Up General Motors Future

As Detroit's Auto Industry is rolling on the road to recovery GM has designed the Chevy Volt as the vehicle for returning the company to engineering leadership of the global industry.

The Chevy Volt was plugged-in to the auto industry's consciousness amidst the snowdrifts and below freezing temperatures at the Detroit Auto Show in 2007. We have been campaigning to hold that show in the late summer right before the "new model year" starts so many of the manufacturers displays can be staged outdoors saving the City of Detroit hundreds of millions of dollars in construction costs that it would cost to expand it's exhibition space.

Electric Cars have been criticised as "too expensive" as the Chevy Volt is expected to cost $40,000 for a four passenger compact car. The hundreds of millions of dollars of development costs are borne by the first few thousand car buyers and as production volume increases the costs of manufacturing will drop and the price will decrease also.

Another criticism of Electric Cars is their limited range between recharging, 40 miles in the Volt's case. The engineers at GM have determined that the majority of Americans drive less than 40 miles a day back-and-forth to school and work so the Volts will be practicable for daily commuting.

What about the 76-mile trip to grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner? the Electraskeptics will scoff. The Chevy Volt has a gasoline engine is used to recharge the battery pack, extending the driving range. When the family gets to Grandma's house the car's power cord is plugged in to recharge the battery pack fully.

The reason that Electric Cars have not been widely available is the limitations of the previous "lead acid" and "nickel-metal hydride" batteries (used in the Toyota Prius) because of limited electrical power capacity, great weight and long recharging time.

Battery Research And Development Cost Millions

Lithium-Ion Batteries are on your lap and in your pocket as your laptop and cellphone use are powered by them but for automotive use there are multiple cells that must be connected together and packaged so that they form a battery pack. It is estimated that half of the cost of the Volt will be for the battery that is designed to last for a decade.

Another feature of the Chevy Volt is that is designed as a multi-motorvated vehicle platform. As R&D continues on Hydrogen Fuel Cells there may be be a breakthrough in 2019 that makes inexpensive electrical generators that use water for fuel available that will replace the battery pack and it's driver continues on her way without having to plug-in at work.