By Clayton B. Cornell •
November 2, 2009
From the GM FastLane Blog: Global electric vehicle development chief Frank Weber is moving back to Europe to join the Opel/Vauxhall senior leadership team and Doug Parks will takeover the reins of the Chevrolet Volt development team on Dec. 2. Doug was the global compact car team leader, or more specifically, the leader of the same architecture on which the Volt is based, and we expect he will provide the same tireless work ethic and attention to detail put forth by Frank and the entire Volt team. We’re sure there are lots of questions you have for Frank and Doug, so they’ll both be available here for a webchat later today at 4 p.m. EST to answer as many as they can. Frank has done an excellent job getting the Volt to the point it’s at today, and we wish him well in his new role on the Opel/Vauxhall senior leadership team. - Rob Peterson, Electric Vehicle Communications Manager
One major obstacle on the road to widespread acceptance of electric cars is reliability. Electric cars are still relatively new ground, and anybody who has ever gotten a cellphone wet or left a laptop in a car during a hot summer day (guilty on both counts) knows that electronics are very sensitive to the elements. Apparently, they are also sensitive to potholes.
One of the “lucky” few who were given an Electric Mini to test out—the founder of GM-Volt.com found out just how sensitive when the Mini came to a dead stop in a construction zone after hitting one such pothole.
By Jo Borras •
October 26, 2009
Yamaha didn’t pull any punches at last week’s 2009 Tokyo AutoMotoShow, bringing no less than five (5!) innovative new eco-conscious motorcycle concepts to a predominantly car-centric show in a bid to monopolize 2-wheeled press coverage and establish Yamaha as the leader in 2-wheeled hybrid technology.
Did it work? Maybe!
More about the seemingly production-ready HV-X hybrid concept—including video—after the jump…
Chrysler is arguably in the toughest shape of the Big Three Detroit automakers, both financially and with its future lineup. You can point plenty of fingers at reasons why, including the lack of effective, fuel efficient vehicles, but Chrysler was once considered the most innovative of the big three, always thinking big while breaking the bank.
One little-known car from the annals of the Auburn Hills automaker is the Patriot, a purpose built hybrid electric race car that was to use turbines and natural gas to achieve purported speeds of 200 mph.
By Nick Chambers •
September 3, 2009
It’s an Audi-tastic day! Johan de Nysschen, President of Audi US, certainly took some major heat over the interwebs today for his inflammatory and derogatory statements that the Chevy Volt is a “car for idiots” and that electric cars are only for intellectual elites to “make a statement.” They were especially curious comments because they came at the same time that Audi launched a website touting the power of electricity.
So, knowing how these things usually go, after some serious damage control conference calls between the Audi communications folks and higher level management, de Nysschen was probably forced to respond with a much more diplomatic take on his positions — what he should have done in the first place. It’s so hard to backpedal once you’ve said something as concrete as “you’re an idiot if you buy this car.”
By Nick Chambers •
September 3, 2009
Bring on the war of words. In a frank conversation with MSN writer Lawrence Ulrich, Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen has said that the Chevy Volt will fail and that anybody who buys the car is an idiot. Not only that, de Nysschen has lumped proponents of any type of electric car into a category of “intellectual elite who want to show what enlightened souls they are.”
I’m guessing that means a fair amount of the people reading this would be considered idiots and pompous intellectual elites in Mr. de Nysschen’s book. Funny that. Hearing an Audi executive mocking any other car as being for intellectual pompous elites is, err, interesting, given that Audi is known for being in exactly that category themselves. Agh.
By Jo Borras •
August 31, 2009
What would happen if your Chevy Volt’s battery pack got wet during a carwash? What if you tried to drive it through a foot of standing water after a rainstorm? What would happen if you lost control of your Chevy Volt and drove it into a canal?
Water and electricity do not go hand-in-hand, exactly, and despite the excitement and energy surrounding Chevy’s upcoming Volt EV, a number of people are still asking questions about the basic safety of the Volt’s powerful batteries.
GM took those concerns to heart, and released some rare “behind-the-scenes” commentary on the car’s underwater testing on GM’s VoltAge blog.
By Jo Borras •
August 24, 2009
GM’s recent “230″ PR campaign (previously covered HERE and HERE) has certainly caused a lot of controversy, most of it centered on the fact that the EPA initially “backed away” from the automaker’s optimistic (?) Chevy Volt mileage claims.
Despite the fact that the 230 mpg rating will likely stand (once GM gets a final-production Volt into the hands of the EPA, that is), so much attention has been paid to the matter that the good in charge at Progressive’s Automotive X PRIZE decided it was time to chime in, asking “Is MPG still relevant?”
Short answer: No.
Read the X Prize group’s long(er) answer, and learn about their proposed MPGe rating system, after the jump.
Oh GM, I knew you were getting ahead of yourself.
Early this morning, CEO Fritz Henderson claimed thatthe Chevy Volt, a gas-electric plug-in hybrid would earn an EPA-estimated rating of 230 MPG.
But according to Green Car Advisor, the EPA has said no such thing.
Hit the jump to read the EPA’s reply.
Bankruptcy? What bankruptcy? New GM emerged from a gov’ment cradled bankrupcty filing just a month ago, but it seems like business as usual at the former American manufacturing giant. At a press conference this mornig, New GM CEO Fritz Henderson wasted no time explaining a recent marketing campaign involving the numbers 23 and a smiling electrical outlet.
230 “composite” miles per gallon for the Chevy Volt, city rating of course. 230 miles per gallon? What kind of voodoo magic are they putting in those batteries?
The Toyota Prius is among the most popular cars under the Cash For Clunkers program right now. But many people who want one will have to wait, as production of the popular hybrid has slowed because of a battery shortage. The supplier of Prius batteries, Panasonic EV Energy, can not keep up with Toyota’s 500,000 annual Prius capacity. While Panasonic EV says it should have its production capacity ramped up to a million units annually by mid-2010, this begs the bigger question;
Will battery packs hold back hybrid production and development?
