity presented itself to introduce the movie-going world to clean transportation. It now sounds as if Mr. Bay and General Motors have seen the green-tinted light, as rumors now suggest that GM's upcoming green poster-child will indeed make an appearance in the highly-anticipated Transformers sequel. We anxiously look forward to seeing the Chevy Volt in production form in the next Transformers movie, and it would be some serious icing on the cake if we witnessed it transform into some kind of awesome gas-guzzling-robot butt-kicker along the way.

Remember too that GM will be showcasing another gas-saving vehicle in the upcoming flick in the form of the Chevy Beat. For our two-wheeled fans in the reading audience, Mr. Bay will also be featuring a female robot in the form of a Pepto-pink Buell.

[Source: Reuters]

The Wall Street Journal has been known to be a bit cynical when it comes to the Chevy Volt but does it really think GM is using a whole program just to angle cash out of Washington? That seems to be the what Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. is arguing in his article, "What Is GM Thinking?" According to the author, because GM's stock is at historic lows and the idea that the public would change their minds about the kinds of cars they want because fuel costs are rising is "crazy," the only reason GM would be pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a car that is "guaranteed to lose money on every unit" is because the company can use the environmental cache of the Volt to give law-makers political cover to throw cash at the iconic American brand. We think that, while this kind of wild-eyed speculation is all very well and good for some amateur car blog to delve into, this is written up in the respected Wall Street Journal.

Although the main premise of the piece may be slightly awry, we can surely take heart that the writer knows a little about the vehicle he is writing about. Let's look at a few of his facts assumptions.

• "GM is saying now the Volt may need a sticker price of $45,000"
• "The car will be lucky to get 15 mpg under gasoline power"
• "A car with the Volt's narrow usability to sell would require an unlikely revolution in consumer behavior"

Hmmm, interesting. We know what we think of these statements but we'd like to know what you think. Try out our new and improved comments section to let us know.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

More fodder for the rumor mill has arrived in the form of conflicting statements. When last we visited the set of the soap opera we call "the contest to be the battery supplier for the Volt", GM's new 40 mile PHEV (or EREV), a British media source, the Guardian, had written that LG Chem's battery had powered a Volt mule. When coupled with the statement Mr'. Lutz had made to AutoblogGreen that only one battery was being concentrated on, there was speculation that GM had made it's decision and that the winner would be LG Chem/Compact Power. Today we hear from another British media outlet, this time the International Herald Tribune and a GM spokesperson.

The article titled, "Battery supplier declares itself ready for GM electric car " the Tribune delves into the details of the battery competition with its focus on the what is perceived to be the superior entry from LG Chem/Compact Power. It's bold headline come from a statement by an unnamed "senior executive." Contrast that with a statement made by GM spokesperson Rob Peterson who, according to GM Volt fan site GM-Volt.com, says, "The development of the battery for the Chevrolet Volt is a significant technical undertaking, we are not in a position to limit our options at this point. Both Conti/A123 and CPI/LG Chem bring tremendous intellectual strengths to the development of batteries and we continue to work and test solutions from both supplier groups. Speculation aside, a final supplier has not been chosen. We'll let everyone know when it has." A pretty strong statement of denial, though that is what we would expect them to say up until the time they make the official announcement. Don't count A123 Systems out of the running yet though. As Big Brown at the Belmont reminded us last weekend, there's no such thing as a "sure bet."

[Source: International Herald Tribune]

When AutoblogGreen visited Bob Lutz's house for the Vectrix electric scooter delivery this week, GM's product development chief Bob Lutz gave us some pretty candid information about the Chevy Volt's progress. Take this tidbit, when Sam asked Lutz if GM has vehicles running with both the CPI (i.e., LG Chem) and the A123/Conti packs?

"No. We're concentrating on one, but I'm not going to tell you who that is. They're both excellent battery companies, and they both have good companies for integration, but we feel that at this point we have a lower risk with one company than the other." (click here and watch the video at min. 3 to hear Lutz say this).

OK, put that information together with this article in the Guardian UK that focuses on the status of LG Chem. Buried towards the bottom is this line:

"Also, one of its [LG Chem's] packs powered a test or 'mule' version of the Volt that GM engineers have created from a modified Chevy Malibu and showed off last month for GM product chief Bob Lutz."

Now, just because the battery was in the Volt mule a month ago doesn't mean that it's the one that's still in there today and, as we remember, it wasn't too long ago that Conti was saying they have a "good chance" at winning the Volt contract. Nothing is decided at this point (unless you're on the Volt team, perhaps), but we'll keep watching.

[Source: Guardian UK]

There hasn't been a whole lot of positive news for Michigan's economy in the last few years and the auto industry has been among the low-lights. Since the 1980s, the city of Flint, in particular, has been the icon for everything that has gone wrong in the U.S. auto industry. However, in the midst all the bad news from GM about truck plant closings on Tuesday, there were a few positive nuggets especially for Michigan. We've known since last fall that GM was planning to build the Chevy Volt in Detroit come 2010, but getting official production approval from the Board of Directors was definitely a sign that the program is on track. Also buried among the negative stuff yesterday was the plan to add a third production shift at the Lake Orion assembly plant near Pontiac. Lake Orion builds the Pontiac G6 and recently added production of the Chevy Malibu. Malibu sales are so strong right now that more capacity is needed. In Flint, where many of the production facilities that once dotted the city have now been shuttered or demolished, 1,000 jobs are being preserved by the assignment of a new engine family to the engine plant there. A family of small engines ranging from 1.0-1.4L will be produced in Flint. The 1.4L is the new turbocharged engine that will go into the new compact coming from Lordstown, Ohio next year as well as the Saturn Astra and other models. The 1.0L may well be the three cylinder that is used to drive the range extending generator for the Volt. Hopefully for Michigan this is just the start of a resurgence for more efficient and more reasonably sized vehicles to replace all those over-sized SUVs of the past decade.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Click the Volt for a high-res gallery

Round and round we go... where we stop, nobody knows! That sounds like an apt description of the merry-go-round that is the Chevrolet Volt, especially when pricing and delivery date are concerned. Perhaps what we are witnessing in this case is the first truly transparent product launch in history. Do major shifts like this happen with all vehicles, or is the new technology needed to make the Volt a reality causing pricing headaches for GM management? Maybe it's all of the above. Whatever the case, GM CEO Jim Wagoner has been quoted on Forbes as suggesting that General Motors will be selling an electric car for less than $30,000 by the year 2010.

Another possible explanation for this pricing confusion could involve the upcoming plug-in Saturn Vue. How can we be sure that Wagoner was referring to the Volt when he cited the pricing and deadline of the electric vehicle? We can't. It's possible that GM could have a plug-in Vue ready for the market in 2010 with an electric-only mode, making it an electric car of sorts. We'll just need to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the Volt's, and the Vue's, debut.

[Source: Forbes]

Bob Lutz, GM Vice Chairman and Volt booster, told Edmunds AutoObserver today that the Volt is achieving its 40 mile all-electric target in initial on-road testing. "It is reliably meeting its objectives," Lutz confirmed. "Even with a rough calibration, even with the wrong drive unit, the wrong body, etc. etc., it has been hitting its 40 miles on electric power."

There was no word on which of the two battery suppliers' products was installed in these first drives on GM's proving grounds in Michigan. He did say the Volt's Battery Management System was successfully keeping temperature rises to a minimum and maintaining even heat distribution across the cells.

Lutz ever more enthusiastically says the Volt will debut for sale in Chevy showrooms in November 2010. And he went out of his way to underscore Chairman Rick Wagoner's interest and support for the Volt project.

[Source: Edmunds AutoObserver]

Last week, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. got space in the Wall Street Journal to question "whether GM is a genius or a dolt for developing the Volt." Jenkins suggests that gas prices might drop again. If this happens, then GM can say goodbye to consumers who want the Volt, Jenkins says. A big drop in gas prices is unlikely, based on recent trends and predictions, but not impossible. Jenkins' argument is one reason that an artificial floor on fuel prices - through higher gas taxes or a set minimum on oil prices - would secure the industry's investments in green cars. Jenkins is also unimpressed by GM's willingness to lose money on the first Volts, but he does see one strategy where GM "bribe(s) consumers to drive Volts off the lot. That is, if doing so frees GM to build and sell other cars bigger and more powerful than the cars its rivals can afford to build under the CAFE rules."

In the end Jenkins doesn't answer his own question. To be fair, this chapter is far from finished and an answer can't be declared just yet. While we're still a long way from Job 1, I think it's pretty easy to answer that the real dolt move here would be to not try to create a car like the Volt.

[Source: WSJ via BusinessWeek]

Click above for a high-resolution gallery of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring.

Sure, hybrids such as the Toyota Prius are already considered by the masses to be the pinnacle of green automotive technology, but they are still most certainly in their infancy. We've already looked at ultracapacitors, diesel, biodiesel and cellulosic biofuels as potential green technolgies, but each of those could be paired with an electric motor as part of a hybrid drivetrain. Although GM would like you to consider the upcoming Volt as an electric vehicle, the fact remains that it also carries a small internal-combustion engine onboard, making it a hybrid of sorts although many people (ourselves included) are referring to it as an extended-range electric vehicle. Because so many potential breakthroughs include hybrid technologies, we look forward to the idea carrying on as one of the most promising ways for automobiles to go green.

Now, what's Number 1?

What more can possibly be written about the Chevy Volt? Plenty, as a matter of fact, and we're looking forward to finding out as much as we can along the way. While some (perhaps rightly so) hold a grudge against the General for "killing the electric car," we're all fully aware that the Volt could wind up doing just the opposite. While the debate continues to rage on between Toyota and GM regarding parallel vs. serial hybrids and the batteries that will power them, the consumer stands to be the beneficiary with the best set of choices that the newly-emerging green car industry has ever had.

Although the target launch date is still over two years away and there haven't been any major hitches, some consultants are expressing doubts that the GM Volt program will end in success. The "experts" to which I refer are members of the Gerson Lehrman Group Automotive Council who conducted an analysis of a Reuters story that appeared on the MSNBC website detailing the efforts and progress of the Volt program.

The most critical of the four assessments (two of which lie behind a subscription service and whose tone can only be estimated to be positive and mixed by their given report titles) was written by Mark Fendley who is the "Continuous Improvement Manager at BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg, South Carolina" and has been with that company since 1998 according to the GLG website. His report, titled, "The Volt - GM's Attempt at Green Marketing without the Green Product or the Green Return," contends that the battery technology behind the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) is too unproven, environmentally destructive, and expensive to "ensure a 2010 launch." No sources are given to bolster the environmental claims in the article. Also unmentioned, unfortunately, are any details of the battery tech an all-electric car his employer is rumored may produce.

The other viewable report, written by Michael Kowalski (described as a self-employed consultant who is an adjunct professor at Wayne State University and who worked for GM as a staff engineer from 1970 until 2002) is titled, "Can the General Motors Volt meet the expectations?" and is a little less hysterical in tone. He does make sobering mention of GM's diesel engine "experiment" in the '80s and outlines some of that company's other efforts to develop alternative drivetrains. Although we can't say we completely agree with his analysis, especially as it pertains to GM using nickel metal-hydride as a battery chemistry it could fall back on, it does make for an interesting read. We look forward to reading analysis from our own experts (i.e., our readers) in the comments section following this post.

[Source: Gerson Lehrman Group]

In the face of rising fuel costs and environmental concerns, GM has realized that China, the world's fastest growing auto market, is in dire need of hybrid vehicles of different shapes and sizes. Hence, amidst the re-announcement of the launch of the Buick Lacrosse (which GM is touting as China's first hybrid since it is built there as opposed to the Prius which is merely assembled in China) in July, GM China's vice president for sales, Joseph Liu, let slip that the company would also introduce the hybrid version of the Cadillac Escalade (pictured above) sometime next year. No price tag was mentioned.

According to the AP story, Liu also said that GM will follow that up with an "all-electric" car as early as 2010. Although it's not exactly "all-electric" since it has a gas engine, we assumes he means the Volt (or maybe Flextreme), which GM is currently developing.



[Source: Associated Press via Mlive.com]