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Chevrolet Volt
GM is charging ahead with Chevy Volt development

The Chevrolet Volt is probably one of General Motors' most highly anticipated vehicle launches in its long and storied history. The Volt promises to revolutionize the way people commute and GM is investing an incredible amount of money and manpower into ensuring that its upcoming launch is smooth and as awe-inspiring as expected.

Development of the vehicle is progressing nicely and GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz stated that he is confident that the Volt will show up on schedule. "I would say there's almost no reasonable doubt in our minds anymore that this is going to work," Lutz told Reuters.

GM is currently using a previous generation Chevrolet Malibu as a test platform for the Volt's innovative powertrain. The vehicle uses a powerful lithium-ion battery pack to power the vehicle for 40 miles. Once the battery pack exhausts its stored energy, a 1.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine cranks up to recharge the battery pack and keeps the Volt moving along. The Volt can also be recharged from a standard household outlet for those that wish to recharge a nearly empty battery overnight.

Even though the launch of the Volt is still more than a year and a half away, Lutz says that battery testing is currently meeting expectations. "They've routinely had it to the high 30s, low 40s and they go up hills with it and everything."

One thing that Lutz said needs to be worked on before the Volt arrives on dealer lots, however, is the tiny internal combustion engine (ICE). In its current form, it's not quite refined enough for the public.

"It all works real well, it's just that the transition from battery power to the internal combustion," stated Lutz. "They said it's still noisy and it's a little rough. But heck, we've got a little more than a year and a half to work on that."

Although Lutz was mainly interested in talking to Reuters about the Volt, he took a jab at Toyota which he feels gets a pass from the media for poor decisions and much praise for its good decisions.

Nearly a year ago, Toyota shunned lithium-ion battery technology for automobiles citing problems with exploding cells (a la the massive Sony notebook battery recall). The company also tried to shed doubt on GM's ability to provide lithium-ion batteries in its stated timeframe.

However, Toyota recently announced that it will begin producing lithium-ion batteries in 2009 with partner Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and that the batteries will show up in production vehicles the following year.

"They told the world that GM was taking a huge risk, that lithium ion batteries were prone to explode and that we were putting our customers at risk and that they would stay with the tried and true," fired back Lutz. "When it comes to Toyota, let me tell you, the press has a short memory."

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Ain't that the truth
By FITCamaro on 6/18/2008 9:42:37 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
When it comes to Toyota, let me tell you, the press has a short memory.


And its because press touts Toyota as the fun, innovative manufacturer while GM is the evil manufacturer thats in collusion with the oil industry to keep giving them their profits.




RE: Ain't that the truth
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 6/18/2008 9:52:43 AM , Rating: 5
To be honest, GM wasn't exactly making great cars from the 90s and into the early 2000s -- instead, they decided to focus on trucks/SUVs while their cars languished.

During that time, Toyota was the rising star and was basking in the sunlight.

It wasn't until recently that we've seen GM firing on all cylinders. We've got the new Malibu, the Solstice/Sky, the G8, the upcoming Camaro, the new Lacrosse and Aura on the way, the Enclave/Outlook/Acadia, the 2nd generation CTS, the Saturn Astra (even though it has a 300+ day supply on the lots), etc.

There was plenty of reason to hate on GM a few years ago with their car lineup -- not so much now as the new models come in.

But the tide appears to be changing, slowly, to start giving Toyota a harder time. As Toyota gets closer to the top, it will become more of a target for hate/criticism.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By DrKlahn on 6/18/2008 10:00:53 AM , Rating: 5
People need to cast off the notion that domestic auto's are substandard and start supporting them. We need to keep what manufacturing we can to not only support the people who engineer and build them, but to keep the U.S. manufacturing goods and not just consuming them. I do realize that some foreign makes are manufactured here, but for the most part we simply represent a cheap labor pool compared to their domestic market.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By Cheapshot on 6/18/2008 10:16:28 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
but for the most part we simply represent a cheap labor pool compared to their domestic market


Not neccessarily a bad thing... as the US dollar gets cheaper... more and more countries such as the UK will turn to us for outsourcing. As it stands now the UK can outsource workforce labor at .50 cents on the dollar. Putting foreign monies into our economy and saving them money.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By Hiawa23 on 6/18/08, Rating: -1
RE: Ain't that the truth
By FITCamaro on 6/18/2008 10:49:27 AM , Rating: 2
Planes are not cars. Airlines don't just buy new planes every 10-15 years. A vast majority of planes are still from the 70s and 80s. They upgrade and maintain due to the high cost of a new airplane.

And with the financial struggles airlines are in, they have an even smaller ability to procure new planes.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By masher2 (blog) on 6/18/2008 10:58:00 AM , Rating: 5
> "why aren't the people who make the airplanes trying to make more efficient planes to help the airlines? "

That's exactly the design philosophy behind Boeing's new Dreamliner.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By CPA on 6/18/2008 11:00:51 AM , Rating: 3
I'm wondering why you would be commenting on the airline industry when it's obvious you don't know what's going on in the airline industry. Just as an example, Boeing's new Dreamliner is made out of lighter material and pruported to use 20% less fuel than current similar models being used.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By Screwballl on 6/18/2008 10:49:12 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
People need to cast off the notion that domestic auto's are substandard and start supporting them. We need to keep what manufacturing we can to not only support the people who engineer and build them, but to keep the U.S. manufacturing goods and not just consuming them. I do realize that some foreign makes are manufactured here, but for the most part we simply represent a cheap labor pool compared to their domestic market.


First, what constitutes domestic anymore? Hyundai, Honda, Nissan and Toyota all have factories right here in the US that have several of the vehicles in their line created right here on our soil. When it is cheaper to use american labor than to pay all the import fees and taxes, it blurs the lines of domestic versus import.
One thing you will notice that Hyundai has greatly increased their build and overall quality once they started producing them stateside... so that tends to point to the fact that the original domestic companies already made a quality product, its just people forget to look at the newer cars and only see these cheaply built 80s and 90s vehicles breaking down and use that as an indicator for domestic vehicle brand quality.
I will have to find the numbers again but something like 80% of all vehicles bought and used in the US were manufactured in North America.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By FITCamaro on 6/18/2008 10:52:35 AM , Rating: 3
Yes but to me its also a matter of where the money goes. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai. The money all goes back overseas. GM, Ford, and Dodge, the money is here.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By masher2 (blog) on 6/18/2008 11:02:14 AM , Rating: 5
> " Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai. The money all goes back overseas. GM, Ford, and Dodge, the money is here"

The money goes to the shareholders. Toyota and Honda shares can be bought on the NY Stock Exchange -- and plenty of foreign investors buy shares in GM and Ford.

Given that, and the number of "foreign" cars built in the US and "domestic" cars built overseas, the notion that buying American keeps the money in the US is quite a bit farfetched.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By BladeVenom on 6/18/2008 11:40:57 AM , Rating: 3
Also a huge cost of a car is labor costs. So where the car is manufactured is where much of the money goes in wages.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By DrKlahn on 6/18/2008 12:22:39 PM , Rating: 3
If the majority of the companies infrastructure, not just manufacturing, resides here then the money stays here. How much of the foreign cars design and engineering is done here? How much of it's profit stays in the U.S.?


RE: Ain't that the truth
By dever on 6/19/2008 1:57:30 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
How much of it's profit stays in the U.S.?
Did you realize that you're replying to a post that explains where the profit goes? And just as US companies can have foreign shareholders, foreign (car) companies can have domestic shareholders. If you buy stock in Toyota, then you too could share in the profits.

Protectionism does not benefit American companies or American citizens. I benefits a FEW American companies at the expense of all consumers and all other companies, foreign and domestic.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By bighairycamel on 6/18/08, Rating: -1
RE: Ain't that the truth
By masher2 (blog) on 6/18/2008 1:57:39 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
"you need to research exactly how the stock exchange works. Profits DO NOT go to shareholders ...Only the initial release of shares actually come from the company as a way to raise money"
Err, what? Have you never heard of dividends? It's a direct payment of cash, from the corporation to its shareholders.

While still paid, dividends aren't as common as they used to be, because many companies today prefer to give their profits to shareholders in a different manner -- by investing it back into acquisitions, R&D, or some other manner, which in turn increases the share price. However, the principle is exactly the same. The company's profits have flowed back into the shareholder's pocket, by virtue of the increased value of your share prices.


RE: Ain't that the truth
By Obsoleet on 6/18/2008 8:43:51 PM , Rating: 2
Yeahhhhh... and I'd love to compare your foreign car to my newly purchased American Pontiac G5. With 80%+ of American made parts and assembled in Ohio (and engineered in Detroit).. I'd love to compare whatever foreign car you might drive.

Please, post the percentage of parts in your car produced in the US and where it's assembled so we can settle this debate with all the huff and puff that you offered there.

We've all heard all the propoganda before, but put reality on the table please and post the info on your car if it is foreign.