Volt is a plug-in hybrid, so you just plug it in, right? Well, not really. Volt will be able to recharge on plug power, but that'll take a lot longer than it would at a charging station. A charging station has to be designed and standardized across all power providers, and it will also be designed to take advantage of cheaper off-peak power. What about apartment dwellers? How do they charge their cars? So many little things to work out and so little time. Guess that's why GM went and signed up with that fancy convention. [Detroit Free Press]

The new Opel models will be built alongside the Chevy Volt atop the Delta II platform at GM's Hamtramck Assembly plant.

Jalopnik Snap Judgement: More models on the line makes sense as the Ham-town plant would be sorely underutilized if only building the Volt. Seems like the real story here is GM Europe using the US domestic market for labor. One would imagine Eastern European countries would be more attractive for building new models, but the dollar's valuation apparently makes up for the long product pipeline and higher shipping costs. Who would have thunk we'd become Europe's China? [MotorAuthority]

Although there's no official word if the Volt will actually be a Transformer, but given its guts and looks, it's just begging to become some kind of electric-themed Autobot. The Volt would join the Trax and the Beat as not-yet-available Chevy vehicles featured in the movie.

Jalopnik Snap Judgement: This may be the reason why they're hurrying up the production look of the car. They've got to beat set filming times, right? [Reuters via TFW2005]

Exploding batteries: Remember the flaming plug-in Prius from a few weeks ago? No, that wasn't a manufacturer-sanctioned ride, but it still plainly shows the dangers inherent in releasing unproven technology. The fact that GM has yet to name a supplier for Volt's lithium-ion battery pack (though we hear it'll be either Continental or CPI) is another red flag for the power source.

Embarrassing show mishaps: GM needs a win...and they need it to be a clean win, both on the stage and showroom floor. No panels falling off, stalls, massive oil leaks, fires, or collapsing spokes-robots on stage. Asking engineers to work 18-hour days in an effort to ready bleeding-edge technology for debut at a huge, public event, all while holding their jobs over their heads, is a recipe for disaster.

Gas price crashes: Let's not forget November is rapidly creeping up on us. This is an election year. Don't be terribly surprised if gas prices suddenly fall to earth in a magical, ballot-influencing Bullworth-like fashion in September. The result would be GM touting Volt's amazing fuel economy at the same time Tahoes again start flying off dealer lots.

Are any of these outcomes probable? No. Possible? Yes. [Automotive News (Sub. Req.)]

If congressional leaders agree to GM's recommendation, the Volt could have a "real" price to consumers closer to the originally reported $30,000. However, since GM is suggesting basing the tax credit not just on battery size, but also on the potential quantity of petroleum avoided, lawmakers could conceivably balk at the tax implications as more alternative fuel vehicles enter the market. In the meantime, we're going to stuff 30 batteries into the back of the Jalopnik Caprice and wait for our $21,000 check from the gubment, secure in the knowledge we're still creating the usual level of smug.

Maybe GM meant that the Volt will be close to $30k, you know, after government hand-outs tax credits that could be good for about $7,000. Maybe that explains why he told our friend Rob Einaudi over at CarDomain on Tuesday pricing would actually be under $40,000? Maybe that's what the Seattle Times just didn't hear the word "under." [CarDomain, Seattle Times via ABG]

Spy Report We just snapped the latest, and best shots yet of the car that looks to be the next Chevy Cobalt. A similar prototype has been shot in various guises, but never from all pertinent angles while uncovered—in full Chevrolet trim. The new Cobalt will utilize GM's new global compact vehicle architecture, and will be shared globally—reportedly being sold abroad in similar form as the Chevrolet Nubira and and the Daewoo Lancetti abroad. The platform is also pegged to underpin the next-generation Saturn Astra and even the Chevy Volt.

These latest shots give us a great taste of the further evolution of Chevrolet's two-tiered grille treatment, and the new Cobalt's chunky profile. The first-ever look at the Cobalt's largely undisguised tail treatment also reminds us of the recently revealed Opel Insignia, with its BMW-inspired raised trunk line and side sculpting. This new Cobalt is expected to appear in U.S. showrooms in 2010.

Showing it off now is going to be like pulling a Camaro on us: By the time it hits the show floor, we'll be tired of the look. They'll be wasting acres of print space now, rather than revealing it with a flourish and sending it to dealers right away, Apple style. Whatever. We're not paid to come up with strategery, but making fun of it we can do all day. [TopSpeed]

We've been bombarded with mules, spy photos and pricing rumors for a while now, and that won't change until we can walk onto a GM dealership and see a Volt waiting for spoonage. That being said, with Hummer on its way out and Volt kind of officially on its way in, plus F150 losing its top billing, are we seeing yet another example of the return of the Malaise Era?

[psfk]

How much lower? That's a silly question to ask considering how GM seems to keep mixing the messages themselves. An $18,000 price point difference makes for a mighty different business case though, especially considering gas will only be available with live organ exchange by 2010. [Translated from German: FAZ.net]

Our first introduction to Kleiner Perkins and the world of electric vehicles came with their investment in EEstor, a company based in Texas working on an electric battery for ZENN Motors. Unfortunately, the Canadian governor is making it hard for ZENN to sell cars in Canada. So as of now, things aren't looking great, though battery development continues.

Most recently, Kleiner Perkins came up with relation to the Fisker Karma Luxury Hybrid, which is a vehicle that piqued our interest due to its attractive proportions and relatively low price tag of $80K. Though the company has yet to experience the usual electric car delays, it is dealing with an incredible amount of litigation in the Fisker-Tesla girl fight. Will this delay production of the car? Maybe, maybe not.

Speaking of production delays, what about the Tesla roadster? Everyone was so excited about it but it has been delayed thanks to transmission problems, lawsuits, et cetera. Yes, they claim they're shipping production units now, but not only is it in low volumes, it's not even enough to fulfill the backlog of orders. Did we mention Tesla is backed by Kleiner Perkin's VC rivals at Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

And don't get us started on the 2011/2012/201X Chevy Volt. An ongoing development that is being backed by an OEM — thus it relies not-so-much on VC dollars so much as R&D dollars. When will we see a production version of that particular vehicle? Your guess is as good as GM's word.

But hey, a 65 mph-capable electric car with potentially a 110-mile range for $25K, which Th!nk is offering, doesn't sound bad. Excuse our skepticism, but we'll believe it when we see it clear all the hurdles and successfully market itself to the tens of thousands of consumer they're planning to reach. Do we want cars like this to succeed? Yes. Electric cars, hybrid cars, biodiesel cars... whatever. Is it good, then, that firms are putting up the bank for these projects? Yes. We're just glad it isn't our money.

If you want an electric car for the city, full hybrids like the 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid can be driven in a way that they provide mostly electric power. While we're not huge fans of these hybrids in spirited driving, you can stretch a gallon of gas pretty far in slow city commuting. That's something.

[Photo: Th!nk]

Yes friends, we were the first to tell you that the Chevy Volt would be wending its way around town underneath the skin of old, dead Malibus back in September. Now we're the first to show you a picture of a Chevy Volt wending its way around town underneath the skin of an old, dead Malibu. Also, we were like, the second to bring you that Volt video a few weeks ago. So we've got that going for us too. Oh, and then there was that production shot of the Volt we saw at the end of last year. One more feather for the drips-and-dribbles from the General hat. Full spy report from the pride of Brenda Priddy's pride of spy photographers, Chris Doane, below.

The Chevy Volt (test mule)

Today we have the first rock solid evidence that the Chevy Volt has begun development. Hiding under a previous generation Malibu body, we saw GM starting to run the E-Flex powertrain through it paces on the track.

The General will hope to have the Volt on sale in late 2010 as a 2011MY car. However that timing will depend on how well the Lithium Ion batteries development progresses. A task given to Continental Automotive Systems and A123 Systems. It could very well be a 2012MY car by the time Volt's start rolling down the production line.

One thing we do know for sure if that the Volt will be riding on the next gen Delta chassis. This next gen chassis is also know as GM's "Global Compact Car Architecture." According UAW documents, GM seems set to build the Volt at their Hamtramck plant once the G-body Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS cease production.
Price wise, GM was hoping for an MSRP of around $30,000. It now seems that number may be closer to $35,000.

Photo Credit: Chris Doane for Brenda Priddy & Co.

That rendered image on the back wall, on the left side is very interesting don't you think?

Not saying nothing, but that may ring a bell from yesterday's event. Yeah, now that we take a look at that, it looks pretty darn familiar.

Seriously guy, stop digging stuff up, we're getting hungry here. This one looks like that one time when Bob Boniface lifted the sheets to reveal the restyled nose of the Chevy Volt except it's turned 90 degrees relative to the railing in the back from when we saw it! Draw your own conclusions from that.

[sources: WWJ, ChevyVoltForums.com, Autoblog]

The day would consist of four parts, all designed to prove the Volt wasn't just vaporware, but indeed reaching some level of technical completeness. First we would be paying a visit the all important battery lab, then the digital visualization center, a brief lunch — GM loves their potato salad by the way — and then a trip to the styling studio and finally the wind tunnel. After a brief intro to the world of the Chevy Volt and a lot of cheerleading about how fantastically unique the program is, things got down to business. We were split into groups and hit the buses — probably to confuse and disorient us — and we went over to the battery lab. There we saw the batteries undergoing accelerated testing in a nice hot lab. The idea is to stress the competing battery designs to ensure they would still deliver the promised 40 miles in full EV mode at the end of 10 years and 150,000 miles. It was interesting to see a real GM EV1 and it's "T" shaped battery pack still in the lab, next to which the new T-pack was sitting. The new one is a lot smaller and lighter, featuring lithium-ion batteries instead of lead acid like the EV1 was equipped with. The system is designed to just slide right up into a faux drive shaft tunnel and bolt into place as a stressed member. Pretty slick. Next we headed over to the 3D visualization studio. The theater is designed to work with active polarized goggles which allow a greater 3D effect and limits the negative effect of an obtuse viewing angle. There we watched as the operator virtually built the chassis and drivetrain of the Volt, which is based on the next generation small car platform. They added the all-important battery first as this is being marketed as an "Extended range EV" more than a hybrid, so they continually reinforced the point throughout the day. Then came the suspension, which was a pretty standard trailing arm setup in the back and a McPherson up front (really long funny anti-roll bar links though). Next came the "power pack" — a conglomeration of engine, generator, and electric motor. Apparently they haven't finalized which engine to run in the car yet, because the durability and performance characteristics are so different than a conventional car. If you think about it, they'll want something that is better driving a generator, and yet, only operates about 10-20% of the time during normal driving since it's a plug in car as well. After lunch and commentary we took the bus out to the design studio, which is dedicated to the Volt for this program. There we got a peek at the nose and tail of the Volt. Bob Boniface, designer director, told us they had joked the original would have been more aerodynamic if they had turned it around backwards. With the production design, that's basically what they're doing. The smooth shapes at the rear of the concept have replaced the squared and geometric shapes of the front for production. The rear has taken inspiration from the concept, but has been adapted with Kamm-back like shapes to cheat the air for less drag. The interior is pretty slick looking in that jetsons-meets-quirky-Italian-coachbuilder kind of way. While what we saw of the interior was still in clay and rapid prototyping pieces, the overall effect was slick and futuristic, and not at all unfamiliar. We got the impression the General is going to have a few tricks up its sleeve when it comes to the driver experience here. Finally we visited the largest wind tunnel in the automotive industry. The biggest wind tunnel we've ever worked with is probably only 15 feet long and that was for fluid dynamics way back in college. This baby was positively HUGE It was the whole building in fact. A 1/3 sized Volt was on the test deck (and completely covered in camo tape for our not viewing pleasure) but you could fit a school bus in there. The folks running the place gave us the rundown on what they do, how they do it, and even some of the really clever tricks built into the tunnel (like a very cool vacuum lip in front of the test area to 'slice-off' the troublesome boundary layer when simulating road conditions). While walking through the re-direction vanes in the corners of the rectangular shaped building, we emerged staring face to face with every art deco steampunk nerds wet dream. A looming zeppelin shape towered above us in a rounded duct over 50 feet across. Six enormous hand-formed wooden blades attached to a concealed 4300 horsepower GE electric motor. This is what shock and awe looks like. This beast of a fan is capable of driving wind speeds in the tunnel up to around 120 MPH and here we were standing under it — cool. After seeing that, we walked back around to the test platform and they fired the system up — with us in it. While they only turned it up to about 30 MPH, it was plenty fast enough for us to watch a smoke wand demonstration of the aerodynamics on the Volt. However, after seeing that fan it was a little hard to get excited about the Volt again.

So there you have it, yes the Chevy Volt is real, saw it with our own two eyes, and there are a lot of excited people working on it as we speak. Lutz called for this concept and wanted this program to be more than just a car, he wanted it to reestablish GM as a technical leader. If they can pull of the timing, they're talking about a start of production in November of 2010 — an aggressive target when wading back into the waters of mass produced electric vehicles, even more aggressive when throwing an onboard generator into the mix. Based on what we saw, we're pretty excited to see this come to fruition, and based on our experience on that side of the fence, they've even got a shot at doing it on time. As we toured the place and saw the progress and concepts, on thing kept rolling around in our heads - why didn't someone try this before?

And why not, as Press noted the inherent unfairness of competition from Toyota in the hybrid game, saying

"...the Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius."

The Volt engineers have apparently had to dump a lot of money into redesigning the audio set-up, windshield wipers and similar systems so that they won't drain the Volt's super magnificent lithium-ion 40-mile battery. See, what happpens when you ditch the alternator, kids? All hell breaks lose and GM's gearheads get stuck in triple-overtime with Bob Lutz's hot breath on their necks. [Autopia]

In a post on the "Tesla Founders Blog," Eberhard was quick to throw his full support behind the alleged electric wonder known as the Chevy Volt. He continues to praise the vehicle, its chief evangelist Bob Lutz and all of the technology involved in the conceptual design of the car, especially the battery. And yes, Eberhard did indeed say that he would drive a Volt if it were available today. Nevertheless, the original posting on the Tesla Founders Blog was quickly removed. Fret not: Google has done its job saving the cache and making it available for the world to ponder and/or mock. [Google Cache via GM Insider News]

...to the Volt, that he wants VP Lutz to appear in the sequel, Who Revived the Electric Car? Having spent a bit of time with Mr. Lutz, we think this is a great idea. In fact, drop the crap about reviving electric cars and just follow him around with a camera. The only question is, do you bleep the cussing, or go for the R rating? [Newsweek]

Chevrolet Volt Development Moves Forward With Focus On Aerodynamics

Warren, MI -The massive fan in GM's aero lab wind tunnel has been cranked up to full blast as GM's designers and engineers work to optimize the aerodynamics of the Chevrolet Volt as part of the quest to make the breakthrough concept car a production reality. Aerodynamic improvement is a critical step in meeting the range targets necessary for moving the vehicle to a final production decision.

The design team, now with its own studio dedicated to the development of vehicles powered by the E-flex propulsion system, has been working with engineering, aerodynamicists and other scientists to develop an energy efficient Chevrolet Volt by optimizing aerodynamics.

"One of the ways design can contribute to the efficiency of any vehicle is through the aerodynamics of the body shape," says Ed Welburn, VP, GM Global Design. "The collaboration between a designer and an aerodynamicist can not only contribute to improved fuel economy or extended range, but can produce beautiful and different body shapes."

Frank Weber, Global Vehicle Line Executive and Global Vehicle Chief Engineer for the E-Flex System, agrees. "The electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is most sensitive to improvements in aero, which is in contrast to a traditional vehicle program in which mass typically plays a larger role."

Reducing drag

Aerodynamic drag accounts for approximately 20 percent of the energy consumed in an average vehicle, directly impacting vehicle fuel efficiency. GM designers apply their expertise to address the opportunity to improve the fuel economy of all GM vehicles. In fact, GM offers more fuel efficient vehicles than any other manufacturer, in part due to vehicle design and GM's aerodynamic development capabilities.

GM's aerodynamics laboratory, located at the technical center in Warren, Mich., is the center of expertise for optimizing the impact of airflow. In addition to fuel economy, range, emissions, and acceleration are all affected by wind resistance, or aerodynamic drag. The cooling of components such as radiators and brakes are affected by airflow, as is cornering capability, crosswind response, directional stability and on-center handling. GM's aero lab allows for the testing and development of each of these characteristics.

Aerodynamics development begins with a 1/3-scale model where basic shape and major features are defined. The model includes a highly detailed underbody and engine compartment. Radiator and under hood cooling flow is developed with computational fluid dynamic models. Simultaneously, computation development takes place to determine aerodynamic drag of design alternatives. Development continues with full-scale models, where shape is refined and optimized for low wind noise. The development process concludes with a vehicle prototype validation of the math-based analysis and physical testing.

"I'm proud to say that after extensive aero development of the Volt, and more to come, we have achieved a vehicle that had a coefficient of drag that is more 30% lower in drag than the original concept," said Welburn. "It's not easy, but it is a necessity."

GM's Aerodynamic Laboratory: The Wind Tunnel

Founded in the late 1970s, GM's aerodynamics laboratory was built in response to fuel shortages of that time and the introduction of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards. Test operations began in 1980 with several production vehicle tests that benchmarked the wind tunnel's performance against other facilities. All new GM vehicles for the North American market have been developed using the lab. Today, the experimental work in the aero lab is supplemented by computational fluid dynamics analysis. The combination of the two testing operations provides a powerful tool to improve aerodynamics of future GM vehicles.

Wind speed in the tunnel can reach up to more than 120 miles-per-hour. Real-time data acquisition and display systems measure forces and moments, airflow velocities, pressures, temperatures and wind noise.

In addition to helping GM create today's most fuel efficient vehicles, wind tunnel testing has provided a competitive advantage for GM racing vehicles. Several GM sponsored teams also have taken advantage of the wind tunnel, including America 's Cup challengers, Sunrayce solar cars, bicycle racers, the U.S. Disabled Ski Team and the Canadian Alpine Ski Team.

The GM Aerodynamics Laboratory celebrated 26 years of wind tunnel test operations in August. The lab was the first full-scale automotive wind tunnel built in North America and remains the largest wind tunnel in the world dedicated to automotive testing.

GM and Aerodynamics

GM's history in aerodynamics dates back to the 1930s with aircraft-inspired designs as industrial art. In the 1950s and 60s the company focused more on the science of drag reduction, but in the 1970s, the public demanded smaller, more fuel efficient cars in response to fuel shortages. As a new trend in aerodynamics emerges, GM leverages its heritage and expertise to develop full-sized trucks as fuel efficient as a mid-sized sedan and the next generation of electric vehicles with extended range, starting with the development of the Chevrolet Volt.

"We are now in the midst of a new period of aero exploration," said Welburn. "There has been a significant effort by all our program teams to improve fuel economy and now to extend the range of electric vehicles for the future." [Source: GM]

Lutz later admits that, you know, they totally blew it by not developing a hybrid sooner and thus losing laps in the "green car race." Thankfully, the Escalade hybrid is helping them make up much needed ground with its stunning 18 MPG! [Reuters]

"Among G.M.'s commitments to the union was a promise to build the Chevrolet Volt, a hybrid-electric car, in its Hamtramck, Mich., plant, beginning in 2010. G.M. has said production of the car could start a year later, however. The Volt is a pet project of G.M.'s vice chairman, Robert A. Lutz, who said today that G.M. was pleased with the contract."

... the same info we got out of the "Maximum" main-product man earlier this week on the Chevy Volt / Opel Flextreme / E-Flex platform. The result was different than we expected — we mean, who knew the NYT could write so glowingly about a US automaker? It would seem the GM PR machine's officially working "on all cylinders" now. Ha! We love hackneyed automotive analogies. (Hat tip to Thaddeus!) [NYT Pogue Blog]