Comments on: Leftlane tours GM’s Volt design studio

By: jdasch1

jdasch1 — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:26:59 +0000

EV-1 got 100+ miles on a charge with lead acid batteries. With the NiMH Panasonic EV batteries it got 150 miles per charge….that was 1997! Its 10 years later and they are trying to get 40 miles out of the new advanced battery pack not yet tested enough. GM won’t be the first but it does know how to do it. They really don’t want to go there just yet. Electric drive cars don’t break, and don’t give people the most common reason why they need a new car…mechanical failure. The batteries are the only weak link, and if they get to a lease/trade in basis for the battery pack, they will succeed.

By: DeansterTJ

DeansterTJ — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:46:14 +0000

Engineering is a science

By: autonut

autonut — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:20:05 +0000

1. EV1 was dead almost 10 years ago. Volt is brand new technology (especially batteries which are not yet developed).
2. EV1 was killed because it was complete failure. I don’t think failures moves technology forward (failures are acceptable result in science, not in engineering).

By: Brendino

Brendino — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:17:21 +0000

Does their experience with the EV1 help them as they develop the Volt?

By: mazdaman

mazdaman — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:04:56 +0000

It will be interesting to see the resulting production version after it has been thoroughly tweaked. As long as they keep the character of the concept and don’t dilute it with a lot of cheap, cost cutting solutions, then it should still be another successful product for GM. Some of the comments in the article have me a little worried, but I’m going to hold on to my faith that GM can still pull this one off. Their track record had been excellent lately.

By: corvette

corvette — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:33:36 +0000

i cant wait for the Volt to hit production its going to complete GM’s turnaround.

By: SwerveEarly

SwerveEarly — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:27:42 +0000

If the batteries are not ready they will just sell it any ways, but with a longer cord.

By: autonut

autonut — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:28:48 +0000

Murphy (the one who wrote Murphy law) advises to believe nothing what you hear(in the case of LLN read) and only half of what you see. I will have more confidence in the Volt when CEO Rick Wagoner will state that it is production specimen, not when CEO states that production date is fluid. Regardless how vehicle is shaped, which will please some and not the others, I did not read about batteries, production volume or capacity to manufacture batteries or even test on those batteries, which I believe is the key to the whole thing. The last sentence states: “As long as the battery development keeps on track”. Batteries should be well developed and to meet production goal in 2010 the supplier or the production facility of GM should be confirmed and set to go.

According to Fidel Castro Cuba is the pinnacle of civilization. Yes, he reiterated it few days ago to President of Brazil ! And BTW there are a few million schmacks in Cuba who believe as well as in US and Brazil.

By: gizmo2

gizmo2 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:57:38 +0000

Forget the design for now. If the powertrain does what GM says that the good news. Series Hybrid has always been the best way to go but all the manufacturers played it down because they didn’t want to get rid of their big blocks. Go GM bring the Volt, then I will buy an hybrid

By: Rover3500

Rover3500 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:54:22 +0000

I dont see the point of the drop down into the door unless its clear..if they make it black plastic the that will be ugly as sin.

By: jdasch1

jdasch1 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:42:22 +0000

No car company yet has been able guarentee a traction battery for the 10 years that would be required. This is the deal killer I believe for all of them. The batteries will have to be leased to make the plug in hybrid or full battery electric saleable and profitable. I doubt that GM will be the first to get it done…but lots of positive PR in the meantime.

By: F451

F451 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:05:53 +0000

Even if GM doesn’t make the battery technology deadlines at least they will have been studying other components, and designs needed. When the battery technology arrives, they GM will be ready (or should be ready).

By: jdasch1

jdasch1 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:06:50 +0000

“As long as the battery development keeps on track”…..modern day weasel clause. Its all about the batteries, not the wind tunnel.

By: GIUGIK1

GIUGIK1 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:13:24 +0000

Then concept was nice. The “more fluid ” follow-up was nice. If it has a nice interior, and I do mean NICE INTERIOR , then all of my family and close relatives will be getting a new car. All 7 of us.

By: joshprentice

joshprentice — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:34:20 +0000

It’s kinda nice to see GM take a real dedicated step twords what could really change the look of the company. I can’t wait to see what they’ve done.

By: S-60-driver

S-60-driver — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:33:25 +0000

it better work like hell. No breaking down after 5,000 miles. Im worrying about how, like laptops’ batteries run down every year with full charge that last 2 and half hours when brand new, to just 25 mins after three years. It sucks.

^ V-series, thats ok, i dont even get that sentence part. Just like the rest of GM cars/trucks!! ha

By: V-series

V-series — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:24:22 +0000

“The interior, however, is lagging slightly behind the interior.” …. What?

By: stick2clutch

stick2clutch — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:10:31 +0000

Sounds like GM means business… It’s like a side of GM we haven’t seen for a long time until recently.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:07:11 +0000

OK, are all the naysayers convinced that maybe- just maybe- it might be the real deal?

By: F451

F451 — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 02:40:04 +0000

Damnit…where are the photographs? Cool that you got to take the tour!