This is Frank Weber, Global Vehicle Chief Engineer, Chevrolet Volt. I read with great interest “Dave G’s” post comparing the cost and range of extended-range electric vehicles (EREV) like the Volt to that of BEVs. While many of Dave’s numbers are estimates, his analysis is spot on and worth noting. EREVs have a distinct cost advantage – today and well in to the future – over pure EVs when vehicle range is the primary consideration.

Dave G’s Comment:

—————————————————————————————————

OK, lets look at how a 70kWh BEV would compare against a 16kWh EREV if batteries were 1/4 of the price they are today.

The CEO from CPI (the company that builds the Volt packs today) puts the Volt’s battery pack cost at $8K. He is also the one that predicts the cost going to 1/4 of what they are today in the next 5-10 years.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/02/profile-li-ion.html

Specifically, he says:
• The ratio of end-of-life to beginning-of-life is 75%.
• The AT application is sized for a 70% depth of discharge…
• A vehicle pack battery pack has non-cell costs such as a monitoring system.

These items together justify a 2.5x premium for the AT application (or approximately $ 1,000/available kWh) …

From a historical perspective over the past 17-18 years the cost has come down by a factor of 15x. In the next 5-10 years we should be able to come down by an incremental 2-4x and we will have to do that to accelerate the penetration of the technology.

So this says that the Volt’s battery costs $8K ($1000/ available kWh x 8 available kWh). We can also use the figure of $500/total kWh, since he says the total to available ratio is around 50% (i.e. 75% of 70% from first 2 points above). That means a 70 kWh battery pack would cost around $35K today. This sounds about right, since we know the 53kWh Roadster battery pack costs Tesla around $23K, and that uses high volume consumer electronic chemistry.

Now if batteries were 1/4 of today’s prices in 6-8 years, then the Volt’s battery would cost around $2K and a 70kWh battery would cost around $9K.

We also know that the ICE range extender (ICE, radiator, exhaust, etc.), costs around $2K. Keep in mind that we are talking about the wholesale cost for GM, not the retail price you or I would pay.

So the Volt’s range extender and battery pack would cost a total of $4K, while the 70kWh battery pack would cost around $9K.

Bottom Line: If battery packs cost 1/4 of what they do now, the 70kWh BEV would still cost $5K more than an EREV-40.. Since BEVs have serious issues refueling for long trips, the EREV is the clear winner for me. I don’t think I’m alone here.

—————————————————————————————————

Below are two hypothetical examples of the cost advantage of the EREV approach.

The first chart compares the EREVs and BEVs based on today’s costs. This takes the very conservative approach of assuming manufacturers of BEVs have managed to drive battery technology costs to comparative levels (red line). The cost of GM’s battery technology is represented on this line. The cost of the range-extender moves the EREV technology slightly off the cost curve. However, even with the added cost of the range extending engine generator, the total cost of the system is still significantly below that of a limited range BEV, and the benefit – in terms of range – exceeds that of adding additional battery costs (pink area).

The second chart, applies the same logic, only this time under the assumption that battery costs will decrease by 50 percent. Again, the EREV approach has a significant cost advantage. However, it’s important to note that cost is just one of the reasons we believe the EREV approach is technically better. There are no compromises associated with an EREV. It offers the benefits of petroleum-free driving while overcoming range-anxiety. When the battery’s energy is depleted from driving in pure electric mode, the engine generator produces electricity to extend the Volt’s driving range to more than 300 total miles. And it can be the primary car for customers from places as cold as Kapuskasing, Ontario to as hot as Yuma, Arizona.

My compliments to Dave for his insightful post.

Related posts:

1. Interview with Frank Weber, E-Flex/Chevy Volt Vehicle Line Executive, Part I
2. The Latest with Frank Weber, E-Flex/Chevy Volt Vehicle Line Executive
3. Frank Weber Says Chevy Volt is Necessary and Relevant For Energy Independence

By Cathy McCormick
OnStar Service Line Manager, Emergency and Security

It’s been just over a week since we “flipped the switch” and turned on our newest service – Remote Ignition Block. This service is available on select 2009 and newer GM vehicles. This industry-first service allows an OnStar Advisor to send a remote signal to a subscriber’s stolen vehicle to prevent it from restarting once turned off. This technology will not only help authorities recover stolen vehicles, but can also prevent dangerous high speed pursuits from starting.

I’ve been pleased to see the amount of discussion Ignition Block has generated on Twitter and in the blogosphere. While reading through the conversations, I noticed that some of you are concerned that this technology could be used in situations beyond stolen vehicle recovery and that it could be used without the subscriber’s consent.

To quickly clear up any misperceptions, OnStar’s focus is and always has been on helping to keep drivers safe and secure on the roads. It’s for that reason that stolen vehicle recovery has been such a priority for us and we’ve developed the industry’s most expansive suite of stolen vehicle assistance services, including Stolen Vehicle Slowdown and GPS location leveraging Microsoft Virtual Earth technology. We have a set process for the activation of Ignition Block, which is completely subscriber-driven. Here’s how it works:

• An OnStar subscriber reports their vehicle stolen to authorities and requests stolen vehicle assistance from OnStar.
• Law enforcement provides confirmation to the OnStar Advisor that the vehicle is in fact stolen.
• The OnStar Advisor pinpoints the vehicle’s exact GPS location and sends a remote signal to prevent stolen vehicle from starting the next time someone attempts to start it.

As of this morning, we’re 17 for 17 – 17 successful Ignition Block activations, and 17 successful vehicle recoveries. Every deployment has a unique story … the brand new 2010 Camaro SS in Wayne, PA, the 2009 Tahoe in Waipahu, HI, but the end result was always the same — the safe and fast recovery of the stolen vehicle to the subscriber. In most cases, the vehicles were recovered within an hour of the advisor activating the service. I’m extremely encouraged that this technology is being adopted so rapidly, and look forward to sharing even more success stories in the weeks and months ahead.

Filed under: Budget, Hatchback, Chevrolet, GM, South America

This fall, our friends to the south will have a new hatch to choose from when the all-new Chevrolet Agile hits the market. GM released a few sketches of the new compact five-door ahead of its official unveiling, complete with Chevy's two-tier grille, angular headlamps and a strong shoulder line flowing over the front wheel arches and through to its sculpted haunches.

The Agile was developed entirely in Brazil, and production is set to begin in a few months at GM's manufacturing center in Argentina. It's also likely that the Gamma II-based B-segment hatch will be built at the General's Lake Orion, Michigan facility and what we're looking at is the next generation Aveo, due to arrive sometime in 2011.

With a wheelbase just over 98 inches and powered by a choice of either a 105-hp 1.4-liter or a 129-hp 1.8-liter, the Agile may finally provide GM with a competent competitor to the 2010 Ford Fiesta when it arrives in the U.S. Make the jump for the (Google-translated) press release.

Continue reading Chevrolet sketches out forthcoming Agile

Chevrolet sketches out forthcoming Agile originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM, GMC

General Motors is probably swimming in ideas and getting another thousand offers every day on how to turn the company around - there are fifteen pages of responses on the Tell Fritz site alone, and those are just the questions the GM CEO has answered. Add the company's recent advertising issues to that, and the internal suggestion box is most likely brimming as well.

Enter The Blake Project, a brand consultancy firm that is offering GM $100,000 worth of time for free. That won't include economy travel expenses, but will include a day with the firm's three-man team of Jack Trout, Brad VanAudken, and Mark Ritson, to "share insights, ideas and expertise."

What might those insights and ideas be? Some of them were looked at in a piece called "New Brand Strategies for GM." The first task given is to define the brands, e.g., Chevrolet should stand for something like "Good value, variety and heritage," instead of "big, small, expensive, cheap, truck, van or sports car." Buick should "stop making cheap Buicks," and Cadillac "can never be a prestige car. The fancy imports dominate that category." Is that glimpse worth setting aside a day of GM's time? If anyone at the General thinks so, click the link below...

[Source: Branding Strategy Insider]

REPORT: The Blake Project offers $100k worth of free brand consultancy to GM originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM

It's no mystery that Bob Lutz wasn't particularly pleased with Buick's recent "Photo Shoot" advert, and according to Ad Age, the tri-shield's spot wasn't the only campaign to incur Maximum Bob's maximum wrath.

On July 14, General Motor's new Vice Chairman sat down with the automaker's branding teams, and according to one source, "crapped all over the advertising," then left on a Caribbean vacation.

Specifically, he took issue with the aforementioned Buick commercial, as well as the Kate Walsh (of Grey's Anatomy fame) Cadillac ads, saying the spots were "too dark" and that Chevrolet's new campaign - which has yet to run - is "too lifestyle-focused."

Speaking with various insiders at GM, its advertising agencies and the creator of the Buick spot, Ad Age reports that Lutz will be spearheading in-depth reviews of current and upcoming campaigns to best represent the General's post-bankruptcy rebirth, and taking an old-school approach that highlights the products and features in its line-up.

Lutz said in a webcast before the meeting, "I think you will very quickly see a drastic change in the tone and content of our advertising. And if you don't, it will mean that I have failed."

[Source: Ad Age | Image Source: Stan Honda/Getty]

REPORT: Bob Lutz "crapped all over [GM's] advertising," went on holiday originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet, GM

Last but not least among this year's Comic-Con rides: GM's Transformers Special Edition Chevy Camaro. You likely remember the details, but in case you don''t, here's a refresher: for around a thousand bucks, you get a bunch of Autobot and Transformers logos on your otherwise stock-trim machine. The only requirement is that the car needs to be Rally Yellow, for maximum Bumblebee effect. In case you were wondering, you can get pretty much the exact same car, sans all the movie tie-in pieces of flair, for $470 over sticker; that's what plain black stripes cost when you order them alone. But you know, this is more collectible. Probably. Hit the gallery below for the shots Drew snapped of the V6 RS with the factory Bumblebee package at Comic-Con this weekend.


Photos copyright (C)2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.

Comic-Con 2009: GM shows off Transformers Special Edition Camaro originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bob Boniface, Design Director for the Chevrolet Volt is interested in talking about the vehicle’s design and hearing what you would like to see next. Join us on Tuesday, July 28, from 2:00 – 3:00-p.m. EDT for the webchat discussion.

Filed under: Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM, Alternative Fuel

During a live webchat the other day, Jon Lauckner, General Motors VP for Global Program Management, said that pricing for the Chevrolet Volt would not be finalized until mid to late 2010. Although cars are generally developed to a target price point, Lauckner responded to a pricing query saying, "We typically do not lock in on pricing until about 3-6 months prior to start of production. The reason is primarily so we have an opportunity to take a look at the market, competitors and other factors. So stay tuned."

As for alternative versions of the Voltec, such as a lower cost non-plug-in version, Lauckner ruled that out as defeating the whole point of the Volt. Without the benefits of running on grid power, the Volt's architecture would likely be less efficient than a current parallel hybrid because of the losses in constantly going from mechanical to electrical and back to mechanical energy.

What does seem likely to eventually change is the configuration of the range extender. Lauckner ruled out the possibility of using a Wankel rotary - an engine design that offers high power density compared to a piston engine but isn't very fuel efficient. One alternative that was highlighted as an alternative that does have promise for increased efficiency was HCCI. In any case, none of these alternatives are likely to appear before the second-gen Volt at the earliest. The first-gen Volt will be e85 capable at launch just as announced when the original concept appeared. More after the jump.



[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading GM: No Chevy Volt pricing until mid to late 2010, could sell first cars on eBay

GM: No Chevy Volt pricing until mid to late 2010, could sell first cars on eBay originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Chevrolet

General Motors European sales chief, Brent Dewar, will reportedly be named the head of Chevrolet in the most recent management shake-up to take place within a post-bankruptcy GM.

Dewar, who started his career with GM of Canada in 1978, became the European sales and marketing head last year after stints as the vice president of field sales, service and marketing, executive director of sales in Brazil and Chevrolet's general marketing manager, where he was in charge of the brand's "American Revolution" ad campaign.

Dewar's appointment comes in the wake of the announcement that Bryan Nesbitt, former North American design head, would become the new man in charge of Cadillac on August 1. Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick/GMC's lead executives will all report to newly-appointed vice chairman of marketing, Bob Lutz as GM continues its reinvention campaign.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req. | Image: Stephen Chernin/Getty]

GM European sales chief Brent Dewar named head of Chevrolet originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Safety, Chevrolet

Last week, we told you about a problem some members of the Camaro5 forums who own V8-powered SS models equipped with the Tremec six-speed manual transmission were reporting. The owners were experiencing a broken output shaft on hard launch; a serious problem that will likely render their brand new Bowtie pony car immobile. General Motors responded by putting a hold on V8 Camaros with manual trannies at its Oshawa assembly plant, but until now, there hasn't been a definitive plan for replacing the affected transmissions.

Camaro5 is now reporting that GM will pick up the phone and call all owners who may have the defective gearbox, presumably to schedule time at the dealership to fix the problem parts. GM told Camaro5 that the calls will take place in a couple weeks, after an internal investigation regarding the issue is complete.

At this point, we don't know what happened to cause the problem with the Tremec 6060 transmission, nor do we know exactly what parts GM will need to repair. What we do know, however, is that we'll update you as soon as we have more information.



[Source: Camaro5]

Hello? Chevy reportedly vows to call Camaro owners who may have bad transmissions originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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