atlaw4u
04-04-2008, 03:16 PM
"If I was preparing to produce this car by 2010, I'd be picking out the wood grain on the dashboard by now, not still working on the battery" (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/OPINION03/804040327/1148/AUTO01)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Volt_as_an_FCV.jpgScott Burgess - Detroit News - April 4, 2008
It's the electric car that is recharging General Motor Corp.
When the Chevrolet Volt concept car rolled out at the 2007 Detroit auto show, it electrified onlookers with the idea that a vehicle could travel 40 miles on batteries and then use a small gas engine to extend that range to hundreds of miles.
It also charged up the competition, many of whom have made it a sport to lob salvos at GM's Warren Tech Center, calling the Volt and its tight development schedule impossible.
On Thursday, during a GM event to update the media and analysts on the Volt, one of the first things Frank Weber, global vehicle line executive for the Volt, showed was a recent comment by a Toyota executive:
"If I was preparing to produce this car by 2010, I'd be picking out the wood grain on the dashboard by now, not still working on the battery," Bill Reinert, national manager of Toyota Motor Corp.'s advanced technology group, told the Los Angeles Times.
But to the hundreds of people working double shifts around the world to make the Volt a reality, every disparaging comment is fodder for the bulletin board. It doesn't defeat them, it inspires them.
Somehow, one of the world's largest automakers, facing declining market share, especially in the United States, has a new-found swagger.
They believe they're going to make this car and make it by the self-imposed November 2010 deadline.
"This is the No. 1 project we currently have at GM," Weber said. "This is not theory, it is reality."
Battery pack is key element
GM put its engineers and designers in front of 80 journalists for an update on some of the Volt's advances. GM promised to keep the media informed of the vehicle's progression in an unprecedented manner. So far, the company has kept its end of the deal.
Typically, keeping your word doesn't make good newspaper copy. But the Volt is special. It's a game changer.
"We're going to work our tails off to try and make sure this comes to fruition," said Denise Gray, director of hybrid energy storage systems for GM.
A year ago, everyone said creating a lithium-ion battery small enough and powerful enough was impossible. But GM, with the help of key suppliers, did it. Now, the companies are running tests 24 hours a day, seven days a week to measure the battery pack's durability. That commitment requires money and manpower. GM has added hundreds of engineers at its proving grounds in Milford, dedicated to developing the Volt. It also requires ingenuity to improvise.
When work on the batteries was still incomplete, Micky Bly, who oversees testing the Volt's systems, built mule cars with old battery packs to get a head start on testing electrical systems. For the past six months, his team has driven an E-Flex test vehicle covered with the body of a red 2005 Chevy Malibu.
Now the lithium battery packs are ready for the mules.
"The only days we've had off are Christmas and Easter," Bly said proudly.
When asked about how the test cars have operated, Bly simply added, "The first day I turned the key it worked."
Engineers tackle new hurdles… http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/OPINION03/804040327/1148/AUTO01
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Volt_as_an_FCV.jpgScott Burgess - Detroit News - April 4, 2008
It's the electric car that is recharging General Motor Corp.
When the Chevrolet Volt concept car rolled out at the 2007 Detroit auto show, it electrified onlookers with the idea that a vehicle could travel 40 miles on batteries and then use a small gas engine to extend that range to hundreds of miles.
It also charged up the competition, many of whom have made it a sport to lob salvos at GM's Warren Tech Center, calling the Volt and its tight development schedule impossible.
On Thursday, during a GM event to update the media and analysts on the Volt, one of the first things Frank Weber, global vehicle line executive for the Volt, showed was a recent comment by a Toyota executive:
"If I was preparing to produce this car by 2010, I'd be picking out the wood grain on the dashboard by now, not still working on the battery," Bill Reinert, national manager of Toyota Motor Corp.'s advanced technology group, told the Los Angeles Times.
But to the hundreds of people working double shifts around the world to make the Volt a reality, every disparaging comment is fodder for the bulletin board. It doesn't defeat them, it inspires them.
Somehow, one of the world's largest automakers, facing declining market share, especially in the United States, has a new-found swagger.
They believe they're going to make this car and make it by the self-imposed November 2010 deadline.
"This is the No. 1 project we currently have at GM," Weber said. "This is not theory, it is reality."
Battery pack is key element
GM put its engineers and designers in front of 80 journalists for an update on some of the Volt's advances. GM promised to keep the media informed of the vehicle's progression in an unprecedented manner. So far, the company has kept its end of the deal.
Typically, keeping your word doesn't make good newspaper copy. But the Volt is special. It's a game changer.
"We're going to work our tails off to try and make sure this comes to fruition," said Denise Gray, director of hybrid energy storage systems for GM.
A year ago, everyone said creating a lithium-ion battery small enough and powerful enough was impossible. But GM, with the help of key suppliers, did it. Now, the companies are running tests 24 hours a day, seven days a week to measure the battery pack's durability. That commitment requires money and manpower. GM has added hundreds of engineers at its proving grounds in Milford, dedicated to developing the Volt. It also requires ingenuity to improvise.
When work on the batteries was still incomplete, Micky Bly, who oversees testing the Volt's systems, built mule cars with old battery packs to get a head start on testing electrical systems. For the past six months, his team has driven an E-Flex test vehicle covered with the body of a red 2005 Chevy Malibu.
Now the lithium battery packs are ready for the mules.
"The only days we've had off are Christmas and Easter," Bly said proudly.
When asked about how the test cars have operated, Bly simply added, "The first day I turned the key it worked."
Engineers tackle new hurdles… http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/OPINION03/804040327/1148/AUTO01