April25
Spy photographers recently spotted a mule for the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, but it was later revealed that it was actually just a ride and handling mule and had the drivetrain from the donor Chevrolet Malibu. Another round of shots emerged showing a Volt mule with an electric drivetrain, but it was revealed that it wasn’t using a lithium-ion battery pack. But GM is apparently testing the real deal behind closed doors as GM chairman Bob Lutz revealed that a test mule for the Volt with lithium-ion batteries is on the road testing.
In an interview with The Detroit News, Lutz revealed that a lithium-ion powered Volt mule is undergoing testing, and even poked fun at the recent spy shots of the not quite so complete mules. “We’ve got the first car running (with lithium-ion batteries) … and what the guys get on ’sightings’ is a picture of an old Malibu with black wheels and a very long extension cord,” he said chuckling at the thought.
Because lithium-ion battery technology is seen as the Volt’s biggest hurdle, it’s a major milestone that GM is able to test the Volt’s (pre)production powertrain in a mule this early.
The Volt’s lithium-ion batteries reached another milestone earlier this year when engineers discovered a way to simulate 10 years of use in just 2 years of testing.
With the lithium-ion powered Volt on the road testing somewhere, it shouldn’t be long until spy photographers capture the first images.
More Volt news please; less Lutz mention. Thanks. Where are the “real” spokespeople for the Volt? You know, the ones who are actually working on it, and know what they are talking about versus some arrogant overpaid mouthpiece?
I’m sure he really would like to talk about the falling price of gasoline…but he has to come up with something about the Volt to talk about. Every automaker is testing mules with Lithium-Ion. Ford has the Escape test fleet, Toyota has the Prius test fleet, and on and on. Just give us 20 miles of plug in to start..thats all you need to get a game changer going. Lithium is not the answer yet. Expensive and not road ready. Use the NiMh batteries and rock on! Oh thats right…Chevron oil owns that patent.
Where is all this electricity going to come from ?
We can’t burn coal, no nuclear, and wind power or solar can’t supply demand. Natural gas plants are clean but cost a fortune to run.
Horses…..that’s the answer….everyone go back 100 years and buy a horse and live in crowded congested cites.
I’ve got nothing!
I guarantee more people think the Volt looks better than the Prius. Looks sell!
Am I the only one having math problems: if engineers developed methodology to test 10 years in 2 years and started testing recently does this mean that Volt will be production ready for 2011 model year if there are no problems to fix? Or it will be out for production in 2010 model year as promises without going full testing cycle? 2010 model year starts in 15-16 months (actual construction on assembly line to meet October start date).
xyunya, you made a good point. It is either Volt will come out half baked for 2010 season or it will be fully tested for later introduction. It does not look like GM has time to test car for 2010 based on their own admission.
GM has been making half baked cars for years. They will never-ever learn not to sell cars without the kinks worked out.
What disappointed me the most was that it’s planned to use the Delta Platform, the same one underneath the Cobalt.
xyunya- The testing on the batteries has been going on for a while (few months, not very long), they only recently announced it. They could get the Volt out mid to late 2010 with full testing.
The speculative math used to question the Volt’s release date is dependent solely on when GM actually started testing the vehicle… just because they’re just now admitting it doesn’t necessarily mean that they haven’t been testing them for a little while now.
Whether it’s 2010 or 2011 is irrelevant… all that matters is that they get this car to the dealers, which we have no reason to believe they’re not serious about.
As was already mentioned… this car will be a game-changer as long as it gets at least 20 miles on plug-in. I know my daily commute to work is 10 miles each way… So if I can go to work every day without using a drop of gas then that’ll be phenomenal… I’d say I drive 250 miles a week… If at a minimum of 20 miles per charge and assuming an 8 hour charge time (which means I could plug in for an almost full charge at work), that means my weekly gas usage will be decreased by 84%…. if it actually comes out closer to the 40 miles that they’re saying - I won’t have to use any gas at all. Either way… it’s nothing less than astounding.
And as far as the environmental impact is concerned, it’s irrelevant…. they’re not building this and people aren’t going to buy it to save the environment… people are going to buy it to save their wallet. This is exactly the type of energy independence this country needs right now… yes it will only be a stop-gap until things such as fuel cells are readily available, but something such as this will make us far less vulnerable to foreign oil. We get the bulk of our electricity from coal… and we have more coal than OPEC nations have oil. I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I’m going to buy a Volt to save the earth like people do with their Prius’… I’m going to do it so I don’t have to go to the gas station every week and for no other reason whatsoever… and that truth of the matter will be even more so come 2011 when gas will be 5-6 bucks a gallon.
AMGoff, Nordic the tiny Norwegian car company which was bought and sold by demented Ford execs already building electric car and will be selling it in the US at about same time as Volt. The difference between Think Global (Nordic’s car) and Volt that Volt is 4 passenger and Think Global 2. The estimated price for Think Global is 25K range of about 100 mi and top speed 65 mph. It is already in use by London police. By the time Volt comes out in 2011 and at 50K a pop it will hardly will save a ton of money even at $6/gallon (gas is over $8/gallon in Europe and diesel is catching up in price with gas). As you said it matters of economics and since there very few people who car pool to work (congestion free commuter lanes are testimony) folks who are serious about savings can buy commuter electric car and weekend car for the price of Volt. That is how European middle class lives: commuter car for workdays misery and something exciting for weekend.