GM to managers: Volt is No. 1 priority

[DainBramaged]

General Motors wants the gasoline-electric Chevrolet Volt on the road by 2010 so badly that program managers have been given a blank check.

They can get as much manpower and resources as they need.

" The Volt is the No. 1 priority project we have at GM. There are no resource shortfalls," said Frank Weber, Volt global vehicle line executive. " Whatever it takes, we will do. We are working with incredible speed."

Speaking today to reporters at an event to update the Volt's progress, Weber said GM aims to have the innovative gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid in Chevrolet showrooms by November 2010. He also said that engineers are on track to reach the Volt's goal of driving the first 40 miles on electric power alone.

But, Weber said, those won't be full-speed highway miles. Instead, the Volt should be able to reach 40 miles of electric-only range in city and highway driving.

Other managers working on the Volt's systems echoed Weber's comments about how quickly GM brass wants the Volt ready for production. Denise Gray, director of the Volt's hybrid energy storage systems, says GM vice chairman Bob Lutz is working with the Volt team to ensure the car hits its development targets.

" He's calling on me and asking what I need," she said.

Bob Boniface, the Volt's design director, said the message from Lutz to the Volt's engineers and designers is this: Don't slow the program down by asking for approval at critical junctures. Trust your instincts and do the right thing.

GM's inside glimpse at the Volt showed the car is making quick progress:

• Batteries: Testing to simulate 10 years and 150,000-miles of usage is going on around the clock in labs in Detroit and Germany. GM says the lithium ion test batteries from two suppliers are performing well. But the batteries are one item that could be a show-stopper. They have to run cool. GM has developed cooling and monitoring systems to detect any problems early.

• Powertrain: It has changed dramatically since the Volt concept car debuted at the 2007 Detroit auto show. Instead of a separate gasoline engine and electric motor, both are mated together and look like a conventional front-wheel drive powertrain. The electric motor and generator are housed where the automatic transmission would be.

• Styling: The production version will not look like the concept car. It's morphed into a fairly conventional looking four-door sedan with a sloping roof and a high rear-end treatment that has a built-in spoiler. The interior features a twin-cockpit look that is not unlike the current Chevrolet Malibu.

The goal is to be able to build the Volt on the same production line as regular versions of GM's next-generation Delta platform cars.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/COPY/70705572 (subscription only)

[backscatter712]

1. I'm looking forward to seeing VW's TDI diesel hybrid go into production.

69 MPG, BABY!!!

[bronxiteforever]

2. Proof positive high gas prices are here to stay-hope they get it going

[Supersedeas]

43. the suits are finally getting the message

[LisaM]

3. I know that wedge design is good aerodynamically

But it makes it hard to see out the rear window if you're short (I am kind of short). I wonder if they've accommodated for that?

[DainBramaged]

7. It's evolved into a regular four door

It's in the body of the article I posted.

[Ian David]

4. A day late and a dollar short. It will be quaint by the time GM says they plan to release it.

The Tesla Roadster
California-based Tesla Motors unveiled its electric-powered roadster at an event in Los Angeles yesterday. The 240-horsepower, battery-powered sports car goes from 0 to 60 in about four seconds, has a top speed of around 130mph, and costs a penny per mile to drive, according to Tesla executives. This venture began in 2000, when Elon Musk, PayPal founder and chairman of Tesla Motors, approached an electric car company with the idea of creating an electric sports car.

http://www.teslamotors.com/



Also:

Tesla Roadster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tesla Roadster
Tesla Roadster
Manufacturer Tesla Motors
Also called Code name: DarkStar <1>
Production 2008-present
Assembly Lotus factory in Hethel, England
Class Roadster
Body style(s) 2 seat convertible roadster
Layout Rear Mid-engine, Rear-wheel drive
Platform Unique, developed from Lotus Elise
Engine(s) 3-phase, 4-pole AC induction motor
Transmission(s) Two-speed computer-controlled dual clutch electro-hydraulic manual gearbox (under revision)
Wheelbase 2352 mm (92.6 in)
Length 3946 mm (155.4 in)
Width 1873 mm (73.7 in) including mirrors
Height 1127 mm (44.4 in)
Fuel capacity 53 kW·h (Li-ion battery)
Related Lotus Elise

The Tesla Roadster is a fully electric sports car, and is the first car produced by electric car firm Tesla Motors. The car can travel 221 miles (356 km) on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack and accelerate from 0-60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 3.9 seconds with the development transmission. The Roadster's efficiency is reported as 133 W·h/km (4.7 mi/kW·h), equivalent to 135 mpg–U.S. (1.74 L/100 km / 162.1 mpg–imp).

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster

[TheWraith]

27. I'm waiting for their next model, the WhiteStar.

It's supposed to be a luxury sedan with a base price of $50k and a premium version at $65k, the latter possibly having a gas engine for range extension. It's slated for the 2010 model year, so I've got 18 months or so to build up my bank account. :)

[Ian David]

42. Ooh... I want a White Star, too!

[TheWraith]

44. Snort.

It was only a matter of time before somebody made that joke.

Though chances are that there's some science fiction fan with an oddball sense of humor at Tesla, because the code-name of the Roadster was "DarkStar."

[msongs]

5. GM (gross mismanagement) had an electric car but they killed it... nt

[DainBramaged]

6. Yeah, we know that, yadda yadda yadda

I guess some of you will always have a hard on for GM even though you either haven't owned one of their cars for a generation or never owned an EV1

[Fumesucker]

8. If GM hadn't tried to make the customer responsible for quality control

People wouldn't "have a hard on for GM".

An automobile is the second most expensive thing most people will ever buy and making sure your hard earned money is well spent is a priority.

I don't blame the workers, I blame management and GM's management sucked for a long time. I don't know whether GM's management and cars still suck or not, but I'm not spending tens of thousands of dollars to find out.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. That's the operative point of view when dealing with large corporations, if you buy one lemon what possible reason would you have to go back and bend over again for the same bunch of jerks?

I've seen exactly one EV-1 in my life.. It was dead on the side of the highway.

[DainBramaged]

12. Half of you on DU have never owned a GM product

You all talk out of your asses when it comes to personal experience with their vehicles. And the other half haven't owned one in a generation.

I will never understand the love of imports on DU, and all it has done is contribute to the downfall of the middle class.

Keep your transplants and imports.

Just put me on ignore, I just don't want to argue with Union/Domestic haters any more.

Proof of the pudding is how few of you even visit the labor forums. You could all give a shit about labor issues in this country, as long as you get yours and Unions don't interfere with your routine.

[DainBramaged]

14. Bullshit, when was the last time you owned a GM car, 1976?

I keep visualising a picture of a mouth where a person's ass is talking about nothing.

[Fumesucker]

16. About 1988 or 89 I think..

As I said, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

My brother is in the process of restoring/pro streeting a 1963 Chevy C-10 pickup and a 1966 Chevelle. Back in the late 70's and early 80's I used to build small block Chevy engines for rodders, 327, 350, 370 (400 block, 350 crank), 383 (350 block, 400 crank), 400.

My brother's engine for the Chevelle is an LT-1 short block with the forged crank, pink rods, Brodix aluminum heads, Norris roller rockers, Edelbrock Torquer manifold and roller cam, 600 Holley double pumper with Weber metering plates.. The entire thing has been blueprinted, he has a turbo 700 R4 overdrive automatic with a 3000 stall torque converter. Twelve bolt rear end with 4:56 posi gears, etc etc..

Now tell me I'm talking out my ass..

Why you blame the consumer for not buying a crappy product instead of management for making you build a crappy product I honestly can't imagine.

IT WAS MANAGEMENT THAT RUINED GM.. Not the consumer and not the worker.

I live in the deep South so my chances of ever getting a union job are just about zilch point shit.

[DainBramaged]

18. 20 years ago and you claim to have GM ownership experience?

Like I said, bullshit. You proved my point.

And dropping a motor in a muscle car doesn't qualify you as having experience with a recent GM product.

(PS, a 454 crate motor would have been a better choice than the LT1)

http://www.crateenginedepot.com/store/454CI425HP-Off-Road-Crate-Engine-with-Iron-HeadRoller-Cam-12568774-P17C2.aspx

Cya.

[Fumesucker]

21. Ownership is ownership..

I got burned badly and I'm not taking the chance of getting burned again..

I'm not even sure what you point is..

Why do you blame me and not GM management?

A 454 weighs a lot more than an LT-1, screws up the handling in something as small as a 66 Chevelle.

If you got a bad case of food poisoning at a particular fast food joint because management knowingly served out of date food, would you go back for a second try?

[Aristus]

30. Hang on a second, DainBramaged. GM didn't start to suck because we stopped

buying their cars; we stopped buying their cars because they sucked.

I've owned two Nissans. They were both nearly indestructible.

I have a Chrysler PT Cruiser now, and it's given me little but trouble. Granted it was teh second model year, and there probably were some bugs still to be worked out.

But my first thought when I read the OP was "Oh, NOW the electric car is a priority for GM!" A day late and a dollar short for a lot of the UAWorkers who have been laid off.

[CRF450]

23. NIIIICE!! **drooling**

I have an 01 Trans Am 6 speed, the engine and trannies these cars are awsome, reliable, and gets decent fuel milage for how powerful it is, but the rest of the car is built like crap. It handles great and really fun to drive, so no way I'm selling it.

[Fumesucker]

25. The latest Corvette..

Has an optional engine with 505 hp, it gets 28 mpg on the highway..

I built a 400 small block for a 75 Vette back in 1980, it had nearly 400 hp and got 22 mpg on the highway.. A freakin' torque monster, stomp on the loud pedal and dissolve the back tires in a cloud of smoke.

I agree with you about the engines and transmissions, they really are quite bulletproof.. The problem I see is in the quality of the rest of the car. The last GM car I had, the interior plastic started turning chalky and flaking off as small chunks, the AC was wildly unreliable, the radio sucked, all the door handles were made of cast pot metal and broke off. The drive train really wasn't bad but the rest of the car was crap.

[CRF450]

31. Oh yeah, they can get right around 30mpg on the interstates.

My T/A got 31mpg going 74mph, a tall final gear does wonders on the highways:thumbsup: I'v seen writeups on laying vinyl/leather on the plastic panels in these cars and I think I might just do that someday, along with re-upholstering the seats with good leather. I already have a good $1200 stereo system in it, and I'm saving up for an APS twin turbo system.

You should check out the new GM vehicles now, the interiors in most of them have improved 10x compared to 10 years ago. I sat in a new Silverado and it makes the pre 07 models look/feel like shit! My 04 Dodge Dakota doesn't quite even compare, but I'm not looking to own a full size truck. The overall quality in most of GM's vehicles is really close, maybe even comparable to the imports now.

[Fumesucker]

34. I'm nowhere near being in the market for a new vehicle..

If I was gonna hot rod something like your T/A I'd probably just go with a nitrous kit rather than turbos.

Nitrous really gives you a super kick in the ass bottom end, it's easy to install and tune, inexpensive for the horsepower you get and doesn't interfere with the way the engine runs the rest of the time.

No emissions test problems with nitrous either..

Next small block Chevy I build I'm going to try this guy's ideas.

http://www.somender-singh.com/

[CRF450]

35. Emissions would be a problem is I was in California, but not here in NC

I'm not a fan of nitrous. Cant get a whole lot of use out of a bottle's worth, have to refill it when it gets empty, careful tuning to keep the engine from blowing up, things like that...

This is the turbo kit I'm interested in http://www.airpowersystems.com/fbody/tt.htm Check out the dyno!

[Fumesucker]

37. My Maserati does 185

I lost my license,
Now I don't drive

-Joe Walsh

Looks like a nice system, I don't even want to know what it costs though.

My brother's LT-1 has been dynoed at 430 hp..

The main thing with nitrous is you have to make sure it doesn't run lean, that's what cooks engines. A fuel pressure sensor switch that cuts the nitrous if the fuel pressure drops will pretty well make sure that you don't run it lean.

But you can blow an engine with a turbo PDQ too..

I've always been a "less is more" kind of guy..

Here's something very like what I plan on building next.



And this is a real mind blower.

[CRF450]

38. I think it runs around 7 grand or so.

When I save up enough I'll send it to a shop that knows how to install this system. It'll cost a bunch, but I want it done right!

[Greyhound]

11. Nobody but GM ever owned an EV-1...

and that was the whole point. It's only purpose was to defeat a California law, and once that was done they took it away.

I have always wondered why the UAW hasn't, to my knowledge, ever explored the idea of buying/starting their own automobile manufacturing company. They certainly have the know-how and the manpower to do it, and it would enable them to put the millions of ex/members back to work at a living wage, and maybe create something far better than the rattling pieces of shit that GM, FoMoCo, and Chrysler have been cranking out for half a century.

[DainBramaged]

15. rattling pieces of shit that GM, FoMoCo, and Chrysler have been cranking out for half a century.

Right, another expert blurts out bullshit.:puke:

[Greyhound]

24. Thanks for your most thoughtful reply to my question.

Do you really believe that people are buying Japanese and German cars because of marketing, and that the "American" companies are building comparable cars?

Wake the fuck up or suffer the fate of any inferior species.

[sergeiAK]

28. I last drove a GM vehicle this March

It sucked. Without question, it sucked.

Vehicle in question: 2008 Chevy HHR, god-awful orange color

Lousy seats, no visibility (and I'm pretty damned normal sized), no power, handled like a barge, huge vehicle with tiny back seats, and even shitty cupholders. Lousy fuel mileage (~18mpg) to boot. It was quite possibly the least pleasant vehicle I've ever driven.

I've driven their newer small cars, their newer trucks (the only ones I even kinda liked, but I prefer the Ford truck line), the Impala, the Caprice Classic (shame they killed it, the SS was cool), and the Corvette. The Corvette is the only one I'd truly want to buy.

You're right, though, I've never owned one of their vehicles. Just rented them, driven them on the job, borrowed them, etc. I would never pay anything for most of the GM vehicles I've driven (sans Corvette, I might sell a kidney for the new Z06).

[CRF450]

33. I think they're going replace the Impala with the Holden Commodore

Which is the newly released Pontiac G8. Have you checked out that car? It is awsome!! Totally owns the old fwd Impala SS and has similar performance to my 01 Trans Am! All while being a 4 door sedan.

[Lorien]

9. And that's one of several reasons why I will NEVER own a GM

the volt is too little too late. They should just extract their heads from their asses and simply upgrade the EV1.

[DainBramaged]

13. Your anti-union bias is showing

goodbye

[Lorien]

19. Yeah, whatever

unions have NOTHING to do with whether of not a person favors a company like GM, and you damn well know it.

You don't even know what kind of car I drive or if I AM a member of a union (IATSE) so just go ahead, be a judgmental prick and make your foolish assumptions.

:eyes:

[DainBramaged]

20. see my post #12

Judgmental prick, that's good, nice personal attack, but I expect it here. You people judge GM without any experience over the past generation, and condemn them every chance you get in these forums, yet they are one of the LAST bastions of Union labor (automobile manufacturers) in America.

Like I said, kick a UAW member in the nuts, buy foreign.

[Fumesucker]

22. You're pretty free with the personal attacks too..

Just sayin'

[Greyhound]

29. This asshat is exactly why we are in this position.

Lacking the intellectual honesty to admit to himself (never mind those of us that don't live in his head) that he has spent his life assembling the crap that the hereditary managers have dictated, and blaming us, because we didn't buy what we recognized as crap.

Now that he is facing the same fate as the hundreds of thousands (millions?) that he, undoubtedly, dismissed as inferior to himself, he is suddenly concerned about the "future of the American auto industry", and his own petty concerns and insignificant future.

[Canuckistanian]

17. Yeah, like the EV1 wasn't revolutionary

A complete success, it was killed in it's cradle. And brutally so.

Now, we're supposed to jump on the Volt bandwagon?

I'll wait until other carmakers take the ball and run with it.

Like you, I no longer trust GM when it comes to sustainable transportation.

[superkia]

26. Yup and now that they see gas is rising and the economy is...

taking a dive, they want to get a car that will save us some money out in the market so they can make money. Should have never killed the EV1 or at least kept working with it so they would have something whenever they needed it.

[DCKit]

32. Y'all are WAY too critical of GM, Ford and Chrysler.

They just found out we were at risk from OPEC and hostile oil-producing nations in 1974. Who the hell can bring a new car and improved technology to market in only 34 years?

I didn't think so.

[RB TexLa]

10. Glad I'm not a shareholder.

[polticalpout]

36. Americans make shit, why would I support them?

Sure GM excellent health coverage covers over a million Americans and sure hundreds of thousands of former employees depend on GM for their pensions. But I bought a car in the 80's and you know what it wasn't all that great and you know what else, they make the hummer (GASP)! So fuck this company, they should just give up and go into bankruptcy, then they wouldn't to cover those Americans with health care coverage nor pay those pensions.

And this goes for every other piece of American shit to, if it's not foreign I don't want it!

Oh and if I post some threads bashing Republicans about not caring for the American people, it's my right because it's their job to support Americans, so I don't have too!

[NewJeffCT]

40. GM's quality has improved a lot over the last decade

however, the quality of most cars has improved over that time. The gap between GM and the Japanese, though, is a lot narrower than it was in the 80s through the mid 90s.

That said, it will take time for GM & Ford to win back the American consumer just because so many people have memories of poor quality cars from the 80s and 90s.

[kmla]

39. What people don't realize is that the American car companies produce what the customer wants.

People bitch and bitch about "the gas guzzling SUV's are all they can produce!" If you ask me, that is what a business is supposed to do - produce what people want to buy. If you don't do that, you don't last long.

Car companies produce big cars that are less fuel efficient because people buy them.

However, the down side is that car companies cannot shift production and design in as rapid of a cycle as the changing gas prices(and thus consumer demand). Gas prices can double in a matter of a few months, depending on economic and socio-political events. But car companies can't re-vamp their entire line-up to switch from production of larger vehicles/SUV's (which the American consumer wanted up until recently) - to a smaller, but more fuel efficient gas-sipper (which everyone wants now) overnight. It takes a little while.

Car companies cannot force us to buy more fuel efficient cars - we have to want them on our own. When we do, they will be happy to design, engineer, and produces as many as we want to buy.

Just my $.02.

[NewJeffCT]

41. there are waiting lists for hybrids, though

people want to buy them - there is just not enough of them.

[CRF450]

45. Exactly.

The best selling vehicles so far (atleast in 07) is the Ford F150 and Chevy Silverado. Next up is the Toyota Camry and pretty much mostly cars down to the 10th best selling vehicles.