What is it with this PR conference speech? Why are we getting GM Car Czar Bob Lutz’ bon mots in les dribs and drabs? In this latest instalment from the spinmeisters ho’ down [via The Detroit Fress Press], Maximum Bob almost breaks his arm, patting himself on the back for being so open with the press about the Volt’s progress– or lack thereof (although he doesn’t say that, obviously). “In the unlikely event that we were going to hit some huge stumbling block, we wanted the world to kind of see how we got to that stumbling block and what that stumbling block was. As it happens, luckily, we don’t seem to be encountering any stumbling blocks.” Wow! Has Bob forgotten that the Volt blew past its original deadline like a Dodge Viper passing a Chevy Aveo? Meanwhile, the car is a raging success. “Volt has received 95% hugely positive coverage and has become really an iconic vehicle, which is strange to say about a vehicle that is not out yet.” Strange, and wonderful, really.

Reuters reports that the wait is over! GM has finally picked a water pump supplier for its plug-in electric – gas hybrid Hail Mary, the Chevy Volt. That’s right, Morrisville, N.C.-based Buehler Motor will supply 12-watt and 50-watt auxiliary water pumps necessary to circulate coolant through the Volt’s subsystems. Not that cooling is something to take lightly, as the Volt’s Lithium-Ion batteries will probably need some fairly extensive thermal management. (Laptop dancing anyone?) Despite publicly acknowledging that the batteries are the Volt’s most crucial component (duh), GM has still not decided on a battery supplier for its E-FLEX platform. The long-running competition between LG Chem and Conti-A123 for a lucrative battery supply contract is still ongoing, despite the intense pressure on GM to meet its 2010 rollout goal. So is GM testing both batteries in vehicle applications, or is it leaving reliability and performance in the hands of in-house development testing? It’s anybodys guess at this point, and every day 2010 gets just a little bit closer. For GM, and its competitors.

Car And Driver is bucking its Detroit-loving rep by running a blog post by Steve Siler that is just a little bit critical of Chevy’s Volt EREV. “With the splashy reveal safely behind us, we’ve taken several opportunities to look more critically at the Volt, studying the design, crawling around inside, and interviewing—make that interrogating—many of those responsible for making it a reality, including Bob Lutz, vice president of global product development, and Jon Lauckner, vice president of global project management. They all promise a game-changer certainly for GM, and over time, possibly the world,” writes Siler. “Still,” run-on sentences aside, Siler reckons that “a reality check is in order.” Siler bemoans the clutchless shift from concept styling to production model, saying “Bye-Bye, Gangsta-Mini. Hello, Sensible Sedan.” “Frankly, we think (the production model) comes across pretty awful in pictures, but we can attest that it appears well proportioned and convincingly cool in person: the details indeed carry the day,” says Siler. The post goes on to call the Volt’s iPod-ripoff interior “a little gimmicky,” and savages the Volt for not offering enough interior room for a dog. No word though on the Volt’s likely astronomical price-tag or government-subsidized production. Still, even the most mild criticism of the Volt is worth noting when it comes from a publication that’s as Detroit-friendly as C/D.

Rest easy America, your government has appropriated $700b of your malaise-busting tax dollars to fix the economy… and fatten up a few pet projects. As Farago reports, auto loans were bundled into the “distressed assets” category, but that’s not the only handout the industry received just days after the passage of its own special bailout. The Detroit News reports that hidden away in the 451 pages of the “Extreme Bailout: Wall Street Edition” is nearly a billion dollars worth of consumer credits to buyers of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). We’ve always preferred consumer-end stimulus to the production subsidies awarded last week, but apparently Detroit gets to have its pork and eat it too. And like the retooling loans, the tax credit seems tailor-made for Detroit. Under new rules, any PHEV with at least 4kw battery capacity would qualify for $4,168 credit, but (thanks to its serial-hybrid setup) the Volt’s high-capacity battery would make it qualify for the top passenger vehicle tax break of $7,500. Larger credits exist for vehicles over 10k pounds, but all credits expire after 250k qualifying units are built. With $7,500 off the top, state and federal production subsidies, and more hype than a David Blaine special, the Volt had better amount to something… other than a boondoggle.

GM has been heavily advertising its bailout bait (a.k.a. Chevrolet Volt) since the concept car was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show on January 7, 2007. Strangely, I haven’t seen a single TV or print ad featuring the new, less chop-topped bodywork. Where was I? Oh yes… From a PR perspective, GM’s electric – gas “extended range EV” has been a singular success (literally). So it’s no surprise that a Canadian power company looking to greenwash its image is jumping into bed with The General to get a Jolt from their Volt™. Ontario Power’s press release reveals that they’ve launched a two-month ad campaign that “features a 30-second TV commerical showcasing the environmental benefits of plug-in electric vehicles. The TV ads are supplemented by print, billboard and internet advertising that feature the upcoming Chevy Volt Extended Range Electric Vehicle.” In case you were wondering, that’s an EV with a “range extending power source– a small gasoline engine– that will engage seamlessly to recharge its batteries.” Only, uh, it doesn’t. Anyway, look for this “let THEM pay for it” ad deal to be replicated at a power company near you. [thanks to emro for the link]

It find it more than a little ironic that the animation on GM’s Volt media website offers an embed code that doesn’t work. Thankfully, GM is web enough to give the average car nerd access to its propaganda, so you can click on over and see what all the fuss is about (hit the little higher res button under the image). The cartoon in question– complete with the kind of background music you’d find at a Lebanese restaurant– clearly indicates the Volt will not recharge its batteries until its owner plugs it in. So, are we to assume that once Chevy’s hybrid depletes its battery to about 30 percent of charge, after a [maximum] of 40 miles (downhill, wind at your back), the Hail Mary’s 1.4-liter ICE mini-mill will sustain the generator sufficiently to maintain something other than really crap performance? Good luck with that.

As we reported in our last exciting episode, a big, fat EPA rating on the Volt’s hood is crucial to the project’s success. The LA Times reports that the Volt’s vehicle-line director Tony Posawatz now claims that the EPA has “agreed to a testing method that will produce a rating of at least 100 mpg.” The EPA says it still needs time to determine a fair testing method for plug-in models that burn no gas in their initial EV range. But GM wants it done soon, dammit. Posawatz says The General would share mileage data from the Volt’s onboard computers to verify real-world performance if the EPA would grant the certification now. Posawatz estimates the Volt’s theoretical EPA rating at 120 mpg to 200 mpg, “depending on assumptions about how much gasoline is consumed after the battery loses its charge on the road.” Meanwhile, Don Foley of the Automotive X-Prize would like to remind everyone that “reliance on an mpg standard alone will soon be outdated and will not accurately reflect the need for higher fuel efficiency.” Word. The X-Prize’s mpge (miles per gallon equivalent) is a far better measure of energy use. Hey! Why isn’t GM entering the Volt in the $10m competition? Maybe the EPA mpg standards are easier to game.

While we await clarification on how the plug-in electric – gas Chevy Volt’s battery/generator/engine interface works, the stakes just got a lot higher. Automotive News [sub] reports that GM has asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to classify the Volt as an electric vehicle. “Normally, a vehicle is run on an EPA test loop, consisting of both city and highway driving, to measure tailpipe pollutants and provide data for calculating fuel economy. But for electrics, which have no emissions, the government uses a Department of Energy mathematical formula to translate energy use into some equivalent of miles per gallon of gasoline.” And here’s the kicker: the EPA loop is longer than 40 miles. So how do you test a vehicle that– in theory– runs for 40 miles on battery power and then does, uh, something else with its gas engine? While they sort that out– good luck using politics to sway the EPA– the California Air Resources Board has given the Volt “preliminary certification” as an electric. While the prestigious Society of Automotive Engineers considers the Volt a hybrid (imagine that). If the EPA classifies the Volt an EV, GM would have an enormous marketing advantage over the market-leading (owning?) Toyota Prius, AND receive a HUGE boost to the automaker’s federally-mandated Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. [TTAC’s Michael Karesh has a proposal for a third EPA standard here.]

As we reported previously, the plug-in electric – gas Chevrolet Volt will not, as originally stated, recharge its batteries on the fly. Which raises all kinds of questions about exactly what it DOES do, how it does it, how much it will cost to do it and why they’re doing it the way they’re doing it. While GM didn’t step-up and spill the beans on this mission critical mechanical issue (they were “outed” by Edmunds), an eagle-eyed TTAC reader spotted a post-facto mea culpa at the bottom of a USA Today article on the company’s investment in Flint. “GM initially said the Volt would be able to run 40 miles on its lithium-ion batteries, with a small internal combustion engine recharging the batteries to extend the range hundreds of miles. A top executive said the same thing as recently as last week. But company spokesman Rob Peterson said Wednesday that engineers changed the design so the Volt engine will power a generator that would run the electric motor after the batteries are depleted. A small amount of power from the generator will recharge the batteries, but most will be used to directly run the car, he said. He said bypassing the batteries is more efficient, and GM did not intend to deceive people by maintaining that he motor would only be used to recharge the batteries. ‘At the end of the day, to the consumer, the vehicle will operate much the same way,’ he said.” [thanks to peteinson for the link]

After tearing the Volt a new one last week for being expensive, overhyped and incapable of charging its own batteries, Automotive News Editor David Sedgwick is suffering from what we at TTAC like to call a “bile hangover.” After lunching with the suits at RenCen, Sedgwick is back-peddling furiously. And how exactly does the Volt make sense now? Change the badge to Cadillac, baby! Now, I may not get invited to the RenCen for poached salmon with Cadillac GM Jim Taylor, but I’ve already asked why the $40k-ish Volt isn’t being sold as a Caddy. Sedgwick says that the Caddy Volt concept is fueling internal debate between Cadillac’s futurists (who vote aye) and traditionalists (who want a new STS/DTS flagship). Yes, but– if Caddy it is, GM will have wasted hundreds of PR billable hours trying to convince everyone that a $40k mainstream Chevy isn’t an outlandish proposition. And the Volt’s bailout-fodder status requires some kind of volks wagen appeal; while a $40k Chevy is a tough pill to swallow, a taxpayer-funded Cadillac could create a nasty backlash. Besides, Sedgwick’s claim that the Volt would be “the world’s first green luxury car” conveniently forgets the LS600h in the room. Or am I just jealous that I don’t get invited to lunch with Cadillac honchos?

As Farago mentioned earlier, the Senate has approved a consumer-end PHEV tax credit of $2,500-$7,500, which Automotive News (sub) modestly calls “Volt-friendly.” By which they mean it was designed specifically for the Volt, making the size of the credit dependent on how much charge a qualifying vehicle’s battery can hold. And though battery capacity is a poor measure of efficiency, choosing that metric handily favors the Volt’s EREV design which qualifies for the maximum tax break, while Toyota’s plug-in Prius won’t. And people say that GM’s $14.3m lobbying budget is a waste of money. But America’s Volt subsidy isn’t limited to DC. The Michigan Economic Growth Authority has approved $130m in tax breaks to attract Volt production to the state. The package includes a $122.5 million state tax credit over 15 years for the $838m overall investment and a $10 million brownfield tax credit for the Flint engine plant construction. Automotive News (sub) reports that GM need only retain about ten percent of the 20k jobs at the five existing sites to qualify for the tax benefits. With GM getting a chunk of the $25b bailout loans for production plus $130m in tax breaks and a $7,500 consumer tax break for consumers, the Volt had better freaking cost less than $40k. Not that anyone’s holding their breath.

Edmunds Inside Line reveals that GM has changed their propulsion plans for the plug-in electric – gas hybrid electric Volt. We were laboring under the impression– created by GM’s itself– that the Volt would complete its [theoretical] 40-mile all-electric range and then use its internal combustion engine to recharge the batteries on the fly. Nope. “A release from the day of the production prototype’s reveal reads, ‘a gasoline/E85-powered engine generator seamlessly provides electricity to power the Volt’s electric drive unit while simultaneously sustaining the charge of the battery.’ And by ‘sustaining’ GM says that it means only that no additional power is drained from the batteries.” Get it? If not… “Once a driver uses up his 40 or so miles of electric power, the 1.4-liter gas engine generates electricity to power the electric drive motor, but does not recharge the batteries. After the 40 or so miles, the battery becomes 400 pounds of uselessness, at least until the owner can plug the car into the electrical grid for a recharge. This means that regardless of how far one drives the Volt, the driver will only ever get up to 40 miles of electric-only range.”

Though Automotive News [sub] is better known for their comprehensive industry news coverage than their take-no-prisoners opinion pieces, Editor David Sedgwick doesn’t pull any punches while slamming the Volt in a recent editorial. Sedgwick admits to “a queasy feeling that GM has painted itself into a corner by generating so much hype for a car that is too limited for most consumers,” noting that weaknesses in both price point and capabilities will limit the Volt’s effectiveness in the market. The price point issue is well documented, but the Volt’s performance is what worries Sedgwick the most. In particular, GM’s apparent decision to use the E-Flex’s range-extending motor to simply generate electricity and not to recharge batteries looks to be an extremely limiting factor. “If you can’t plug in your vehicle at night,” argues Sedgwick, “that high-tech battery pack will be as useful as an anchor for your bass boat.” Sedgwick reckons that the forthcoming Cruze should be getting at least as much attention as the Volt. “We’ve been down this road before. GM doesn’t need a halo car. It needs a car — a small car — that can make money. If GM can’t learn to make money on small cars, it won’t survive.” Given a choice, Sedgwick would pick the Cruze, and if GM wants to stay in business it would do well to listen. After all, if a man who lives and breathes cars and is well-compensated enough to consider “your bass boat” a folksy analogy thinks the Volt isn’t worth the money, well… you get the picture.

We’ve given Alex Taylor III grief about remaining in Detroit denial. Well, you can forget all that. Fortune‘s Senior Writer rips GM’s plug-in electric – gas hybrid a new asshole in his latest epistle “Will the Chevy Volt save the world? Please! It isn’t even enough to save General Motors.” In paragraph two, Taylor’s unloads both barrels of his rhetorical shotgun. “To put the Volt in perspective, it is an expensive, low-volume automobile that will have no visible impact on GM’s market share, CAFÉ average or profitability. One cynic calls it ‘a Viper for tree huggers.'” I’d lose the diactritic mark over the “E,” but you can’t fault the man’s logic. “Even if GM can meet its deadlines and the Volt turns out to be a huge success, it isn’t going to matter to most people. At best, it will become a second or third car in the garages of the affluent.” Nor can you question Taylor’s TTAC-like editorial commitment, or penchant for Parisian metaphors. “Except for its celebrity appeal, the Volt is about as relevant to the survival of GM, much less the world, as Paris Hilton is to the future of Western civilization.” [thanks to mudhen for the link]