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Behind the Scenes: 2010 Chevy Volt, Part II

Behind the Scenes: 2010 Chevy Volt, Part II

By TCC Team's avatar TCC TeamTCC Team April 4th, 2008

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“We know we have a perception problem, at GM,” admits Bob Boniface, the former Chrysler stylist who is not overseeing design of the 2010 Chevrolet Volt. Where environmentally-conscious consumers look at Toyota and see “Prius.” They look at GM and see “Hummer,” says Boniface, adding that this perception gap
is something we have to fix.”

There are plenty of skeptics who wonder whether Volt is simply smoke and mirrors, a high-minded project designed to turn around GM’s image, then fade away. And in years past, these doubters might have been right. Over the years, the automaker has showcased a lot of grand projects that failed to reach production. Others have hit market looking little like the original concept – witness the abortive Pontiac Aztek.

But all signs indicate GM is as serious as a heart attack, as the old line goes, about Volt. It has assigned hundreds of designers and engineers to the project. Operations are spread out across the sprawling Tech Center, in the Detroit suburb of Warren, with additional work being done in facilities as far afield as the GM Proving Grounds, in Wixom, Michigan, and Mainz-Kastel, Germany.

The biggest challenge is coming up with a lithium-ion battery that is robust enough to endure the conditions the typical car will face over its lifecycle, wet, bone-dry, burning hot and freezing cold. LIon technology normally likes “the same conditions we humans do,” notes program czar Tony Posawatz, about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with modest humidity.

As yesterday’s report noted, two battery suppliers have been brought onboard, CPI and A123. The latter vendor’s lithium-ion technology is already in widespread use in handheld tools, and according to Posawatz, is so benign that you can drive a nail into one of the cells and it will barely spark. Compared that to some of the other LIon technology on the market, which is so volatile the Federal Aviation Administration has limited the number of batteries you can now bring aboard an airplane.

While GM is still in the midst of a crash, two-year program to ensure CPI and A123 batteries will work, the automaker was confident enough, early on, to approve the Volt for production. If the U.S. automaker can hold to schedule, it will get as much as a year or more of a jump on its arch-rival Toyota, which is working fast on a plug-in version of the popular Prius hybrid.

There’s no question Prius has been a game-changer, proving that there really is a market for hybrid-electric vehicles, despite a gap between projected and real-world fuel savings. Prius is today the world’s most popular HEV, and clearly an image boost for Toyota, more than offsetting any hit it might take for its concurrent push into the large pickup and SUV markets.

But while Prius may save gasoline, Volt could obviate the need to fill up more than every few months. GM’s target is to deliver 40 miles of battery-only range, with speeds up to a software-limited 100 mph and 0-60 times of around 8.5 seconds.

During an appearance at the Detroit Auto Show, last January, Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe indicated there are still some serious details to work out about the plug-in version of Prius. Performance and top speed will be lower than Chevy’s, while range will likely be about half of Volt’s, according to Toyota sources.

Part of the problem is that Toyota bet its marbles on the wrong battery technology, according to a wide range of industry insiders. “Not all lithium technology is the same,” explains Andy Farah, Volt’s chief engineer. A variety of different chemistries are being tested. Some offer extremely low volatility, but don’t deliver much power. Toyota and its battery partner, Panasonic, bet on a “cobalt-doped” version of lithium that is high-power, but also extremely sensitive to the slightest manufacturing flaw – too sensitive, it turns out for today’s mass production methods. So it was nearly back to ground zero, TheCarConnection.com has learned, which means Toyota is suddenly in the unhappy position of chasing GM.

Of course, that first-mover advantage could vanish in a hurry, both Posawatz and Farah agree, if GM doesn’t get Volt right, and right from the start. Quality problems, recalls, range shortfalls, all could turn this public image windfall into a PR nightmare.

Even if GM gets it right, the question is how long it will be able to maintain its lead. True, Toyota makes mistakes, but not often, and not for long, concedes a senior GM executive, asking not to be quoted by name.

An aborted launch would give Toyota a chance to debut its Prius plug-in, and other competitors are on the way. Manufacturers from Mercedes-Benz to Hyundai are working with lithium-ion technology, and many of them are working on plug-ins of their own.

So, each day, as work begins anew on the Volt project, the GM team knows it has just one shot at getting this one right. Enlarge Photo “We know we have a perception problem, at GM,” admits Bob Boniface, the former Chrysler stylist who is not overseeing design of the 2010 Chevrolet Volt. Where environmentally-conscious consumers look at Toyota and see “Prius.” They look at GM and see “Hummer,” says Boniface, adding that this perception gap is something we have to fix.” There are plenty of skeptics who wonder whether Volt is simply smoke and mirrors, a high-minded project designed to turn around GM’s image, then fade away. And in years past, these doubters might have been right. Over the years, the automaker has showcased a lot of grand projects that failed to reach production. Others have hit market looking little like the original concept – witness the abortive Pontiac Aztek. But all signs indicate GM is as serious as a heart attack, as the old line goes, about Volt. It has assigned hundreds of designers and engineers to the project. Operations are spread out across the sprawling Tech Center, in the Detroit suburb of Warren, with additional work being done in facilities as far afield as the GM Proving Grounds, in Wixom, Michigan, and Mainz-Kastel, Germany. The biggest challenge is coming up with a lithium-ion battery that is robust enough to endure the conditions the typical car will face over its lifecycle, wet, bone-dry, burning hot and freezing cold. LIon technology normally likes “the same conditions we humans do,” notes program czar Tony Posawatz, about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with modest humidity. As yesterday’s report noted, two battery suppliers have been brought onboard, CPI and A123. The latter vendor’s lithium-ion technology is already in widespread use in handheld tools, and according to Posawatz, is so benign that you can drive a nail into one of the cells and it will barely spark. Compared that to some of the other LIon technology on the market, which is so volatile the Federal Aviation Administration has limited the number of batteries you can now bring aboard an airplane. While GM is still in the midst of a crash, two-year program to ensure CPI and A123 batteries will work, the automaker was confident enough, early on, to approve the Volt for production. If the U.S. automaker can hold to schedule, it will get as much as a year or more of a jump on its arch-rival Toyota, which is working fast on a plug-in version of the popular Prius hybrid. There’s no question Prius has been a game-changer, proving that there really is a market for hybrid-electric vehicles, despite a gap between projected and real-world fuel savings. Prius is today the world’s most popular HEV, and clearly an image boost for Toyota, more than offsetting any hit it might take for its concurrent push into the large pickup and SUV markets. But while Prius may save gasoline, Volt could obviate the need to fill up more than every few months. GM’s target is to deliver 40 miles of battery-only range, with speeds up to a software-limited 100 mph and 0-60 times of around 8.5 seconds. During an appearance at the Detroit Auto Show, last January, Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe indicated there are still some serious details to work out about the plug-in version of Prius. Performance and top speed will be lower than Chevy’s, while range will likely be about half of Volt’s, according to Toyota sources. Part of the problem is that Toyota bet its marbles on the wrong battery technology, according to a wide range of industry insiders. “Not all lithium technology is the same,” explains Andy Farah, Volt’s chief engineer. A variety of different chemistries are being tested. Some offer extremely low volatility, but don’t deliver much power. Toyota and its battery partner, Panasonic, bet on a “cobalt-doped” version of lithium that is high-power, but also extremely sensitive to the slightest manufacturing flaw – too sensitive, it turns out for today’s mass production methods. So it was nearly back to ground zero, TheCarConnection.com has learned, which means Toyota is suddenly in the unhappy position of chasing GM. Of course, that first-mover advantage could vanish in a hurry, both Posawatz and Farah agree, if GM doesn’t get Volt right, and right from the start. Quality problems, recalls, range shortfalls, all could turn this public image windfall into a PR nightmare. Even if GM gets it right, the question is how long it will be able to maintain its lead. True, Toyota makes mistakes, but not often, and not for long, concedes a senior GM executive, asking not to be quoted by name. An aborted launch would give Toyota a chance to debut its Prius plug-in, and other competitors are on the way. Manufacturers from Mercedes-Benz to Hyundai are working with lithium-ion technology, and many of them are working on plug-ins of their own. So, each day, as work begins anew on the Volt project, the GM team knows it has just one shot at getting this one right.

Tags: Industry

Posted in: 2005, Pontiac, Aztek



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Responses (9 total)

  1. By  Wayne K #1, Posted: 4/5/2008

    Well hopefully GM can deliver as promised on the Volt, range, and everything. But over the years, we all know how GM has made big promises, and not delivered. The Volt sounds like a great product, and great idea, and I am looking forward to seeing one. I know I'm keeping my fingers crossed for GM.

  2. By Jim Dunn #2, Posted: 4/5/2008

    GM must come thru with a winning product in the Volt, not just to get in the hybrid/EV game, but to save Detroit. Detroit has relied on the fat profits of Gas Gussling SUV's for over 15 years, and has been slow to introduce more fuel efficient cars like hybrids. GM's mild hybrids and 'idle stop' pickups were cute, but not enough to fool the American public. The dual mode Yukon hybrid is a great design, but far to costly, at $54,000, and unavailable in most of the country.

    The Chevy Volt is a chance to intorduce a 'paradigm shift' in Automotive buying, and allow GM (and America) to begin to make the transition away from dependence on imported fuel, and begin to use 'American made' power, which we have a surplus of every evening. We need to start thinking about saving the US from financial ruin thru the excessive negative trade balance of over $65B per month, nearly $1T per Year, on top of the wasted $10,000 per second we are wasting on the Iraqi war to secure fuel for all the SUV's in America. It is time for change and if GM doesn't do it this time, there may not be another chance! There are too many jobs at risk in Detroit.

  3. By  Gary C #3, Posted: 4/5/2008

    The Volt will impact the auto industry like CD's did the record industry... Bring it on!!!

  4. By JEM #4, Posted: 4/6/2008

    Mr Dunn - I'm looking forward to the Volt, but if anyone thinks that technology is going to replace Yukons and the like for the foreseeable future they're dreaming.

    And the current projected price for the Volt is $48K - no matter whether you think that's affordable, the fact is that given the current state of the LiIon cell business you can't build it to sell any cheaper.

    Consider, too, that the A123 cells that'll likely be going into the Volt are made in China, so right away at least 50% of the value of the vehicle will be Chinese-sourced. No improvement in the trade balance there, especially if the ecoloonies won't let us burn coal or build nukes to generate the grid power that Volts and other plug-in vehicles will use.

    EVs and plug-in hybrids are good, but we need continental-shelf drilling, Canadian oil sands, and sweet-talking the Mexican government to get Pemex modernized. All of which is thoroughly viable at $60/barrel. We don't need energy independence, just enough more capacity (in production or known reserves) to have some leverage in the market.

  5. By JEM #5, Posted: 4/6/2008

    One further thought - it makes a lot of sense for GM to trickle the Volt into the market for a couple of years, into the hands of a sympathetic buyer base who is not cost-sensitive and who will be willing to tolerate the likely bugs inherent in a product so different.

    The EV1 was a wonderful product in the hands of an owner (well, a lessee) who understood its limitations, and who wasn't scared off by the charger-port fires in the first-gen cars and the need for a big hard-wired charger and the fact that if you run out of charge somewhere you're going home on a trailer, AAA can't bring you a can of watts.

    In the hands of the general public who expects cars to be troublefree a
    appliances with no quirks and a predictable cost of operation, it'd have been troublesome.

    This is also the period during which GM needs to evaluate and negotiate the CAFE headroom to be realized from sales of plug-in hybrids and EVs.

  6. By jon #6, Posted: 4/6/2008

    I'd love to see GM get this to market on time, but I'm concerned that the quality of the vehicle will be poor if GM rushes it. It could be a disaster if there are major battery problems. By the way, does anyone know how the Volt is charged? Does it plug into a regular outlet?

  7. By Tom L #7, Posted: 4/6/2008

    JEM - I agree with most of your statements but disagree with one. Continental shelf drilling and other advanced methods are not a permanent solution as long as the rate at which we consume oil out-strips the rate that the Earth produces it. If we flood the market with more oil and drive down the price of energy then consumers are just going to respond by depending on it even more (we've seen this every time the cost of gas has dropped the last 2+ years sales of trucks have risen) and the prices will climb right back up even with the added supply. I say it's more important to stabilize the prices so that industry and consumers can predict what they need to produce and buy respectively.

  8. By Tom L #8, Posted: 4/6/2008

    JEM - Your last sentence there "We don’t need energy independence, just enough more capacity (in production or known reserves) to have some leverage in the market." is pretty much spot on. I only would argue that the federal govenment could actively use its reserves to stabilize prices and thus we could diminish the need for increased production if we agree that we don't need to reduce prices.

  9. By Philip #9, Posted: 4/7/2008

    Don't be afraid of Toyota catching up.

    Just build a good CAR, and you will beat them. Their aura is often not in line with the technical capacity of the company.

    There are so many models around that do not bring anything new. I'm craving to drive something that original. And I guess I'm not the only one.

    You're probably losing money on the car, but that should not justify cutting corners on execution. It has to look new and different as well.

    Don't dissappoint us!

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