Maximum Bob Lutz was not invited to grovel testify before congress this week, for all of the obvious reasons. So Lutz earned his champagne and cigars the honest way this week: driving cars and blogging about it at Fastlane. Of course, that doesn’t mean Lutz doesn’t have an opinion about the bailout. He’s just strictly forbidden from saying anything besides “I am not going to comment here about any government loans or hearings or GM’s financial situation — just like I wouldn’t engage you in conversation about it if I ran into you in the produce aisle.” Wheh. There goes one recurring nightmare. Besides, as Lutz points out “we have other places online for that conversation, such as gmfactsandfiction.com.” And if that’s not Lutzy enough for you, just wait until he starts talking about the Volt he’s been driving!
Bloggin’ Bob reveals that GM has “moved from the Volt test mules using previous-generation Malibu bodies (affectionately known as ‘MaliVolts’) to test vehicles using vehicles from our next-generation global compact car architecture.” Not bad, considering the thing is going to market in two years. So what’s it like to drive, Bob? “I have to say, after driving it with the Volt system placed within, I feel terrific about the driving dynamics of that architecture. It instantly feels several price classes higher than what it actually is, due to the level of refinement.” Several price classes higher than what, Mr Lutz? The Volt will cost $30-40k depending on government subsidies. So Volt buyers will be getting M5 “driving dynamics” for Lexus IS money? Or will all the Cruzes on that platform just be as good as the IS350? Confusing stuff.
But there’s just a little more weird news. Bob “couldn’t be more pleased” with the powertrain and propulsion system, even though GM still hasn’t officially selected a battery contractor. Besides, Lutz recounts “We started with about a 60-percent charge on the battery pack, to see how it would perform and when the engine would kick on. To my delight, we went about 19 silent, electrically powered miles before that engine engaged.” Given that the goal is 40 miles of all-electric driving, there’s clearly still some work to be done. Of course, Lutz acknowledges this. Sort of. “Right now, the engine is tuned rather aggressively so that once it did kick on, it tended to cut in and out quite a bit at low speeds. But we will find the right balance to address that — that’s why we’re doing all this development work!”
I seriously hope that this car sees the light of day. It appears to be amazing. Two years tho? Seems like a long time to keep the public’s interest peaked.
“it tended to cut in and out quite a bit at low speeds.”
There’s the ‘not charging the batteries’ aspect of the powertrain. Perhaps they can provide a setting to alter the aggressiveness of the overall power management. I know they’ve discussed providing such control over the climate control. A car like the Volt probably will not have a lot of NVH mitigation for the gas motor so I wonder what sort of control GM is willing to give drivers.
The smug-onauts could tune it to minimum battery charging and live with multiple on/off cycles from the gas motor while the more appliance-minded could run a milder tune permitting the gas motor to run for at least 5 or 10 minutes per cycle. It will be interesting to see how this works out and how much it affects overall mileage and perception of the car.
I am heartened to see so much real, productive effort being put into this vehicle. I’d feel a whole lot better if GM up and went Ch.11 already.
I am unnerved by the amount of PR hype surrounding the Volt. Almost everything which is hyped aggressively during development turns out to be a business disappointment.
John Horner,
And the Volt is optimized for business disappointment… GM’s plans are to build perhaps 60K/year by 2014. In the grand scheme of things, that’s pointless. Toyota will probably have the capacity to build 10 times that many Priuses by late 2010.
But we will find the right balance to address that — that’s why we’re doing all this development work!
Thank God I was worried you were going to do like all the other times and just say, “ahh this is good enough just start selling it. We can work out these bugs later if enough customers complain about it, if not we save the money and time.”
Quote: ” But there’s just a little more weird news. Bob “couldn’t be more pleased” with the powertrain and propulsion system, even though GM still hasn’t officially selected a battery contractor.”
This is not ‘weird news’. When considering a supplier or choosing between several suppliers bidding for Component X,Y or Z, GM will create a S.O.R. or a Statement Of Requirements for that component. The SOR will outline very specific performance parameters that they expect your Engineering to meet and/or exceed. Thus, it is entirely possible that GM is evaluating several different battery makers and that each of the batteries they are evaluating are probably close enough in performance to each other so that no matter which one they ultimately choose, they feel that they are going to hit their performance targets.
The odds are, the SOR and the Engineers have package protected for the dimensions of the battery already, standardized all the interfaces, fasteners, software etc. so that they can allow the various battery suppliers bidding for the business as much R&D time as possible to create the best battery they can, and give themselves the luxury of picking it as late as possible so they can literally just ‘plug-it-into’ the rest of the vehicle’s architecture pretty late into the program’s timeline.
Engineering cars is kind of like building skyscrapers. If you waited for the Design of X to be frozen before you Designed Y, you would never get done. It is all a very fluid process and one that I love being a part of.
Edward I’m fairly certain GM has already chosen the battery supplier. (whether they choose to tell the public is another matter; perhaps they’re saving that to mask some bad sales news) News broke late in October that it was LG Chem and Compact Power, and that the official announcement would be in November. (no doubt delayed so they could make noise for their bailout)
What’s most likely is that these new Cruze mules are testing with production powertrains, batteries and all. The ‘MaliVolt’ mules were the bare-bones prototypes; they were the testbeds that GM used to choose suppliers.
With the move to the Volt’s production platform, something has clearly occurred in its development that necessitated the move, like, I don’t know, the production batteries being added to the powertrain.
A little skepticism is healthy; skepticism accompanied by a lack of critical thinking, is not.
Droid800 wrote: “Edward I’m fairly certain GM has already chosen the battery supplier…”
Based on what?
Here’s an alternative situation, driven by skepticism and critical thinking… GM had chosen the battery supplier and went out to talk contract. Maybe the intended supplier can’t meet the cost target or told GM something unpleasant about ultimate battery life. From then on, GM has been keeping the song and dance going for PR reasons.
Of course, you could be right; GM could just be keeping the competition alive and keeping the loser hopeful. But that’s treating suppliers like the enemy, rather than partners. Part of GM’s problem.
If I remember correctly, GM had said that they would announce a supplier as of several months ago and that milestone is overdue. There’s no good reason to look like you’re missing a schedule because of battery problems… unless you are missing a schedule because there are battery problems.
“It instantly feels several price classes higher than what it actually is, due to the level of refinement.”
If the Volt’s actual price inches any higher, “several price classes higher” will equate to Bentley and Rolls territory…
@KixStart
Actually, an announcement was expected this month, as the decision was only made in October.
Droid800,
That’s not how I remember it. Of course, I could be remembering wrong. That’s one of the pitfalls of having your PR get w-a-a-a-y ahead of your actual development.
Kixstart-
They probably were going to make it at LA, and you know how that turned out. Right now GM corporate is going to try and bury any good news to make their situation look dire. That would definitely include any news about the Volt advancing.
I’d wager that when they return to DC after Thanksgiving that GM will give up the goods and announce a supplier. (of course, that will be accompanied by an extended hand asking for cash)