Chrysler is killing its dedicated electric car program. General Motors is moving forward with its sleek electric-drive Caddy. What do these two news flashes tell us about Detroit’s prospects in the bold new era of EVs and plug-in hybrids? And what about that other Detroit car company?
Nissan released an image yesterday of a light commercial electric vehicle concept. It’s just a sketch, but the drawing signals that Nissan is moving forward with plans to build an entire electric vehicle program—rather than focusing on a single vehicle.
The first mainstream cars that plug into the electric grid are not expected for another year—but the battle to provide charging and battery services to those early adopters is already heating up. The tension between two companies—General Motors and Better Place—which might provide those services was palpable on Monday during a panel discussion in Palo Alto, Calif., entitled “Electric Cars: Transformational Change or Niche Trend?”
The smash hit IPO of lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems is sending waves of euphoria through the clean tech and plug-in car market. Mass.-based A123 Systems is now worth nearly $2 billion—indicating huge investor confidence in the future of electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and the batteries that make them go. Yet, A123 has yet to make a profit and faces significant hurdles to mass commercial success.
General Motors is working hard to establish itself as a leader in the market for high-tech eco-friendly vehicles, but its actions since coming out of bankruptcy raise doubts about the depth of the company’s environment commitment. The "New GM" is technically a new company cleared of legal responsibilities for cleaning up its legacy toxic sites and safely recycling products containing mercury. But the company could face greater scrutiny in the court of public perception.
Taking its place right next to other great existential riddles—such as “What is the sound of one hand clapping?"—GM’s claim that the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid will get 230 mpg left journalists bewildered about its meaning. Check out our favorite candidates for the best explanation of a number that defies explanation.
General Motors announced Tuesday that the Chevy Volt could get a government in-city fuel economy rating of “230 miles per gallon.” While the potential for a three-digit mpg rating is grabbing headlines, figuring out what it means is another matter. What's the significance of MPG in a vehicle which seldom or never uses gallons of liquid fuel?
Toyota is boosting production—and the image—of its star hybrid, the Toyota Prius. As the company celebrates big sales numbers for the just-released third-generation Prius in Japan, it is also fighting a publicity campaign in the US against competing green car technologies.
In the direct aftermath of General Motors filing for Chapter 11 this morning, the fate of the Chevy Volt remains unclear. Does it make sense to save an expensive future product that will lose money for many years? How many will be made? How much will it cost? How will it be marketed? When is it expected to turn a profit?
The dismal economy is forcing companies, and individuals, to make tough decisions about what is essential, and what can get tossed aside to save a buck. In the past, car companies might have shelved green car technologies as nice-to-have but too expensive and not really critical. However, this time around, the world’s major automakers are holding firm to plans for hybrid gas-electric cars, pure electric vehicles, and other fuel-saving programs.
When President Barack Obama walked into Southern California Edison’s electric-vehicle test facility today, he visited what may be the highest concentration of electric vehicles in North America. The president’s goal, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, was to highlight the role of plug-in cars in creating “clean energy jobs” that will spur economic growth.
Piaggio Group, the maker of Vespa scooters, said that it will sell a plug-in hybrid scooter in the United States by early 2010. If the company delivers on its plans, it will be the first plug-in hybrid vehicle on American roads—beating the Chevrolet Volt by six months or more. The combined fuel economy will be approximately 140 miles per gallon. The acceleration will be rip-roaring fast: 0 – 60 in about 5 seconds.
At last month's Chicago Auto Show, GM added another dimension to the Chevy Volt story: the push for suppliers to develop energy-saving components in every nook and cranny of the vehicle.
A new study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University says that plug-in hybrids with 40 miles of all-electric range are less cost-effective than hybrids with smaller battery packs. This follows other recent reports of disappointing mileage from plug-in hybrid testing fleets.
Unless General Motors makes fundamental changes in its basic decision-making process, the company will be “back at the public trough again and again," according to Rob Kleinbaum, who has consulted and worked for GM for the last 24 years. According to Kleinbaum, GM has false hopes that the Chevrolet Volt will save the company. GM returns to Washington next week for more bailout money.
While major carmakers have dragged their heels on delivering the next big breakthrough on fuel efficiency, the plug-in hybrid, a small group of California entrepreneurs and innovators have made it possible for consumers to convert existing hybrids into plug-in cars running mostly on electricity. Yet, later this week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is expected to adopt new regulations that could put many of those conversion companies out of business.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is accused of squelching a negative report about electric cars because of personal connections. Companies owned by French industrial magnates Vincent Bolloré and Serge Dassault are major investors in the development of electric cars, including the Pininfarina B0 (B Zero).
GM today downplayed a report in Automotive News, an industry publication, that it would be cutting off nearly all product development spending for the next two years in an effort to trim as much as $1.5 billion in spending. Several planned hybrids are also likely to be victims of the cuts. But the Chevrolet Volt has been spared at this time.
When you imagine plugging an electric or plug-in hybrid car into the wall to recharge, what do you envision in your hand? A standard orange extension cord? Time to change that picture; production electric-drive vehicles will all use a special cord, with a plug and socket on the car end that’s unlike any you’ve seen before. (Photo by Zevotron via flickr creative commons.)
As the current congress scrambles to pass an energy bill before its term expires at the end of the year, some parts of the House version of the legislation should be of note to green car enthusiasts.
The drop in oil prices—more than $50 off the record high price of $147.27 a barrel on July 11—raises questions about how soon auto companies will deliver on exciting plans for “game-changing” alternative vehicles.
Over the past year, GM has teased the public with successive glimpses of more and more of the much-hyped Chevy Volt. Now, the first set of photos of the whole car—shown behind the development team executives—have been “leaked” on several enthusiast websites.
Continuing to tease the public and the media with details on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the car’s designer today showed a handful of slides that revealed further details of the car’s design. The entire car won’t be revealed until the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
If you were to visualize the most enthusiastic supporter of the much-touted Chevrolet Volt—someone who rallies thousands on its behalf, who blogs daily, whose influence and prestige garners invites to speak with top GM brass—what would that person look like? Probably not Lyle Dennis, a mild-mannered suburban neurologist from New Jersey.
The cover story of the current issue of IEEE Spectrum is a profile of Denise Gray, the GM executive in charge of making sure that the Volt’s battery packs are delivered—on time, in adequate quantities, at an acceptable cost. That could be the most critical role for the project.
Kicking off what campaign advisors have dubbed "energy week," Barack Obama today called for an "end to the age of oil in our time." He backed up his trademark optimism with the most dramatic auto technology proposals of the 2008 campaign cycle. Obama said he hopes to see 1 million plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
The American automobile industry is very large and very complex. In a recent conference held in Las Vegas, David Kiley of BusinessWeek and Peter De Lorenzo of Autoextremist.com tried to make sense of it. They talked about cars that run on green beans, vapor and tinsel marketing, and dying roses.
Speaking at the Plug-in 2008 conference in San Jose, Calif., Andy Grove, former Chairman & CEO, Intel Corporation, added his voice to the chorus of government and business leaders calling for electricity-powered vehicles and the mass deployment of plug-in hybrids. HybridCars.com spoke with Jon Lauckner, who is leading General Motors' effort to launch the Chevy Volt, about what it will take to turn such a plan into reality.
General Motors can’t catch a break with its green car plans. As hybrids steadily gained market share in the first half of this decade, the company stayed out of the game. When GM finally stepped forward, it did so with all of the passion of a CPA—all numbers and no guts. Finally, GM executives threw all caution to the wind and conceived the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid—an inspiring vision of what a vehicle could be at the beginning of the post-petroleum age. Unfortunately, GM might have missed the mark again—this time completing tossing out the business planning that it over-applied in the past.
The Chevy Volt concept car has been put out to stud. Its final public appearance was last week, at the Brookings Institute plug-in hybrid conference held in Washington, DC. GM has announced it will no longer be shown in public, and that the styling of the production Volt will be unveiled “soon." So what will the actual Volt look like? It will have to me much more aerodynamic, and from the few glimpses we've had thus far, the body design may just resemble that of the Toyota Prius.
General Motors CEO, Richard Wagoner, announced today that the company will shut down four North American plants in a move designed to shift production away from pickups and SUVs, toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Wagoner said that the plan comes in response to a rapid change in consumer behavior tied to rising fuel costs, a trend that he did not expect to reverse soon.
Later this month, General Motors will begin real-world testing a fleet of Chevrolet Malibus outfitted with lithium ion battery technology—as part of a push to bring the Chevrolet Volt concept vehicle to market.
It's been more than a year since General Motors unveiled its visionary Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid concept vehicle—and GM executives are showing a level of dedication bordering on zeal. But enthusiasm, and even a big budget, doesn’t ensure GM’s victory against those who might kill the Volt.
Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman for product development, told a group of automotive journalists that the feasibility of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid concept will be proven by next Easter. By that time, he said that GM will have put the Volt’s electric drive system and lithium batteries in stripped down Chevy Malibu bodies—referred to as “mule” vehicles—and tested the ability of the Volt system to achieve 40 miles of gas-free range. Mr. Lutz made his comments in San Francisco at a meeting of the Western Automotive Journalists association.
