ChevyVoltForum - GM has completed another round of tests on its battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt and the latest tests have Bob Lutz saying one thing: "I would say there's almost no reasonable doubt in our minds anymore that this is going to work."
What's more telling? In some situations GM engineers were able to achieve more than 40 miles on electric power alone, even as the vehicle went up hills and all. The range of the batteries was between the "high 30's and low 40's."
General Motors and Clean Energy Working to Expand Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure
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Hydrogen Station to Open Near LAX
Using Clean Energy's Expertise in Natural Gas Fueling to Expand Hydrogen Infrastructure and Support Chevrolet's Project Driveway
Detroit, Mich. and Seal Beach, Calif. — General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) announced today Clean Energy will open a hydrogen fueling station in Los Angeles with support from GM. The two companies also announced that they are exploring further opportunities to expand the hydrogen infrastructure.
As the first step in this effort, a hydrogen fueling station will be developed and located at Clean Energy's compressed natural gas (CNG) facility near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The hydrogen station will be used by drivers taking part in Chevrolet's Project Driveway, the world's largest market test of fuel cell vehicles. It is expected to be operational by early fall.
GM and Clean Energy are discussing potential opportunities to expand this first station into a network of hydrogen fueling stations by leveraging Clean Energy's natural gas fueling expertise and the real-world customer experience gained by fueling more than 14,000 vehicles daily at over 170 CNG stations across North America.
“Developing and growing hydrogen infrastructure is vital to GM's efforts to bring larger volumes of fuel cell vehicles to the market,” said Mary Beth Stanek, director of energy and environmental policy & commercialization at General Motors. “We’re supporting this hydrogen station near LAX because we recognize a critical role for Clean Energy’s existing CNG infrastructure in helping expand the hydrogen infrastructure. We expect to learn important lessons from Clean Energy's expertise in developing and operating a network of natural gas fueling stations.”
The LAX station will help both companies better understand the synergies between hydrogen and natural gas fueling.
“Working with General Motors in this highly significant project makes great sense,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, Clean Energy's president and CEO. “Developing a cost-effective hydrogen infrastructure is a challenge. By leveraging the growing network of natural gas stations, a variety of hydrogen station designs can be introduced to the public. Ultimately, reforming pipeline natural gas to produce hydrogen at our stations may be done inexpensively, thereby taking advantage of the ready infrastructure. This approach can help accelerate a larger-scale deployment of hydrogen vehicles.”
Littlefair also noted that Clean Energy and GM can work to broaden the awareness of the societal and customer benefits of cleaner gaseous fuels as the world moves to diversify its sources of energy.
Chevrolet’s Project Driveway is putting more than 100 Equinox fuel cell vehicles in the hands of real customers to help Chevy and GM understand what it will take to bring larger numbers of fuel cell vehicles to customers around the world. Currently, the program has launched in Los Angeles, New York City and Washington D.C. with further deployments later this year in Europe and Asia.
ChevyVoltForum - Several key pieces of Chevrolet Volt news has surfaced. In light of the recent production announcement by G. Richard Wagoner, we're getting news that one potential Volt battery supplier has announced they have a plant ready to produce Volt battery packs, and they plan to also open a production plant near GM's Detroit-Hamtramck facility if chosen.
We're Not The Only Ones Excited: Volt On Front Page Of FoxNews.com
ChevyVoltForum - No, we're not the only ones excited here at ChevyVoltForum. It's clear that all of us including our members can't wait for the official viewing of the Volt, but it looks like the Volt is receiving national attention again. This time, the Volt is featured on the front page of FoxNews.com
The story does not give us anything new that we don't already know, but any news on the Volt is good news.
ChevyVoltForum - Rick Wagoner finally gave us all a reason to really believe that the Volt is going to happen. For those that have followed this blog/forum you know that GM was serious about the Volt program from day 1, and if they weren't prepared from day 1 they sure did a good job fooling us.
We've given updates on the progress of the Volt and were lucky enough to attend the official North American viewing of the Chevy Volt hydrogen model currently being developed possibly as a successor to the electric version set to debut. When Rick gave us word that the Volt was a go, he said that the production version of the Volt would be shown "real soon."
We've heard that the Paris Motor Show is set to showcase GM's new global Delta architecture which underpins the Volt. People have speculated that the Volt would be shown in Paris. However the Paris Motor Show does not happen for quite a few months. It is slated to run October 4-19th.
If it does debut in Paris, that's not really "real soon." Another likely debut and closer than October is this August. The Pebble Beach Concours happens on August 17th, however this type of show is geared more for classics and collectible vehicles.
While we sit and wait the debut of the Volt "real soon" we'll continue to keep our eyes and ears peeled for the latest and as soon as we know when the Volt will debut, we'll pass the word on. For now, how about letting us know your thoughts? We would all love to see the Volt as quick as tomorrow, but what's realistic in your opinion?
TheGMSource - If we can cut through all of the bad news that GM plans to close 4 large truck plants and increase production of small cars we learn that the Chevrolet Volt concept has been approved for production. Rick Wagoner made the announcement today at the GM shareholder meetings in Wilmington, Delaware.
In addition to the announcement that the Volt is a go, it was revealed that the Volt will be produced at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck facility that currently produces the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS. The Volt will be in GM showrooms before the end of 2010 available for retail sale.
"We believe it's the biggest step yet in our industry's move away from its historic, nearly complete reliance upon petroleum to power vehicles," he said. "We believe the Volt is an important investment for the future of our company and our shareholders."
Report: GM May Help Toyota Produce Prius In North America
ChevyVoltForum - Believe this if you will, but a report out of a Japanese newspaper says that Toyota and GM are in negotiations to bring production of the Prius to GM and Toyotas plant in Fremont, California. As it currently stands the popular hybrid car is only produced in Japan and China.
If such a move were to be made the extra production capacity would certainly put Toyota well on pace to sell 1 million hybrid vehicles per year after 2010.
It should be noted that the Japanese newspaper did not cite any sources in its report, which is often common practice in Japanese media reports. Toyota also went on record as stating no decision has been made regarding Prius production in North America.
The automaker would only say that "we are always considering the best places for production, but nothing has been decided about producing the Prius at NUMMI." NUMMI is the name of the joint venture plant between GM and Toyota.
The plant currently produces the Toyota Matrix and newely refreshed Pontiac Vibe.
TheGMSource - An interesting piece of information just crossed the wires that quotes Rick Wagoner as saying that GM plans to begin selling electric vehicles before it originally stated. Wagoner made the comments to the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview
Wagoners exact remarks were that the company would build electric vehicles by 2010 and also said that the company hopes to have those vehicles priced UNDER $30,000. The Volt is scheduled to currently be a late 2010 model with a very limited run.
I expect Mr. Wagoner is speaking of the Saturn Vue Plug-In hybrid vehicle that the company plans on selling sometime in 2010. It's possible the program is farther along than previous reported.
One interesting bit however is that Mr. Wagoner seems to specifically mention the Chevrolet Volt as it relates to the electric vehicle. So, is GM preparing for an earlier than expected launch of the Volt or is GM planning a seperate electric vehicle priced under $30.000
TheGMSource - It's something we read about all the time, especially with gas prices soaring through the roof. We ask ourselfs "when will it end?" The never ending increases at the pump, and more importantly, what's going happen next year, or five years, or even 20 years from today? A GM executive says the Government must actively participate in the move away from petroleum fuel to alternative fuels.
Steve Carlisle, the Thailand-based chief of operations for General Motors in Southeast Asia has said that governments and automakers need to work together on an "energy security roadmap" focusing on many different energy resources.
He went on to say that hydrogen is the future of propulsion but admitted that is still quite aways away. In the meantime, Mr. Carlisle says that governments need to look at other sources of energy in the interim. Those being ethanol, electricy and natural gas.
To illustrate the important role governments can play, Mr Carlisle cited the situations in Brazil and Sweden where demand for ethanol was increased through the use of incentives and taxes. Smart policies led to a growth in demand for "flex fuel" vehicles which in Brazil now represent 80 percent of the market.
Exclusive First Look: 2010 Chevy Volt Interior & Exterior!
ChevyVoltForum - The image shown here (albeit small and a little grainy) is what we expect to be the 2010 Chevrolet Volt interior. The vehicle is currently in a "design freeze" mode and this image shows the GM E-Flex design studio. Check out the wording on the top left of the image. It clearly shows "Volt" which leads us to believe this is the final design for the Volts interior.
We've also included a picture of what we believe to be the final exterior design of the grille, headlights, and side mirrors. Again, a little small but you can clearly tell the look of the Chevrolet Volt!
Again, a little small and grainy but the overall lay-out is there and we like what we see!
