According to Bob Lutz, the first Chevy Volt powertrain mule has just passed a major milestone. After several weeks of testing in the lab with a battery pack installed, the Malibu based pre-prototype has rolled out into the fresh air. In fact, according to Lutz, the car has even rolled
passed past the security gates of the Milford Proving Ground to drive around on public roads. Even in this early, very rough, form, Lutz says the car is meeting and exceeding the goal of 40 miles of driving without running the engine. With this, the E-Flex engineers have demonstrated the performance viability of this concept. However, they still have a long way to go in validating the robustness of the system in different operating environments as well as the long-term durability of the powertrain as a whole. Perhaps the biggest issue to address is the cost of the system, particularly the battery pack. For GM to sell the Volt at an affordable price at launch, they will likely be taking a significant loss due to the cost of the batteries. When that cost comes down, GM will finally be able to crank up production.
[Source:
Edmunds Auto Observer]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
pmalik 10:08AM (5/15/2008)
"has even rolled passed the security gates "
Proofread FTW
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Reality_check 10:36AM (5/15/2008)
Gongrats to the general, after spending $1.2Mill on one car, they have achieved 40 miles on battery alone, now that just great, but here's the thing, for that kind of money i'd would have gotten the Veyron.
BTW, just buy that Prius technology from Toyota, and lets get this over with.
GM fan boys bring it on
Adam Marcello 10:44AM (5/15/2008)
Reality check.
1.2 million to develop a new car is nothing. Ask toyota how much government it took to develop the prius.
tbss_in_the_D 10:49AM (5/15/2008)
Also Toyota is just got sued for the processor technology. It is not all Toyota's great ideas.
psarhjinian 12:20PM (5/15/2008)
Ok, to clarify the Toyota sued for hybrid patent infringment thing: they weren't convicted of industrial espionage, they were found to be infringing a patent. Very, very different circumstances:
* The first is stealing, and requires deliberate action. It's definitely not what happened here.
* The second can happen inadvertently. Let's say you and I both develop a new widget:
1. I patent it before you do, but both our patents are filed.
2. You actually make and market the product, spending lots of money to develop, produce and promote it. I don't; I just sit on my patent.
3. You're successful in selling the product. I note this, and then note that I have a patent that predates yours.
4. I sue you and win, even though you did all the legwork.
Now, maybe I didn't market it because I didn't have the capital (I'm a small guy; let's say you work for a huge company with a massive R&D and marketing budget). I might not have been directly malicious in my suit, but I'd be stupid to not try and make money at your expense. On the other hand, maybe I'm a patent expert who buys or develops and patent lost of stuff all the time, just hoping for someone like you or your company to take the risk.
The point is: Toyota did the actual legwork, engineering and marketing. The firm who sued them filed a patent and sat on it for years, waiting for the opportune moment to sue. They could have sued when Toyota released the first Prius, but that wouldn't have netted them serious money, so they wait until Toyota is fully committed to hybrids as a strategy and _then_ pull the trigger because Toyota has no real choice but to pay them; the alternative is to scrap a huge, comprehensive engineering and marketing initiative that's already well underway.
why not the LS2LS7? 2:17PM (5/15/2008)
reality check:
I have worked on consumer products that sell for $80-$300.
The prototypes we receive cost the company between $6,000 and $14,000 to make. And that isn't even counting the ones that use FPGA chips. There are FPGA chips used for prototyping that cost $8,000, and we've used 6 per board before.
Prototypes cost more to make, look up Henry Ford and mass production to find out why.
tankd0g 10:15AM (5/15/2008)
Proof of concept? Are they kidding? Any idiot can hook a battery to an electric motor and make it go, in fact the General was doing it with more range back in the 90s with the EV1, and getting double the range they are now.
The concept in question is the one where they actually charge the battery and power the car with the ICE at the same time in serial system. I still think it simply won't work as advertised, and if they aren't testing a working prototype of that by now they've got problems.
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Adam Marcello 10:41AM (5/15/2008)
I wouldnt compare this to the EV1. Since that was a full electric they could jettison the traditional motor in favor of more batteries to increase range. I think what GM is saying is that the batteries are up to the task of the 40 miles without needing a charge. They have probably tested the generator as well but they just havent told us.
tankd0g 10:52AM (5/15/2008)
Bob "Never mind the man behind the curtain" Lutz not telling us about a real or imagined achievement, ya right.
rar 10:54AM (5/15/2008)
Here comes all the GM haters. I guess they did not have jack to say about the Caddy's ring time on the post before this one, so I guess they have to vent on the Volt. I will reserve my judgement for the final product. I do hope they can deliver what they say, this could be a game changer.
tankd0g 10:57AM (5/15/2008)
The irony of your comment seems to escape you. If the Volt is a game changer, say goodby to your high powered Caddy.
Infinihertz 11:16AM (5/15/2008)
I disagree. I think - at least for now - that even if the Volt is a huge success, there will be people (many of them here on this blog) who will prefer and buy non-hybrid sports cars.
I'm not one of them though. I'd pick a (finished, working) Volt anyday.
tbss_in_the_D 10:17AM (5/15/2008)
VAPOR COMMENTS? The game has begun ToyBoy's.
I am so happy to hear that a previous version of the Malibu is getting the 40mpg. The volt will be much more streamline and be able to archive better numbers than that.
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jonathan charak 10:24AM (5/15/2008)
its not 40mpg. It is 40 miles prior to using the ICE which should recharge the battery to give a MPG much higher than 40
tbss_in_the_D 10:25AM (5/15/2008)
correct that ...40 miles on a charge
psarhjinian 12:28PM (5/15/2008)
Umm..
This is an engineering mule, not a final product. The "game has begun" when the first customer gets his/her product. Just like Tesla: the proof is in the mass-produced product, not the manicured special delivered to an investor or used for testing.
Also, this thing is just a Malibu body for the sake of having a body--it's not a "real" Malibu at all, just a shell over Volt mechanicals. It's also not a 40mpg car, but a car that goes 40 miles on batteries alone. What remains to be answered is:
* What circumstances allowed the 40-mile range?
* What's the overall car like?
* How much will it cost?
* Can GM actually build it, consistently and without demand- or quality issues?
* How will compared to the other cars on the market in 2010/11/12?
Since we can't really answer any of these questions, this story amounts to little more than a feel-good press release. GM can promise and spin all they want, but they need to actually _sell them_ before they'll win over the general public, let alone the skeptics.
George 10:22AM (5/15/2008)
I can't believe this didn't occur to me before, but doesn't this Malibu look like Doc Brown worked on it? Like the real key to this car is that when it hits 88-mph it can go back in time to when gas was cheap and abundant?
This whole idea of Lutz giving routine updates can't be good for the development team. Imagine what kind of pressure and rush jobs get done to give Bob something he can tell the public? Its like Hitler asking Verner Von Braun how the V-2 rockets are coming along. It's just not an essential part of the process.
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Mal Fuller 11:19AM (5/15/2008)
You're assuming that Lutz needs facts in order to run his mouth. I don't think that's a requirement of his.
Chris 10:26AM (5/15/2008)
tankD0g,
where in the article does it imply it wasn't using the ICE at any time?
They went out of their way to specifically state that they can do over 40 miles with the current battery pack which is one claim that some others said could not be done.
Comparing this result to the EV1 just shows your ignorance. The EV1 only got twice as far, depending on battery generation. So figure EV1 got 75 to 150 max from a 1300 pound battery pack! It also was a 2 seater with very low CD because it wasn't idea for a 4 passenger car where as they are using a mule that isn't even really aero optimized!
I say, keep going GM and I will buy into it.
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tankd0g 10:53AM (5/15/2008)
Uh, RTFA, there's a whole paragraph about the white elephant in the room they haven't done anything about yet.
"I can almost say the battery is the least of our problems," Lutz told AutoObserver.
A rare dose of reality from the crazy old man.