Bob Lutz might try to have us believe that he “invented” the plug-in hybrid Volt.  In reality, he just dusted off old plans on GM’s shelves for their 1969 XP-883. Forty years ago, in response to concerns about tightening emission standards and future oil supplies, GM unveiled a plug-in hybrid city car concept. Six 12 Volt lead-acid batteries propelled the Smart-sized car electrically up to about ten mph, when a tiny 600cc two-cylinder gas engine kicked in to provide additional motivation up to its maximum top speed of sixty. The XP-883 seated two adults, plus two kiddies facing backwards, perched above the battery pack. The cute-as-a-button fiberglass bodied coupe foreshadowed both Vega and Opel 1900/Ascona styling. If GM had made it, it would undoubtedly have gotten you laid (with hairy-legged girls) just like the Volt will in 2010. But then what wouldn’t, in 1969? Maybe that’s why they didn’t bother.

The unveiling of the production version of the Volt will go down in history as one of GM’s final coffin nails. Not only does it mark the death of the Volt cult, but it also signals the end of the whole “concept/dream car” era as invented by GM’s legendary Harley Earl in the fifties. Bob Lutz has thrown his “Hail Mary pass” right into the stands. The fans are furious, heading for the exits.

American automotive design creativity and imagination in Detroit died with the 1977 wrap-around rear-window Oldsmobile Toronado XSR Coupe , but it's alive and well in the Nevada desert. At the annual Burning Man gathering, mobile imaginations/hallucinations incarnated run amok and are celebrated. It's a fitting (if extreme) reaction to the ever-more predictable and imitative automotive styling rut of the times. GM Styling guru Harley Earl would have felt (and looked) right at home tooling around the sand flats in his gas-turbine powered Firebird dream-car .

GM Car Czar Bob Lutz dropped quite the load of “Between the Lines” fodder (Justin’s working on it) in his interview with Charlie Rose. One real jaw-dropper: Lutz’s comment that the Volt has a Cd (coefficient of drag) of “between .28 and .29”. Folks, that is seriously bad. Was GM running the wind tunnel fan backwards, or did they put the model in upside down? My 1985 Mercedes 300E had a Cd of .28. As did a 1995 Mitsubishi Diamante. The current Prius scores a .26, and next year's model will undoubtedly improve on that. Lutz specifically said some months ago that the Volt would have better aerodynamics than the Prius. Oh well. Meanwhile, a whole raft of current sedans have a better Cd: Lexus LS430: .26; Hyundai Genesis: .27; Camry hybrid: .27; Mercedes W203: .27; the old B5 Passat: .27. Even the Saab 9-3 ties/beats the Volt with a .28. Keep in mind, that for an EV, aerodynamics plays a much more crucial role in highway range than for a conventional car. That’s why GM’s EV-1 had a spectacularly low Cd of .19. Nothing like progress in the span of fifteen years. 

We recently pitted the next gen Toyota Prius against the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt. The contest was theoretical, predicated on the arrival of the Volt in 2010 (and performing as advertised). Meanwhile, there’s no question about the reality (and viability) of Honda’s new hybrid sedan. It’s set to hit the showroom floor in April 2009, around the same time as the new Prius. While the Volt waits in the wings, the Toyota – Honda gas – electric rivalry will be an epic showdown.

Turns out TTAC isn't alone with its Tesla Death Watch and Volt Birth Watch series: Toyota has its own going. EV World's (sub) Bill Moore got this and a few other juicy tidbits from a casual conversation with Toyota's "grumpy old man" Bill Reinert, National Manager of the Advanced Technology Group. Toyota has a Death Watch going on Fisker , Tesla, and…the Chevy Volt. Toyota doesn't think any of them will ever be built in large volumes, because their Li-Ion batteries are simply too expensive to be cost-effective. He also cited concerns over global supplies of lithium. Meanwhile, Toyota is hard at work on next-generation batteries , especially air battery chemistry, including zinc-air, as well as stepping up production of NiMH packs and starting Li-Ion factories. What's the line about not "having all your eggs in one basket"? Reinert also thinks it's unrealistic to expect owners of plug-in to only tap the mains at night. Utilities are going to have to step up capacity. And forget about all the 2010 Prius spy shots floating around the web, they're just cobbled-up mules based on the current Prius. Toyota is famous for keeping their final products under wraps (just one of the many differences with GM). And one more goodie from the grumpy Toyota brain trust: "liquid peak" (every conceivable liquid fuel from petroleum, coal and biofuel) arrives in 2018. That's when global demand will outstrip capacity to produce them all.

In the aftermath of Black Hole Tuesday (June ’08 sales numbers), a big story got lost in the vortex. Yes, The Big 2.8 tanked, Toyota and Nissan took hits to the jaw and Honda was proclaimed the new Messiah. But June’s unsung winner puts Honda’s accomplishments to shame. In the midst of a violently contracting U.S. new car market, Hyundai-Kia (“HK”) kicked ass. And that butt-whooping is a direct threat to Detroit’s survival.  

In The Land of the Free our choice of automobile brands is highly limited. Well, relatively. Dozens of European import brands have long fled our shores, curtailing our automotive freedom of expression. What happened to all those storied marques, such as Alfa-Romeo and Peugeot? And what’s keeping American pistonheads from once again enjoying the forbidden fruit of Europe’s exotic brands?

We often get accused of diesel-bashing. But there's no getting around the fact that the decline of the diesel market penetration in Europe has begun. With diesel now costing the same as gasoline in Germany (we should be so lucky), the higher up-front costs of most diesel versions just doesn't pan out. Auto, Motor und Sport (print version only) has done an analysis of the minimum km per year required to amortize various diesel versions of popular cars. A few examples: 38k km (23k miles) for the BMW X-5; 30k km (18.3k miles) for the Opel Corsa, 25k km (15.3k miles for the MB E-class). In may, diesel's Eurozone market share dropped to 44 percent, from 47 percent in April. One study predicts that diesels will eventually lose fully half their market share. Another study shows that at least one-fourth of current German diesel drivers are seriously considering switching to a gas car with their next purchase. It looks like the party's over before the States could find the address. 

In the ancient Buddhist text Visuddhi-Magga, "name" and "form" are described as powerless in their respective isolation. But when they propitiously combine and mutually support one another, they attain power and "spring up and go forth." GM's announcement that the 2010 Chevy Cruze would [eventually] replace the Cobalt marks a dubious milestone in its continuing struggle to establish a lasting presence in the all-important compact car market. The Cruze will be the recipient of the eightieth name that GM has used on one of its mid-sized or smaller sedans since 1968.

Ford’s survival may depend on the U.S. success of the European-designed Focus and Fiesta. An embattled GM agrees with FoMoCo's "world car" strategy, talking up its "global platforms." Meanwhile, Honda and Toyota’s dominant Camcordias were designed predominantly with the North American market in mind. Does success in the brutally competitive American market demand specifically tailored designs? Or are “world cars” the salvation to Detroit’s passenger car woes?

Just a week ago, we called on Ford to revive the SVO Mustang. And now, a "reliable source" has told Garage 419 that Ford is considering a revival of a Mustang SVO. OK, not the actual Fox-body ‘Stang of the eighties. But the same idea translated for today. We're talking about a 300hp EcoBoost four cylinder engine mated to a six-speed stick; a combination that could shave as much as five hundred pounds off a current GT. Much of that diet would come off the front end, improving front/rear weight balance and handling. How about an IRS back there while we're at it? No? Damn. Anyway, the new SVO's EPA numbers could easily beat the GT by some 25 percent or more. Just the ticket for the times: a good-handling ‘Stang with wallet-friendly mileage. Dropping oil prices helped kill the last SVO; sounds like the obverse is true now. Weird.

In the nineteen-eighties, Ford CEO Donald E. Petersen's recipe to save Ford from near-bankruptcy was "higher quality products… emphasizing smaller, more efficient cars." It worked, propelling Ford past Chevrolet to world-record profits. Current CEO Allan Mulally is banking on essentially the same ingredients: de-emphasize trucks and rejuvenate the car palette with global platforms largely designed in Europe. Ford's future, perhaps its very existence, is riding on it. Is the recipe still golden?

At the recent Toyota Environmental Forum, ToMoCo’s Executive Vice President outlined the company’s five-point plan for a “sustainable mobility society.” Green Car Congress charts the ch-ch-changes. 1. Further development of gasoline- and diesel-fueled combustion engines; 2. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids; 3. Alternative fuels, including synthetics and biofuels; 4. Electric vehicles; and 5. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Masatami Takimoto revealed that gasoline and diesel will remain the corporate mainstay. To that end, Toyota will reduce vehicle size and weight and introduce a new family of engines with start-stop, direct injection, forced induction, HCCI and variable compression. The automaker will hybridize all its vehicles lines by 2020, increasing NiMH batteries density. Li-ions are heading for city electrics and plug-in hybrids; the plug-in Li-on Prius hits the streets in 2010. And here’s the kicker: Toyota’s working to leap-frog Li-ion technology. Takimoto says a practical and cost-efficient EV demands a technological breakthrough. Maybe GM’s Volt isn’t so much a “Hail Mary” pass as an intentional out-of-bounds throw before it gets sacked by the “Sakichi” battery (named after Toyota’s founder).

Oil prices have just hit record highs. Talk of recession is in the air. Ford's line-up of bloated, heavy vehicles is piling-up like cord-wood on the dealer's lots. The only car selling: its "Americanized" global compact. Ford stock is in the toilet and bankruptcy rumors are swirling. The top exec hired a year earlier is intelligent, unassuming and straight-talking. He commits Ford to building "higher quality products with stronger customer appeal… emphasizing smaller, more efficient cars." Ford in 2008? No, it's 1981.