At a special session for bloggers– accessed by TTAC after RF's personal appeal to Maximum Bob– GM Car Czar Bob Lutz said he's "given up on a thirty-thousand dollar Volt." In fact, even priced closer to $40k "we're not going to make a dime on the Volt for years." Lutz dismissed any concerns about profitability, labelling the electric – gas hybrid "an eco-flagship." The new pricing strategy: a tax credit or rebate to get the consumer's out-of-pocket expenses in the "lower thirties." While millionaire bankers and movie stars have flocked to the Prius for its earth-saving cred, the real reason for its strong sales numbers: the price starts in the low twenties. So Lutz' dream– that consumers will pay $35k+ for a grocery-getting Volt– seems a little… futuristic.

GM won't make the Easter deadline to have a Volt test mule on the streets. Nor will they make the April deadline Car Czar Bob Lutz revised it to. CNNMoney reports he's now saying they're looking at two competing battery developers and they want to "run the two in parallel a while longer" How much longer? Lutz didn't say, but he still insists they'll launch the Volt in "late 2010." The two companies, Compact Power and Continental Automotive Systems, are in what Maximum Bob termed a "horse race" to see which works best. He also insists "the battery technology is working great" and the development problems "aren't fundamental electrochemical problems [but] simple engineering problems." He estimates by 2015 between a quarter and a third of GM's production will be hybrid-electric or alternative-drive vehicles to meet the new CAFE standards. Keep in mind, though, that this comes from a grown man who still believes in the Easter Bunny .

© 2008 by ttac.com

First it was $30k. Then it became $40K-ish. Now, who knows? There's no way to guess how much GM will want for a Volt if when it finally hits the market in 2010. Bloomberg reports that Product Developer Supremo Bob Lutz is warning that "We are going to bake in a very substantial warranty cost for the battery in our overall pricing calculation. We need to be conservative, simply because it's the first time we've done anything like this." Maximum Bob gave no indication what that warranty cost would be. With experts estimating that each Volt battery pack could cost as much as $10k, it won't be pocket change (except for GM's management). Between the warranty costs and the workarounds for power-sucking accessories, the Volt's guinea pigs first generation customers may find out it's no fun living on the bleeding edge.

Last November, GM Car Czar Bob Lutz shot off his mouth boldly predicted they'd have a Volt test mule on the streets when the Easter Bunny arrived. Now he says that ain't gonna happen. In an interview with Reuters, Maximum Bob now says they'll start road testing the Li-Ion battery packs in July, "slightly later than expected." (Ya think?) He also said they may not name their battery supplier of choice until the second half of the year. BUT… "That may also be a little bit longer now, as we need a better handle on who has the technological capability we need and who is going to have the production capability." That seems to be the mantra for the entire Volt program. Anyone want to place bets that December will become the new July in a couple of months?

Just-auto [JA, sub] had a little chin-wag with Larry Burns, The General's Vice President of R&D and Planning. The man in charge of bringing Chevrolet's gas – electric hybrid Volt to market told JA that GM's plug-in Hail Mary will be in short supply when it hits the (a?) showroom. "We're not going to sell it in every city and we're not going to sell it though every Chevrolet dealership," Burns said. "It just doesn't make sense to do that yet. You'd have to set up the service parts in all of those dealerships and train all of those dealers to service the vehicles. We might concentrate it in five or ten cities and say that is where we want to start." Or they may not, for the simple reason that the Volt might not be ready by 2010. "When asked by just-auto if GM's timelines for any kind of launch in 2010, even a restricted one, are still realistic given that the company has only recently taken delivery of the first batteries for testing, Burns admitted: 'It's a challenge. I'm not going to mislead anybody about that but I'm proud that we've signed up to that challenge.'" So I guess GM Car Czar Bob Lutz is still in charge of the misleading part of the program. Hey Bob, here comes the Easter Bunny! 

And you thought the Lincoln ads were bad. The video clip is not a fake; it's actually an ad Chevy is running late at night on some cable channels.  I could make all kinds of comments here, but I'll leave that to you readers.  If anyone could explain to me what it has to do with selling a gas-electric hybrid car, I'd appreciate it.

According to Canada.com, GM spokesman Dee Allen says his employer can't re-engineer the forthcoming plug-in electric – gas Chevrolet Volt's windshield wipers, audio system and other parasitic electrical components in time for their hoped-for 2010 deadline. So they'll just install a work-around. The first-generation Volt will feature expensive "redundant" systems for these components in hopes they won't drain the batteries faster than the propulsion system. While Allen didn't specify how these redundant systems would work, he admitted they would drive the price of the Volt "higher than expected." But don't worry: GM's engineers are working diligently to solve the problem and "the second generation will be more refined." Given GM's bent for five to seven-year product cycles, the engineers should have plenty of time to solve the issue before the second generation comes out. But, still, you have to wonder… if they're cutting corners on the secondary systems to rush the Volt into production, what shortcuts are they taking in mission critical primary systems? 

Once again GM shows its right hand doesn't know what the Lutz hand is doing. Last week, Car Czar to the Stars Bob Lutz spoke about their plans for the Volt's eventual introduction: "In the first year… we'll do about 10,000 units, and keep them fairly close to home so we can deal with any issues before we really crank up for high volumes." But Reuters reported yesterday that GM's VP for global program management has a different idea. Jon Lauckner told a forum at the Competitive Enterprise Institute that GM's  planning a "healthy roll-out" for their plug-in electric – gas hybrid  In fact, Lauckner said "we're talking about large numbers — in the tens of thousands." However, Lauckner didn't seem to share Lutz' confidence that the Volt would be a smash hit; he urged Congress to "approve tax incentives to help spark demand." Your tax money hard at work.

All right– enough with the nay-saying and snarking at GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz. He promised a Volt by 2010 and by George, Chevy's made good on that promise! You, yes you can now buy your very own Chevy Volt! Unfortunately (or fortunately for you!), they're only building 7,500 in this production run. So if you want your very own zero emissions automobile, you need to get your order in right now! Yes, it's a little cramped. Sure, luggage space is limited. But you can park it almost anywhere. And the best part? Its affordable! Be the first on your block to own the new "gas free" Chevrolet Volt! (Batteries not included.)

What happens when you put one of the founders of Tesla and GM's Bob Lutz (is there another one?) in the same room and let them talk? It becomes a mutual admiration society. In his apostrophe-challenged Tesla Founders Blog, Martin Eberhard recounts his meeting in the Car Czar's "palatial office." Eberhard says the two execs "spent a good couple of hours talking about battery-electric vehicles." (He didn't say how many bad hours they spent talking.) And then Bob dropped the bombshell: "He started the Volt program in direct response to the Tesla Roadster." Wow! And here we were thinking the Toyota Prius had something to do with it. Anyway, after a few hours with Maximum Bob, Minimum Mark came away impressed "and willing to believe that the Volt might be a real program." After schmoozing with a few other people on the Volt program, Eberhard concluded that "the Volt Program is real." So the co-founder of Tesla is sold on the Volt. I guess that means we should now have equal faith in both.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy made a pronouncement that made a lot of people think he'd lost his mind: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade." According to GM's Vice Chairman of Global Product Development, Chevrolet's gas-electric plug-in electric hybrid is GM's moon shot. Wired magazine recently sat down with Bob Lutz and asked the Car Czar what would happen if the Volt doesn't succeed. "What if Kennedy hadn't pulled off the moon shot?" Bob wondered aloud. "If it doesn't work, it's not fatal. But if it does work, it will be sensational and it will have the same sort of symbolism." The U.S. put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, as promised. What are the chances the Volt will appear in a Chevy showroom by 2010?

Ever since the Chevy Volt burst forth from the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, "Maximum Bob" has been feeding an adoring press a steady diet of sound bites on the Volt's technology and timetable. The statements are frequently contradictory, usually unrealistic and subject to frequent change.

It began in March of last year, when Lutz promised a running Volt prototype by the end of 2007. A test mule with the Volt drivetrain crammed into an existing model would have provided reasons to be cheerful, part one. But it wasn't to be. In November, Bob revised his estimate: "Let's wait for the Easter Bunny."

In January, GM revealed the Volt's development team was having problems getting the mission critical, new technology batteries for testing from one of their suppliers. Recently, GM said that they'll have appropriate lithium-ion batteries "ready to demonstrate" by June (of this year). The reason for the new date? "Acceleration issues." We now learn that a Volt equipped with the current state-of-the-art batteries would require a full minute to amble from zero to sixty miles per hour.  

And that's just the technology. When Bob first mooted Chevy's Plug-in Electric Hybrid (PHEV), he pegged the PHEV's price point at a Prius-competitive $30k. As soon as the Volt team realized what a suitable lithium-ion battery pack might cost, GM announced that they were considering leasing the battery packs for around $100/month– to keep the "total" price within reason. Easter Bunny or not, GM hasn't said whether or not they're still pursuing that particular hair-brained scheme.

Now the $30K selling price seems to be going the way of Jamie Lynn Spears' virginity. Speaking to Wired, Backpedalin' Bob stated "it doesn't look like that's going to be possible." The Volt's price "might get there on the second generation, and they say if they had a lot more time they might be able to cost-optimize it [but] I don't want to wait for cost optimization. I'd rather come out in 2010, and if it costs closer to 40 than 30, well, that's too bad." Too bad for the customer…

No matter what the final price, we still don't know when we might finally see a Volt on the road. At the beginning of this saga, Lutz claimed the Volt would be humming along in 2010. Then, at last year's Los Angeles Auto Show, Lutz said the Volt would hit the streets by November of '08. Now it's 2010. Or not. Apparently, November 2010 has become GM's "internal target." "You don't know what you don't know," Lutz told Wired. "Could it go later than 2010? Yes."

Deadline, schmeadline. Maximum Bob's still pumped on the Volt. He crows that it's "symbolic of a renaissance in the American auto industry… If we pull it off successfully, it can really put us back at the top of the heap of automotive technology instead of being called laggards that are being left behind by the Germans and the Japanese." That is, unless a Japanese manufacturer doesn't quietly introduce a fully-realized plug-in electric hybrid first, as Toyota's CEO has just promised to do. 

Even IF GM rolls out a Volt by 2010, even IF it offers better performance than the next generation PHEV Prius, even IF it can compete with the segment leader on price, even IF it sells well, even IF it proves to be a reliable automobile, even IF it continues to sell, GM's Car Czar has already destroyed the Detroit automaker's credibility. And here's the real problem: the Volt probably won't do any of these things. 

John F. Kennedy entered the space race saying a moon shot "will be done in the decade." GM has refused to fully  commit itself to any deadline for the Volt, making the Hail Mary PHEV's appearance a moving target. Why? To avoid responsibility. And it is that difference– the difference between a culture of genuine accountability and GM's culture of endless streams of false, unrealized promises– that hobbles the Volt, and has brought GM to its knees. 

Speaking at the North American International Auto Show, GM's head of NorAm Ops revealed that a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) version of the Saturn Vue could appear in 2010– gazumping the much-hyped Chevrolet Volt. "For the Volt we are re-engineering an entire vehicle to be optimally designed to support the architecture," Troy Clarke told Reuters. "At the Saturn Vue we are adapting an electric drive system to an existing architecture. It's a quicker way to do it." Clarke's startling announcement– who'd a thunk GM itself would steal thunder from the much-hyped Volt?– comes complete with caveats. The PHEV Saturn Vue would use "different kinds of batteries" to run 10 miles on the power pack alone, while the Chevrolet Volt is being designed to run 40 miles before the gas engine kicks-in. "We don't want to deteriorate the capability of the Vue," Clarke insisted. "It still needs to tow 3,500 pounds, which the Volt will not do. But then the Volt will be one of the most energy-efficient vehicles in the world." Question: how many potential PHEV Vue owners care about towing? Or put it this way: a PHEV Vue owner saves gas so he/she can tow a gas-burning jet-ski or snowmobile? The mind boggles. 

A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about GM's "challenges" with the Volt's lithium-ion battery. Now GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz (a.k.a. God's gift to TTAC) wants to set the record straight: "All of the battery testing is going well." The Car Czar explained everyone was confused because of the various chemical combinations used in different batteries. For example, current technology uses cobalt (the element, not the Chevy) which can lead to "thermal runaway" (a.k.a, a virtually unstoppable fire). Instead, GM is looking into other strategies like nano phosphates and manganese. In fact, MB said taking a generic view of lithium-ion technology is "like saying (something like) ‘You know that beverages can cause alcoholism.' No, Coca Cola doesn't." Oh, and the Car Czar's most recent estimate of when GM will have something test-worthy has moved, from Easter to this summer. For now.

The heat is on the Chevrolet Volt's yes/no/yes/no/maybe 2010 timeline. Bloomberg reports that Toyota has reversed course, set aside their publicly declared antipathy to lithium-ion batteries and announced their intention to have a plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) by, coincidentally enough, the Volt's 2010 deadline. "The company will provide a significant number of plug-in hybrids to global fleet customers," Bloomberg revealed. "With a large percentage coming to the U.S., President Katsuaki Watanabe said at the Detroit auto show yesterday, without elaborating. The cars will help Toyota meet new U.S. fuel-economy rules early, he said." Uh, isn't that second bit considered elaboration? Still, point taken. While GM execs Luzt and Wagoner have been shooting their mouths off about the Volt in a consistently contradictory fashion, Watanabe simply says "we're going to do it" and then, if past history is a guide, does it. "You combine Toyota's experience with nickel metal, the lithium expertise for Panasonic and lithium research from Toyota, definitely they are the strongest player,'' said Menahem Anderman, president of the Advanced Automotive Batteries consulting firm.

Chevrolet's much-hyped hybrid Volt depends entirely on cutting edge lithium-ion batteries– which is kinda weird as the car has one of the shortest development times in modern automotive history. Any delay in battery testing and development and GM's 2010 launch date will pass quicker than bad curry. Kudos to Autobloggreen for staying on top of the Volt's progress– not to mention understanding battery technology enough to ask the Volt folk intelligent questions. In fact, the discussion is so damn intelligent I'm depending on Wired to interpret the answers. And the high tech industry mag says GM hasn't received the latest A123 batteries it was "supposed to be testing last month." Uh oh. On the positive side, perhaps, "Denise Gray, the company's director of energy storage systems, uses the phrase 'so far, so good' four times while discussing the test results." Fingers crossed? "GM still has to strike a balance between power, energy storage and performance during extremely hot or cold weather." Not to mention "normal" weather. While the Volt is the one part of GM that seems to operating with what industry analyst Mary-Ann Keller called for many moons ago– a sense or urgency– there's a long, long way between final prototype and working production model. And an even wider gap between initial production model and successful product. Just look at the first Toyota Prius. Or, if you really want a clear picture of the mountain the Volt has to climb, the next Prius.