Chevy Volt powertrain mule – Click above for high-res gallery
It's been 28 months since we watched Bob Lutz drive onto the stage at Cobo Hall in Detroit and step out of the Chevrolet Volt concept. In the intervening period, a corporate drama of epic proportions has transpired as Lutz has gone into semi-retirement, Rick Wagoner has been ousted as CEO and the U.S. government and the UAW are about to take a 90% ownership stake in General Motors.
In the midst of this corporate chaos, a dedicated group of hundreds of engineers, scientists, designers, technicians and drivers have tried to keep their heads down and out of the line of fire as they worked to make the Volt a production reality. From the time we first saw the original concept, GM has selected a battery supplier (LG Chem), defined the final powertrain configuration and released the production design, among countless other tasks. After more than a year of pestering GM, the call finally came to get behind the wheel of a Volt prototype. Read the results after the jump.
We arrived at the design building on GM's tech center campus in the middle of a torrential downpour where we were escorted to the executive garage. There we found two of the 30+ second-generation Volt mules that are running around in Warren, Milford and other locations undergoing testing and development. Like their four-legged namesakes, mules are a cross-breed of different vehicles, and because of the lead times and testing required to bring a mass production vehicle to market, development is done in parallel on multiple paths. Automakers build these prototypes by taking an existing vehicle and adapting new components to road test the systems before the complete vehicle is ready for production.
For the Volt program, the first-generation powertrain mules were built using previous-generation Malibu body shells with the Voltec (E-Flex) powertrain -- the so-called Mali-Volts we first saw about a year ago. Those vehicles originally ran in late 2007, with the engine-generator and electric motor as well as a small hybrid battery to start development of the powertrain control system. Later, the full Volt T-shaped battery pack was installed and in 2008, the second-generation mules were built using the body of the new Chevy Cruze. Unlike the larger mid-size Malibu, the Cruze is based on the same Delta global compact platform as GM's plug-in savior, which is closer in size and weight to the Volt and was used throughout winter testing in 2008-2009.
After reading through pages of comments, I really feel that people are missing the big picture. In my opinion, the plug-in hybrid truly represents a big step forward in automobile technology (even if electric cars have been around since the beginning). The Volt will be the first viable car in recent memory to be able to run on electric only power, but still with the range that Americans have repeatedly demanded. Range has been an issue with electric cars and the all electric Tesla has not been able to solve this yet. The Volt is also a drastic improvement over the EV1, which only could seat two people had negligible trunk capacity and had a cost of nearly $80,000. Yes, the Volt is currently too expensive, but lets remember what the first production hybrid was like. The insight was too small and more expensive than any other car in its segment. GM realizes that by bringing this to market now, they can continually work to bring costs down as demand increases and no other car can currently match the performance of this car. And for those people who think that hydrogen is the future, this is a solution now without the complexities of storage. Also, if the problems of hydrogen are solved, the volt platform could be easily adapted, simply replace the battery with whatever form of tank required and swap the gas generator for a fuel cell. Ultimately time will tell where the future of the automobile lays, but I think that the Volt is the best solution for decreasing dependence on foreign oil and our total output of CO2.
One important thing people seem to be forgetting is that internal combustion engines of present largely run on only fossil fuels - switching to an electric power train means that if the government goes from coal to wind to nuclear power - it doesn't effect what vehicle you drive - any form of power is still electricity and still powers an electric car, but once fossil fuels are gone - they're gone.
You can build 10,000,000 wind turbines and solar panels and we'll continue to be able to generate power indefinitely. You can build 10,000,000 oil rigs and accelerate oil drilling but we'd just be racing to an unavoidable end - there is not an indefinite source of fossil fuel, it's not a renewable resource, but electricity can be.
@tankd0g: I'm not going to reply to every stupid thing you said... but here's the dumbest one I found: "Is it going to be tow truck time when the battery gets to 25%?" No, because the generator will kick in. Assuming you're not in a cross-country rally race with a Prius... you will not be using more power than the generator can provide all the time, thus effectively charging your battery!
Is it "tow truck time" (I guess your favorite game?) when you don't put fuel in your car?
@tankd0g I'm not going to reply to every stupid thing you said... but here is the dumbest one I found: "Is it going to be tow truck time when the battery gets to 25%?" No, the generator will start charging the battery... and assuming you're not in a cross-country rally race against a Prius, you won't be using more power than the generator can actually output all the time... thus effectively recharging your battery!
tankd0g, is it "tow truck time" (I guess your favorite game?) when you forget to put fuel in your car?
People want to throw GM under the bus and have short memories. The EV1 despite its weight was limited to about 80mph but was capable of going much faster as mules proved out. It was also a fairly quick car to 60mph. It is and will be heavier than the Volt production car.
The Volt will be fine and will start under $40K. A fully optioned out Volt MIGHT hit $40K but its a much larger car than either the Toyota or Honda and has combined longer range than either.
My ride to work is 22 miles total both ways. Doing things like shopping along the route is EASY and the Volt's gas generator would NEVER TURN ON.... I work the late shift meaning it would be much LESS to charge the car overnight.
Where do you guys get this information from?
GM is being tight lipped about the cost because you boo birds would spread it like wild fire and mute initial sales, you want GM to fail.
Again GM just did what you wanted, oh how many times do I see a Tahoe, Full Size 1500, 2500 or 3500 dully with ONLY ONE PERSON in the truck. I personally don't care what you buy or drive, just don't cry when GM needs to get help from the only place it can get it and you complain about tax payer money spending spent on them.
Call me when you have to pay at the same tax level the Dutch or Germans or Danish do. At the same time you would have Univ health care, Free or Close to Free lower, middle and upper education, progressive drug policy not our failed "War On Drugs" and wouldn't be at war for control of Middle Eastern Oil and having no idea what the goal in Afghanistan now is, but increasing troop deployment.
All those things are FAR more of a drag on our tax dollars and you get NOTHING OUT OF THEM.
Yeah, things were going well for GM until credit availability dried up and gas prices doubled in a matter of months. Gas prices going up by 10-20% per year is predictable, but 100% in a year? Unpredictable.
Realistically, who could have predicted both happening at the same time?
