Chevy Volt Laboratory

A rare behind the scenes glimpse at the development of an electric car.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Green
• enviornment
• cars
• chevy

[Dilekz]

They still use a wind tunnel to test the car ?? :) fucking oldfasioned.. use a Computer..

[jeffgilbertwwj]

They use a computer at first. Then after they've designed the model they check everything out in a wind tunnel to make sure their calculations are correct. Same thing with crash testing. The computers save time in the development process...but they still have to test real vehicles.

[evmotorcycle]

40 miles of electric range? What if they ditch the Gas motor and base their battery on the Tesla Roadster battery? Surely the GM can do better than that? Phoenix motorcars, Tesla Motors. Any EV enthusiast using Lithium batteries could build a competing car in their own garage. Sounds like GM are not making that much of an effort to me.

[jeffgilbertwwj]

Not to debate anybody...but just passing on what GM says. They say they have concerns about the reliability of the tesla battery system. There are even those at other auto companies who privately don't think GM can sell the Volt at anything close to break even. It will be interesting to watch.

[Dilekz]

WTF i hear a DC motor.... hahaha SUCKS BIG TIME.. I hope they will use AC motor..

Damn the EV1 was so much better.

The volt is R/D will never hit the real road.. trust me

[jeffgilbertwwj]

That vehicle was just the concept. It was handout tape provided by GM. I'm not really sure what was powering that vehicle. They seem really interested in getting the Volt on the road. So, we'll see if you're right.

[jogrannymonkey]

absolutely nothing but greed. but yet majority of all humans like that

[virginsmind]

Green cars? only honda & bmw hydrogen 7 did it nicely.

[TomaCukor]

wat do u expect from american engineering ?

[emforty2]

isnt lithium ion the culprit for laptop battery recalls ?

i hope none of this happens as that would be the end of this volt science project !!

[TranCendenZ]

There are no savings with the Volt. The price is estimated at $40K to $48K. Automobile critics have dubbed it "Grandma's electric vehicle." The production Volt is hideous and bland. Nissan has already developed an electric car that gets TWICE the mileage as the Volt.

[PeteRosenburg]

Why don't you cram your faggot face deep into your dirty asshole, so we dont have to hear your arrogant, egotistical douchebaggary. You know nothing, so don't say anything.

[mag994]

@ :40 Hey it's Gary Coleman's car!

[bustermk2]

So it can go 40 miles on electric. I assume that is the maximum battery range without headlights, aircon, etc.

I am betting that you would have to go real slow to get that 40 miles as well.

[diggingforgold]

The EV1 was lighter, more aerodynamic, and cost more than twice the expected price of the Volt. It didn't have to appeal to the masses, only a few environmentalists. With +$4/gal gas prices, people are keeping their options open, EVs finally have a chance.

At the very least, I would think EV enthusiasts would be applauding GM so they can be the guinea pigs for Li-ion, mass produce it, and get it to come down in price so you guys have something for when your packs eventually need replacement.

[diggingforgold]

Reuters recently quoted Lutz saying that their engineers have "routinely had it to the high 30s, low 40s and they go up hills with it and everything". And obviously AC will reduce range, it reduces range on other EVs as well.

People need to remember that GM is hoping to make this an *affordable* EV. Benchmarking the Volt to the EV1 is unfair, since each EV1 cost GM $80,000 and they never saw a penny of profit from it. GM hopes to sell the Volt for less than half that, and make a profit.