And the Volt charges ahead

Published April 12, 2010 at 7:58 p.m.
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Just got off a conference call with GM regarding the Chevy Volt. In a nutshell, everything is going great. After testing the Volt battery pack in essentially every type of weather and driving condition possible, all systems are go for the November launch. Still, a few notes did stick out.

First, 40 miles of EV range has been the average, although 20 percent variation in both directions is expected. Once in range extended mode, the Volt should still achieve about 50 mpg and offer a range of at least 300 additional miles beyond the original 40 miles of EV range.

Second, GM is forecasting a nice price reduction in battery costs by the second generation thanks to supply base efficiencies, and the third generation battery pack could see as much as a 50 percent reduction in cost.

Third, while GM seemed very careful on this issue, the future of the Volt could include a smaller battery pack and shorter EV range. Again, GM was very guarded on this point. Likewise, GM's Andrew Farah, the leader of the Volt program, claimed that new energy densities in lithium-ion technology might also provide the same 40 miles of EV range but in a smaller battery pack.

Nonetheless, my read in between the lines is that GM is increasing their Volt focus on costs, and I believe that if GM realizes that a 20 or 30 mile Volt would double sales, then they'd offer such an option by the third generation battery pack. Of course, such a battery pack is still several years away.


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