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‘There Is No Next Week’ (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/general-motors/4)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Chevrolet_Volt_Revealed.jpgJonathan Rauch - Atlantic - Aug 31, 2008

The real Chevrolet Volt as seen on the set of Transformers-2 last week.

Best Chevrolet Volt article to date and if you do not believe it is coming, go buy something else now and cry later ;) -- Ed.

The news was just as good in the Volt’s design studio, a repurposed auditorium. Designers sat in cubicles on the stage, an aptly theatrical touch for so publicity-conscious a car. A mural proclaimed the program’s goals, one of which was “Radically Shifts GM’s Public Perceptions.” On the main floor was a full-size model of the car, hidden under a blue tarp. As a rule, car companies go to great lengths to hide their developmental designs, and so I was surprised when my handler ordered the model disrobed: even by Volt standards, this was exceptional access. The model looked rounder and smoother than the aggressively sporty show car, and for good reason: to squeeze 40 miles out of its battery, the Volt will need to be the most aerodynamically efficient car GM has ever built.

Here, as in the battery lab, work was proceeding rapidly. The design, though still evolving, was already 98 percent there, Bob Boniface, the Volt’s design director, told me. “We’ve taken more than half a year out of the schedule,” he said. Ordinarily, if you had a problem with a taillight, you might schedule a meeting for the next week. “With this, there is no next week.”

Early on, word had come down from Bob Lutz and Jon Lauckner that standard procedure was suspended where the Volt was concerned. “You guys are not going to be held to the normal GM bureaucracy,” Lutz recalls saying. “You guys spend money when you need to spend it. You have a problem, call us on the phone.” Engineers, designers, and executives were told to trust their instincts and make decisions on the spot. If a larger issue crops up, it is taken to a special Volt steering committee, and Lutz, Lauckner, and the key company vice presidents settle it before leaving the room.

“Whenever I have a problem, it is resolved within days,” Frank Weber, who manages the Volt project, told me. “Within days! One call, and things happen immediately.” Weber, a 41-year-old German import from GM’s Opel division in Europe, is precise, organized, unflappable, as if German-engineered himself. One morning, when the steering group heard that the battery was running behind schedule, a senior production executive said to Weber, “Tell us what you need.” By early that afternoon, the two of them were enlisting more engineers… http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/general-motors/4

Thanks for the excellent find Paul!

In my mind the Volt is a bad project. It's a $40,000, something no-one is really going to buy when you can get a new Prius for well under $25,000 new. Aptera's $30,000 Amazing car is just about to come to the market too. That's why I don't think the Volt will be any success. It's going to be Chevy's next generation that will be worth buying. If Chevy is going rush rush rush with tired overworked people as they describe than you can expect them to make a few unhealthy choices in design and logically one would expect it to be unreliable or for strange things to happen with the car. I'm worried about this project.

They had better be designing a small diesel car that gets 60 mpg for around $18K or so. That would make a huge impact while the bugs are worked out of the Volt, assuming they can come up with a battery for it. GM had better not go all-in on the Volt. They need some other products that are less flashy but very fuel efficient and affordable.

Harry

Wow. Not a very upbeat reaction here?

I don't see this car this way -- I know their past performance has been less than encouraging, but everything I've seen for this vehicle development process has been confidence inspiring. The single exception has been the price but even then, I've got a strong suspicion that GM is leading the industry on and waiting to uncharacteristically deliver what was promised on time.

We're not too upbeat about it because we all heard them quote this at $40k. The people that really need this car just can't afford it.

I have no doubt the Volt will come to market...

I am glad it will come to market.... There are many people who only buy American... and this will be an opportunity for them to do so.... even if the Volt will at most be assembled ~2% in the U.S. and the rest of the assembly and production will still be done over seas just as much as Honda and Toyota ... There is no such thing any more as a domestic car company... they are all global production and global sales ...

I am also glad that GM and the others are eating crow about all the times they insisted things like HEV , PHEV , and EVs wouldn't sell and couldn't be brought to market for 50 years... etc...etc..

I would prefer the Volt be designed around performance FE wise anyway ... but it has become clear that it is being built around status and image... they are targeting the customer who wants the kind of social image the Prius gives now.... there are people who previously bought more expensive cars than the Prius but are now buying the Prius because of the image they want to buy....

I'm a Techie ... I'm a Nerd... I'm the guy who took apart his own 120 cell Insight battery because I was curious... I'm in the lower 1% of the population who is more interested in the technology and results performance than image.... Those people in my crowd ... look at the Volt and say cool stuff ... but then go on to say for the same money they could do more in their own garage ... which is then followed by... if they were to buy a finished product... the Aptera is a more advanced FE car than the Volt.... and it supports the little guy.

So I recognize that the Volt is being targeted to a larger market ... than the tiny less than 1% of the market that people like me represent... and I hope them the best.... but... while I'll enjoy reading about the technology in the car when more details come out... thus far it doesn't sound like my kind of car.

A lot of people buy $40,000 cars. A lot! I think there will be a long waiting list for the Volt.

The $40k price tag might not last. If GM ends up selling Volts in vast quantities, they will probably start getting economy-of-scale reductions in price. Maybe it could be $35k by 2012 if they sell a whole bunch of them.

I'm thinking that the execs REALLY regret selling the EV1 patents to Chevron, since the Volt engineers had to start from scratch.

I liked the article. The oozing battery test-bed scene was kinda funny.

Of course, the e-flex architecture is supposed to be very flexible, so if GM can pull it off, they can probably implement the technology in a wide variety of vehicles. for example, they could have an entry-level e-flex with a 20-mile EV range, or a small pickup truck where the onboard engine also provides 110v power outlets for tools.

A lot of people buy $40,000 cars. A lot! I think there will be a long waiting list for the Volt.


Ha. Yeah, around my neighborhood they are Escalades, Tahoes, Suburbans, Q56s, Hummers, etc. etc.

The point is these people simply do not care about the price of gas at this point. They are concerned with having what they want and looking totally cool. :-)

Hi Indigo,

I doubt this will happen. The more likely scenario is other cars will come up in price and the difference between the Volt and other cars will be much less over time.

Toyota played this right. They set the price at the mass-manufacture level, which insured a mass-manufacture result. GM is being very risky in pricing the car this high.

Maybe GM is starting out at the mass-manufacture price. In which case the whole concept of a REEV is in question. Take out the engine and its ancialary systems, and put in 80 miles of batteries, and a propane powered enviormental heater and the car might be cheaper. Hopefully they have evaluated non-traditiional prime movers. I am wondering if a thermo-photaic prime mover would be cheapter. If the IR photaic cells could be made cheap enough, the assembly is much simpler than a traditional engine, and similarly efficient at this level of technology. And the waste heat could be used for cabin heating, or even cabin cooling (ala Natural gas air conditioners).

Hi All,

If GM really wanted to kiss and make up with BEV people, why not take that 16 KWH Volt battery pack (which is the same capacity as the NiMH pack in the last EV1) and make a EV2 demo car ? The pack is lighter, smaller, and probably more powerful. Wonder if they could get Phil Karn's EV1 back from the Smithsonian for that ? It would be a real good way to test the pack. That EV1 had 125 miles range. With this lighter weight pack, it would have more range.


;-)

Ha. Yeah, around my neighborhood they are Escalades, Tahoes, Suburbans, Q56s, Hummers, etc. etc.

The point is these people simply do not care about the price of gas at this point. They are concerned with having what they want and looking totally cool. :-)

The trick then will be to make the Volt seem totaly cool.

I really liked that article.

Who knows, maybe by 2011 or 2012 I could afford a Volt. I would definitely buy one if that was the case. Although I don't like to admit it, one of my top reasons would be for the image. And the feeling of being less dependent on gasoline would be a top reason also.

Of course, my plan next spring is to approximate the mileage of a Prius/Volt by buying a motorcycle and driving it for 50% of my driving.

-- Scion xD: 33 MPG
-- Honda Rebel 250: 75 MPG
------------------------------------
-- Combined : 54 MPG

The motorcycle is $3,200 vs $26k for a Prius or $40k for a Volt. And I already have a Class M license.

From what I hear the Volt will be assembled here in the states -- Flint, MI to be exact.

We are still 2yrs out from retail sales -- GM can price the vehicle whatever they want to and I hope they are smart about this. They realize the importance of this introduction and know that success is integral their survival -- they need to just take a loss on the sales so that they can establish the new foundation of their architecture.

They could just be saying 40k knowing it would be less than that. Especially with all the publicity it's gotten that would be a good marketing plan. Everyone says, "Man that's a lot for a car." Then when it does finally come out they price it at $30k-$35k, everyone thinks they are getting a good deal based on the original estimate. More people buy it and GM makes more money.

I hate to sound like a broken record but...

I have said it before and I'll say it again. Remember the EV1.

I have no faith in GM's ability to get with the times and bring a series contender to market at a decent price and keep on doing it until they realize that there is money to be made in the electric market.

Rick

With the HUGE -TC, maybe $6000-$7000 - a $40,000 Volt is actually a $33,000 Volt. I'm sure MOST of GMs inflated price claim of $40,000-$45,000 is so they can " take" most of the TC.

I agree that the market for paying an actual $40,000- at least $43,000 with TTL would be kinda small. True lots of folks paid $40,000+ for Suburbans.Tahoe,Escalade, All MBs,all BMWs, all Lexus but that is a different market. Affluent folks don't worry abount mpg. Yeah some of them will want to Out Green their neighbors, but GM knows they are a volume car corp. They had better not think they can sell Volts for the same $$ they used to sell a big SUV for. Yes, I agree that $$ for $$ a $40,000 Volt makes as much sense as a $45,000 Suburban, but cars are never just rational buys. GM better not aim the Volt at extremely affluent folks.

I own a Prius- great car ! It replaced a Titan and a Prizm. I've owned 8 or so Toyotas over the years. But, I am a Toyota disliker/hater -lotta reasons- but there it is. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT TOYOTA IS ACTUALLY MAKING ANY $$ WHEN THEY SELL A PRIUS TO THEIR DEALERS FOR $18,500. It just seems like TOO MUCH car relative to everything else-Camry, ACCORD, RAV4 ,CRV , Trailblazer , crew cab Chevy pickup, any Dodge, most Fords all the other vehicles that are roughly the same price.

No way does/did it cost as litle to build/design a Prius as it did/does to build/design a V-6 Camry, RAV4 . It just fails the "eyeball" test. I have always thought that the $22,000 MSRP (meaning $18,500 dealer cost) of a base Prius was TOO LOW. Toyota was and is subsidizing them- just like their "sour grapes" competitors claim. The Prius gives them Green Credit to match Honda , and it gets folks on the lot to buy the Yaris,Corolla,Matrix,Scion. "Well, you can't afford this $27000 Prius, but I have a Corolla I can get you into for just $17,000 ".

Toyota is a very adept car corp.The Prius is just too much car for the money.No, of course I don't have any proof , but remember the Prius is made in Japan- high labor costs- and it is shipped 8000 miles to market.Do you really think a RAV4 V-6 is as expensive to build??-NO WAY!

Charlie