Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Chevrolet, GM
Lutz Update: Volt moves from Malibu to Cruze mules
Things are moving along quite nicely with the development of the Chevy Volt. According to Bob Lutz, test mules of the extended-range electric vehicle are now being built atop the soon-to-be-released Chevy Cruze. This is a logical progression since the production Volt will share its Delta underpinnings with the new compact from General Motors when it finally goes on sale in 2010. Prior to these latest mules, the test cars used last-gen Malibu shells that Lutz and the team affectionately referred to as "MaliVolts." Predictably, Mr. Lutz praises the new Delta platform, and we have every reason to believe that it will be leaps and bounds better than its Cobalt forebear, just as that model is light-years ahead of the Cavalier it replaced. Lutz goes on to say that the battery pack, motor and internal combustion engine are all working very well together, even in the freezing cold temperatures around Detroit these days. It all sounds rather promising, though it'd be even better if that first paragraph on the FastLane Blog weren't necessary, right?
[Source: GM FastLane]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
The Luigiian 6:14PM (11/21/2008)
I like the Cruze. If GM's not bankrupt by 2010, it's got a chance.
On the other hand, if GM hopes to succeed against the Prius with the Volt it had either better hope the upcoming Toyota Prius is either really expensive, not very fuel efficient, or has dreadful reliability problems. If the Prius gets much more fuel efficient, it will be so much so that the lower price of the Prius will beat the Volt out of the market for the vast majority of consumers, which would make it not much of a GM savior. At that point most people would only choose the Volt because they regarded a GM product as superior to a Toyota in reliability, or because the Prius had the same price as the Volt.
I somehow doubt all of these scenarios happening.
Regardless, I think it's clear at this point that GM should have gotten into the hybrid game at the same time Toyota was. Now it's trying to play catch-up, which is almost always a losing game.
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jake 7:49PM (11/21/2008)
I don't think it's quite as straightforward as a direct Prius competitor. There is a vast difference in a PHEV and a normal hybrid. The market is going to be different and the Volt will command more of a premium simply because you have the possibility of going without gas, while on the Prius, that is impossible. Of course it most likely won't sell on Prius level (until battery prices go down at least) but that's not to say it can't be a successful product even selling less units.
This is of course unless Toyota comes up with a PHEV Prius (I mean one customers can buy rather than the ones they have in fleet testing right now), but the outlooks is iffy since they are still unsure about li-ion batteries.
Rocketboy 10:27AM (11/23/2008)
Even if they go bankrupt, it does not mean that they will close the doors. If they go bankrupt, the Volt is probally the last chance that they will have.
why not the LS2LS7? 6:19PM (11/21/2008)
Ah, the continuing autoblog "Cobalt sucks" meme.
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Torrent 6:29PM (11/21/2008)
I like the Cobalt TBH.It's no worse that Toyota's Borolla.
jv2k 6:56PM (11/21/2008)
I never really could understand what's so wrong with the car.
Looks? Not too long ago the japanese offerings looked like cheese boxes. Suddenly the boxy look is bland and boring.
Fuel efficiency? Nope it's got the fuel efficiency.
Interior? This is the main complaint and it's something I don't get at all. The corrolla is a pile of plastic and if you over look the civic's neat lcds you'd notice that most of the DASH is plastic. Visually none of the cars are too bad. Perhaps the cobalt isn't the best thing ever, but it is competitive.
Amit 6:57PM (11/21/2008)
Obviously GM feels the same way. Otherwise they would not be ditching the "Cobalt" name .
Torrent 7:03PM (11/21/2008)
It doesn't matter if they keep the name or not. You could change a car's name, but it could still be virtually the same.
Five-Hundred>Taurus
jv2k 7:13PM (11/21/2008)
GM is changing the name because they are overcompensating. They have to overcompensate in order to really change peoples minds.
sydbot 7:14PM (11/21/2008)
When I test drove it, I thought the structure was phenomenal, almost felt over engineered. Super solid, didn't flex, no squeaks, nothing. But the steering felt like an arcade game, it had tons of body roll, cheap materials (I ended up with a loaded leather Intrigue, so I didn't like the Cobalts seats mainly), and the engine (the old 2.2 Ecotec) didn't seem to like high revs. The center stack design wasn't too great, but the steering and body roll had me convinced it wasn't the car for me. That's why it is great to see the SS perform as it does, though, because the Delta platform itself is way better than the Cavalier, and I thought more solid than the Corolla and Civic.
Jeremy Korzeniewski 12:41AM (11/22/2008)
That's not Cobalt bashing... I happen to think the 'balt's a perfectly fine car. That's not to say the Cruze won't be better. Did you see that Cruze interior? Very nice.
tekd 6:33AM (11/22/2008)
The Corolla has actually cheapened it's interior a bit in recent years-lots of harder plastics for example. On the other hand the interior volume has increased quite a bit and I like the new concave door thing Toyota seems to be doing a lot (and the drink holders).
But seriously even going against a hard plastic Corolla the Cobalt is abysmal. Maybe the front seats are more acceptable or something, but try sitting in the rear of a cobalt-especially the 2 door-and not only will you feel insanely claustrophobic, if you look upwards you'll see that they were so cheap they didn't tape down the edges of the roof lining. Seriously go sit in a Cobalt in the rear seat and look up and you'll see exposed foam because the roof liner was literally cut from a giant roll then slapped into the car. Did they bother to design something to tuck the edge of the roof liner into? No. Did they bother to maybe invent some kind of border tape? No. It's like they didn't even TRY to make the interior look slightly nice. I've never seen such a cheap looking interior in any other car before, and that includes two Dodges and a First gen Focus ZX3. Do you know how sad it is when a Dodge Stratus seems to have a nicer interior?!
The Cruze's interior looks nice so far, but it's apparently coming in about forever. Personally I don't think they should go for the Corolla interior-I'd shoot for the Civic interior. Less roomy, maybe less practical than the Corolla, but more cozy/sporty/techy feeling.
That said, if I had to sit in the back of any of these cars for a road trip I'd choose the Corolla in a heartbeat because it's much roomier-I'm seriously impressed except for the crappy hard plastics on the door. If Toyota made the doors with more fabric and soft plastics in the Corolla, and maybe made the interior just a LITTLE more exciting I think it'd be a Civic killer. Until then the Civic definitely wins for interior look and feel, but still loses on space.
Mobius_1 7:12PM (11/21/2008)
Hold on, GM, the company saving good cars are *just* around the corner.
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bigbear7787 7:13PM (11/21/2008)
Why not just offer the Volt's guts as a high end Cruze or Malibu??
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Jake B 7:32PM (11/21/2008)
Why not make a huge splash with one model and rake in cash first. The E-flex platform will underpin several models for several of the General's brands.
jv2k 7:32PM (11/21/2008)
Refer to why honda is making the insight instead of just sticking with the civic hybrid.
tekd 6:19AM (11/22/2008)
jv2k: The only thing you should learn from Honda's silly blame game is that companies will make up total nonsense as an excuse for their lousy performing hybrids. The Civic hybrid was a terrible car to drive compared to it's competitors.
If the only reason the Civic couldn't sell was because it wasn't a "dedicated hybrid" then how do you explain the Camry Hybrid selling several times better? The Highlander Hybrid?
The Prius makes up a big part of Toyota's hybrid sales, but their other hybrids actually sell in pretty good volume too-which is why none of them are canceled.
They can blame it on made up nonsense about how consumers only want dedicated hybrids, but the truth is that people just want hybrids that don't suck, and a dual-mode hybrid powertrain built from the ground up happens to work better than Honda's IMA system. Which is why HSD is used in everything from Camry's to Altima's to Ford Escape Hybrids, all of which are not canceled.
And the Prius just sells the best of all because not only does it have a proper hybrid powertrain the entire car is also built from scratch to be a hybrid so it just happens to integrate the HSD better than the other hybrids-and thus sells better.
Seriously Honda needs to stop making lame excuses. Toyota hybrids outsell Honda 7 to 1 and even if you removed the Prius sales the other Hybrids would still outsell Honda's a good 2-3 to 1. Heck, delete everything except the Camry Hybrid and it would STILL outsell the Civic Hybrid.
Dave 7:37PM (11/21/2008)
+1
And while theyre at it, they can give us a two mode Cruze or Malibu.
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Torrent 7:43PM (11/21/2008)
Really. I favor the Malibu, but it can't compete with the Fusion Hybrid. Also a 2 mode cruze would go perfectly against the rumored Honda Fit Hybrid. The cruze will get about 40 MPG regularly, and with a 2 mode, we're maybe talkin 70 MPG.
happy_penguin 8:18PM (11/21/2008)
The Malibu is better looking and overall a better car than the Fusion. But yes, the Fusion hybrid beats the Malibu hybrid.