Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Sedans/Saloons, Green, Chevrolet, GM, Earnings/Financials
With crisis looming, GM may unveil Volt for 100th anniversary
by Sam Abuelsamid on Jul 7th 2008 at 4:27PM 
Sales of General Motors' one time cash cow, full-size trucks, are declining faster than the value of the US dollar, but with a birthday coming, GM still wants something to celebrate. This September, the world's largest automaker will be celebrating its centennial under a financial pall unlike any it has faced since its early days under Billy Durant. The car that GM management hopes will represent a new beginning is the Chevrolet Volt, which has been locked in for production for November 2010 and the shape of the production car has reportedly been finalized. The Volt team is apparently planning to unveil the definitive Volt shape as the star of the big party this September.
Early powertrain development mules have been running for several months now and GM insiders claim the lithium ion battery packs are exceeding performance expectations so far. The big question at this point seems to be cost. With everyone focused on GM's cash burn rate, the company is hoping that showing the production version of the extended range electric vehicle will divert attention to something positive. However, without some serious cost reduction of the battery and some hefty tax breaks from the government, the Volt may just end up making things even worse. GM desperately needs the Volt to be successful, but with the current financial situation, one has to wonder how long they will be able to build Volts at a loss?
[Source: Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
RMc 4:34PM (7/07/2008)
So GM is going to show it even though it could make them look even worse in 12-18 months when it's $40-50k and not up to the expectations that they set for themselves now?
Risky...I sure hope they don't end up with egg all over their (bankrupt) faces.
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TJ 4:44PM (7/07/2008)
@ RMc: is it hard work being as stupid as you are?
Johnny 4:54PM (7/07/2008)
Here is a picture of the 2010 Prius. Looks Sharp!
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38272/117/
why not the LS2LS7? 4:57PM (7/07/2008)
Wait a minute. I thought people wanted GM to take more risks.
This makes some sense to me, but I dunno about November 2010, showing a car two years early isn't something you want to do very often.
baffledu2 5:32PM (7/07/2008)
So, I wonder what about a million volts will feel like to the California power grid. Already have brown outs on a warm day. Plug-ins are a joke on a par with ethanol !!!!
Oh yea ... honey I know your water broke but we can't go to the hospital cause the volt isn't charged !
why not the LS2LS7? 5:44PM (7/07/2008)
baffledu2:
California hasn't had brownouts in 6 years (except for SoCal during a short period 3 years ago due to a downed power line).
The cars charge at night, when use is low.
And if you don't charge the Volt, you just use more gas. It never comes to a stop just because the batteries are flat any more than a Prius does.
DKB_SATX 5:45PM (7/07/2008)
Baffledu2: "baffled" seems a very nickname for you. The volt runs on its "range extending" power source when the batteries are tapped out, but of course reality isn't as cute as you want it to be for your posts.
Much of the "rolling blackout" crap in CA a few years ago was due to Enron and other traders gaming the system to jack the prices sky high. One good way for a modern power system to manage load is to offer customers a discount for interruptible loads, so the power company can send a signal that will idle your AC for a certain period of time (subject to maximums, so they can't just shut it down for hours.) They could sell you off-peak power for your car-charging station and tell it to go offline if/when they were having capacity issues.
axiom 5:50PM (7/07/2008)
@baffled
A million volts on the power grid wouldn't feel like much, since most would be powering their ride at night, where the utilities are still outputting power at full capacity but demand has significantly dropped off. When the batteries top off, they might even be able to put back electricity into the powergrid, which they could they could then sell back to the utility.
Torrent 6:42PM (7/07/2008)
@baffled:
I bet you'll live up to your name when you find out that the Volt really works.....
AkulaX1 4:38PM (7/07/2008)
I love reading GM hating hyenas comments. It's like they rather see someone fail than try because most likely they haven't archived anything great in their life so they have to rant on someone.
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Johnny 4:47PM (7/07/2008)
I dont want them to fail. But why dont they spend all their resources on getting the Beat to market pronto??
DKB_SATX 4:53PM (7/07/2008)
Johnny: Perhaps because they don't NEED to "spend all their resources" to get the Beat to market? I think they should definitely bring the Beat to market, but it's not the sort of revolutionary vehicle like the Volt that takes a huge engineering effort to get right. They should hang the quibbling bean-counters who are holding up the decision on the Beat, and they should keep pushing on with the Volt to at least have a technological halo car even if it may be priced too high to be a huge seller at first.
why not the LS2LS7? 4:59PM (7/07/2008)
Johnny?
Who says they aren't? Not GM. The Wall Street Journal speculated 2012, not Lutz. Additionally, that was only about the Beat, perhaps GM has another small car ready to go.
TJ 4:40PM (7/07/2008)
"Sales of General Motors' one time cash cow, full-size trucks, are declining faster than the value of the US dollar"
well, the dollar is cown .0055% for the day. not hard to fall faster than that.
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TJ 4:50PM (7/07/2008)
of course, 'cown' = down.
ronzo 4:40PM (7/07/2008)
That's right. Rush it to market in a move of desperation and then pay dearly for it when it flops because of the fact that you rushed it with too many flaws... Hey we can always ask for another government hand out because of our radical lack of business sense.
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why not the LS2LS7? 4:59PM (7/07/2008)
It's already being rushed to market, whether it's shown in November or not.
Shadyman 5:08PM (7/07/2008)
Um, they're unveiling the SHAPE of the car, not the car in its production-ready entirety.
Shiftright 4:42PM (7/07/2008)
I have high hopes for this car. Not only is the tech impressive, but it looks seriously cool, whereas the Prius looks a constipated armadillo. I fear GM's rich history of many firsts that were not properly developed, and the pressure to get this thing to market worries me. Remember the Fiero with its space frame and bolt on plastic panels? Good idea done poorly. Hmm, how about the Corvair Turbo or the variable displacement V4/6/8? Ahead of their time but thankfully forgotten.
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GROM 4:43PM (7/07/2008)
Look at the GM stock. Its now at 10 $ per share.
GM would be better off going bankrupt.
Volt is vaporware. If it ever comes out it won't be as good as the next gen Prius, why japan makes better cars every everyday every time.
Also they will rush this "great" product out the door... meaning a lot of things won't work and again GM will damage its brand by realising a bad product ... meanwhile Toyota will take its time and counter with far better ... well you know the rest
GM and its American corporate structure is strangling American inviting spirit.
This country can make a far better car then japan but till these huge companies like Ford and GM die and come back as nimble and fast reacting companies nothing will come out that can even be close to Japan and even Korean products.
Very Sad.
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