General Motors is considering an unusual program to keep the price of the Chevy Volt within the grasp of the average auto buyer: renting them the battery pack. The Financial Times reports that GM is considering selling the car for the price of a Chevy Malibu, and then charging owners a monthly rental fee for the batteries. Volt chief engineer Frank Weber estimates an average owner would pay about $25/month for gas, compared to $125 for a traditional Malibu. The battery pack would rent for about $100/month giving a similar total operating cost. Oops! Unless we're missing something, Weber forgot the cost of plugging in to recharge the battery. Since the primary reason most people look at any kind of hybrid is lower operating cost, we've got to say this seems like a bone-headed self-defeating marketing idea.

Yesterday, we reported on Tesla and Toyota's [potential] troubles with lithium-ion batteries. Little did we know there'd be an explosion (so to speak) of Li-ion news. Detroit Free Press reports that GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz announced an "expanded" deal with lithium-ion battery maker A123Systems (first in the phone book!). The Watertown, MA company will develop nanophosphate-based Li-Ion battery packs for GM's E-Flex hybrid system.  "I think that our No. 1 competitor has some problems with their technology, and I do think that it very definitely opens a window of opportunity for us to be first to market with a genuine plug-in hybrid." Lutz promised to have the technology sorted by 2010, when GM's E-Flex-equipped Volt is scheduled to appear at a Chevy dealer near you. Meanwhile, Automotive News [sub] also reveals that Chrysler will shove some lithium-ion batteries into their Sprinter vans this fall. As for fire and explosions… ""We are approaching safety…with a layered system approach," says Johnson Controls-Saft engineer Mary-Ann Wright. "We will ensure safety performance is achieved at the cell, pack and system level." Sounds like a plan.

Who killed the electric vehicle? Range and recharge times. Alt propulsion supporters are happy to compromise “normal” modern day purchase parameters– a car’s looks, acceleration, cargo capacity, passenger space, safety, towing, convenience, range, price, etc.– to cater to their political or environmental beliefs.  Mainstream consumers are not. In other words, GM’s EV1 was not a mainstream vehicle. Hence its demise. The question for GM’s E-Flex Propulsion people now becomes: will the Volt EVer be ready for prime time? If so, will it be ready in time, or will transplant technology pass it by? Press play below for Part two of my interview with E-Flex Propulsion Systems' Line Director Tony Posawatz. 

When Chevrolet unveiled their Volt plug-in concept car at the Detroit auto show, skeptics derided the effort as a pie-in-the-sky PC PR ploy. The Volt project’s credibility certainly wasn’t helped when the company had to backpedal from GM Car Czar Bob Lutz’ 2010 production prediction. (Maximum Bob going off half-cocked at an auto show? Now there’s a surprise.) At the risk of whipping Tesla’s true believers into another self-righteous frenzy, I decided to call GM’s E-Flex Propulsion Systems to see if they’d firmed-up their plans. The project's Vehicle Line Director, the appropriately named Tony Posawatz, was happy to oblige. Click play below for part one.