GM road-tests batteries for Volt electric car

I will gladly eat this type of crow.

But...

I think it's interesting how the title of the article is written in present tense, but anyone who cares to read the body will notice that it is written in future tense.

 

The plot so far is roaring along like a Lawrence Saunders detective novel

GM to road test Volt battery packs in July | Reuters

What I really have to wonder is why all the delay in producing the imaginary Volt, especially all this talk about batteries. Seems I recall GM actually did have a very useable electric car

EVWORLD FEATURE: Eulogy for the EV1:GM | EV1 | ELECTRIC CAR | EULOGY | EV |

Now, what on earth happened to that nifty little electric car??

 

Oh, it's also interesting that after DOE dissected a Prius, they had this to offer about Li-ion

http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/energystorage/pdfs/40378.pdf

 

Seriously, I do hope GM makes, markets, sells, and doesn't recall and crush the Volt. I seriously hope it does everything they say it does.

But then, I also hope I win the lottery, and considering I don't even buy lottery tickets I still think my odds are about the same as that of the Volt coming out as advertised. If it is released, it will be some half-assed version sometime in 2012 (or later).

 

Thats some good news. Granted that they recalled and destroyed the EV1 but hey, Lets give them a 2nd chance and see what this new technology brings forth.

What kind of numbers will we possibly see with the new car? 80 MPG+ ?

 

Sales are the numbers that actually make a difference.

No merit is earned from hype.

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Was this written/posted on April 1?

 

Right now it's getting 0 MPG. Numbers for non-existent vehicles don't count.

 

Give them a 2nd chance? Screw GM. They are a car company not a friend who made a mistake. Their lobyists do not care about you or me and their CEOs direct their company with profits in mind, not the health of our citizenry. If they can't cut it in the automotive world then they should die off like every other company that makes bad choices. Someone will repace them to be sure.

 

GM Volt electric car???? The proposed car called the volt has a gasoline engine in it and therefore, is not an electric car; it is a Plug-in Hybrid Elctric Vehicle (PHEV). I'm writing in the present tense which is wrong because the car may never be built.

The EV-1 was (the Tesla now) an electric car that only had a battery for a source of power. When the battery became discharged, the car stopped.

When the imaginary Volt's battery becomes discharged, the gas engine will start and recharge the battery and the car will continue to have power until it runs out of gas. Mileage for the volt depends how the EPA rates the PHEVs if and when some company mass produces one.

In regards to the EV-1s being crushed, my only regret is that the CARB employees that voted for the stupid zero emission regulation were not in the cars before being crushed. Those people should have at least been charged with regulatory negligence (term made-up by me) and tried. I know I'm the only one on this forum that has this position but, it's my position and I'm sticking with it! Any company working in a capitalistic type of economy, does not and should not have the good of the citizens as a goal. They should have one thing in mind and that's profit. If people don't like capitalism, then they should try living in Cuba.

The EV-1 cost GM 1 billion to develop and lost 1 billion during the lease program. If it doesn't make money then get rid of it. That's what they did. If they ever make the volt and it doesn't make money, then they'll get rid of that also. If they continue losing money, they will disappear. The owners, the shareholders, demand profits!!!!

 

Given the record losses at GM, even that doesn't apply. Somebody please explain to me why the incompetent fools at GM's Board of Directors still have their jobs, their gold-plated severance, while their line workers are being axed left and right

In particular, Lutz really poo-poo'd hybrid cars when they first came out. A blunder like that should have cost him his job and his house, so he would know how the line workers feel who have lost their jobs

Or am I the only person on the planet who is held to very strict performance critiques and quarterly performance reviews of my engineering work??

 

Actually, GM is no longer a "for profit" company. Insert "record losses due to management incompetance"

 

You never seem to get it do you? I do not champion any car company or sports team, or pop singer, etc. I do not choose favorites in this respect. I purchase what fits my needs and does the least harm that I can afford. Unlike yourself and Malorn, I do not rush in to to support my favorite car company on principle (or because i accept a paycheck from them) despite their shady politics. It's much like my distaste for nationalism over morality. I look for the greater good. It is no different than sheltering a family member who committed a crime simply because she/he is your kin. I find that rediculous.

 

I could almost be considered a breach of fiduciary responsibility yes?

 

Back on topic....

How is using lithium-ion on GM's enlarged electric starter cars (I mean mild-hybrid) going to help test the real world condition of the lithium batteries? And improve mpg with that setup?

I can seeing it now. lithium ion batteries tests did not get improved mpg as expected. So Volt program is not a go because batteries are still not ready. :washing:

If GM really wanted to test the lithium ion batteries, they could put it in the Prius to see how much more efficient the lithium ion work instead.... [GM should put it in their 2-mode system instead.]

 

The "electric car" argument was pushed by certain die-hard supporters for quite awhile, claiming justification of some never using the engine. My rebuttal was that was impossible, the engine would have to be run from time to time to maintain it and the fluids. They just ignored that... until the engineers ended up saying the same thing.

Now they've concentrated on "E-REV" with the hope of more successful greenwashing.

Too bad we all already know the real reason for distancing themselves from using a "hybrid" label.

.

 

I love how GM is issuing press releases for every point of their internal development program trying to make it sound like they have actually accomplished something. As far as we know Toyota and probably Honda have already been working on Li-ion for several years. GM is now getting ready to try their first Li-ion pack in a car in the next few months to see how it works and somehow this is news? When they have cars for sale on the lot at a reasonable price, with good performance specs, and proven reliability and safety that will make for a good press release. Until then, there's no reason to believe there is anything more to this product than its green advertising value.

Its sort of ironic isn't it that GM has probably already spent more on green advertising in the last 2 years than the entire $1B cost of the EV1 program? Based on the assumption that ~1/3 of GM's annual $3B advertising budget for the last two years has been spent on their "Green" campaigns. Given how many "Low Fuel to No Fuel" ads and billboards I've seen I'd guess thats a low estimate.

I honestly hope they are serious about this, and are going to develop a really great product and sell lots of them. However, until they actually do so they've got about 0 credibility on this issue currently. The fact that they are trying to rush to market technologies which their competitors (who have much more experience with these technologies) say still need more work doesn't bode real well, but we'll have to see what happens.

Rob