From
http://www.hybridcarblog.com/2010/04...ges-ahead.html
via
www.chevroletvoltage.com
Just got off a conference call with GM regarding the
Chevy Volt. In a nutshell, everything is going great. After testing the Volt battery pack in essentially every type of weather and driving condition possible, all systems are go for the November launch. Still, a few notes did stick out.
First,
40 miles of EV range has been the average, although 20 percent variation in both directions is expected. Once in range extended mode,
the Volt should still achieve about 50 mpg and offer a range of at least 300 additional miles beyond the original 40 miles of EV range.
Second, GM is forecasting a nice price reduction in battery costs by the second generation thanks to supply base efficiencies, and the third generation battery pack could see as much as a 50 percent reduction in cost.
Third, while GM seemed very careful on this issue,
the future of the Volt could include a smaller battery pack and shorter EV range. Again, GM was very guarded on this point. Likewise, GM's Andrew Farah, the leader of the Volt program, claimed that new energy densities in lithium-ion technology might also provide the same 40 miles of EV range but in a smaller battery pack.
Nonetheless, my read in between the lines is that GM is increasing their Volt focus on costs, and I believe that if GM realizes that a 20 or 30 mile Volt would double sales, then they'd offer such an option by the third generation battery pack. Of course, such a battery pack is still several years away.
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Also from
wired.com (again, via chevyvoltage.com)
General Motors is doubling down on its bet on electric vehicles, saying it will invest $8 million
to double the size of its battery laboratory in Warren, Michigan.
The investment comes as GM races to put the
Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle in showrooms by the end of the year and follows January’s announcement that it will spend $246 million on a factory that will
build electric motors. GM also spent $43 million retooling a
factory to build battery packs. Together, the huge investments suggest General Motors is serious about making hybrids and electric vehicles a core competency.
“GM is building on its commitment to lead the development of electric vehicle technology – from battery cell design to the charging infrastructure – and today’s investment furthers our work in this area,” Micky Bly, GM’s executive director for EV systems and batteries, said in a statement.
The plan calls for increasing, from
30,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet, the size of the
Global Battery Systems Lab that opened last year at GM’s sprawling technical center in Warren. In a further sign of how GM is looking to the future, the plan calls for renovating several areas once used for engine testing.
General Motors says the expansion will increase capacity in six areas, including safety and abuse tolerance and manufacturing engineering. In those cases, facilities once used for high-altitude engine testing and engine dynamometers will be reconfigured to develop and test batteries.
“We’ve made the commitment to design, develop, validate and manufacture automotive battery technology in-house,” said Bly.
Much of the work done at the battery lab is used at the Brownstown Battery Pack Assembly Plant, which since January has been producing 16 kilowatt-hour lithium ion packs for the Volt. The packs are assembled at Brownstown using cells from Korea.