Can the Chevy Volt be built now? Conflicting opinions battle in the octagon!
One of the pressing questions following the spectacular debut of the Chevy Volt focused on why the company won't build the vehicle right away. GM says the battery technology isn't ready. Environmentalists and critics say hogwash.
Although they don't know each other, Steven Cole Smith of the Orlando Sentinel and Doug Korthof, a contributor to freeliberal.com, took up opposing positions on this very subject in Sunday postings.
I've known Smith for many years and respect his knowledge and insight. In his best line, Smith writes: "An executive of another manufacturer told me that had he known building cars that feature nonexistent technology would be such a hit, he would have had several on display."
I don't know Korthof, but he writes intelligently and seems to research his subject thoroughly. He says current NiMH technology can be used to get the Volt in production and takes this interesting position: "Many GM watchers believe that GM's excuse of 'waiting for lithium' means that GM really doesn't intend to produce the Volt, they are just using it just for an answer to their public relations disaster for having killed the electric car."
This round goes to Smith because it doesn't make economic sense to develop powertrain technology that will be outdated with the next-generation Prius. GM certainly isn't going to fund production of a vehicle that will draw more criticism for being behind the times. Nickel metal hydride batteries are fine for improving next year's NEVs but we're talking about mass-production fullsize vehicles that need to be safe for freeways and last 100,000 miles. The cost of more sophisticated battery packs has to come down before a commercially viable EV or PHEV is ready for the market. That's why Tesla is building a premium sports car on a limited edition because only the wealthy can afford the latest battery technology today.
So, could the Volt be built today? Read both stories and post your decision.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony Belding 9:41AM (1/22/2007)
Martin Eberhard offered a surprising but cogent point in his latest blog. He noted that the Volt would actually flog its batteries a lot harder than the Tesla Roadster does. Every time you drive 40 miles in a Volt you'd be subjecting it to a complete deep-discharge cycle. If you drive a Tesla 40 miles, the battery pack is still at 84%. His conclusion. . . Today's Li-ion battery technology is good enough for the Tesla Roadster, but not yet durable enough to make the Volt practical.
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Paul 10:45AM (1/22/2007)
It makes me laugh when all these EV1 fanatics spout on and on about how the Volt can be built now using NiMH batteries. The only reason the EV1 worked was because of the size of the battery pack. Having 150 mile range means you have to arrange groups of cells in parallel to get the capacity. This in tern means the current draw on each cell is drastically reduced thus prolonging the life. Also NiMH don't like deep discharge so the pack is sized larger than required. Sure you could build a pack of a similar size for the volt but it would be too heavy and cost too much.
The batteries in a plug-in will really take a beating i.e. high current draws on individual cells and many deep discharges. The only cells publicly discussed that can take this kind of abuse are A123 and Altairnano. I have used A123 M1 cells and they are good but not perfect. They have a claimed 90% capacity after 1000 cycles at 10C discharge. This isn't good enough to last the life of the vehicle. I haven't seen any official specs on calendar life which makes me a little suspicious. I know they are working on a larger format cell more geared to EV applications so there is some hope a suitable pack can be produced. However, the cost seems to be the big problem. Some of the Prius conversions are quoting $12,000 to $25,000 depending on the capacity. I am sure this will come down with scale but this will take time. The really telling point is that none of the conversions will give any kind of battery warranty above 1 or 2 years.
So I think GM's claims seem valid. I would expect 3 to 4 years will be required at least, unless highly subsidized fleet programs take on the role as testers.
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Kelly OBrien 12:14PM (1/22/2007)
It can't be built as right now as a "production" vehicle. It's spot-on as the way to go, in my humble opinion. This is yet another example of GM's extraordinary design and engineering cability that could beat the daylights out of the Japanese. GM just doesn't have the corporate culture to actualize it. SUCH a shame!
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lj 2:27PM (1/22/2007)
I beleive the technology is here, onbly the costs are prohibitive, not to mention misgivings about the safety of these Li-ion batteries in autos. The 3-5 year timeline will be to bring down costs and increase safety. The volt will be built.
See http://www.gm-volt.com
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short 5:10PM (1/23/2007)
100000 miles? I have gotten about 300000 trouble free miles our of the toyota cars I buy.
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Jordan 6:25PM (1/23/2007)
I think you have hit on a problem there with the life of the car. Many people can not afford a new car let alone a new car that costs 20 thousand dollars. Big repair bills are not what lower income people are looking for in a used car. Costs need to come way down on PHEV and HEV's. There is a vast number of people who can not afford these cars even when they are used. We need to get the old cars off the roads as much as possible. Getting the price down and the life of the car up in the gas powered range will put them in the hands of many more people.
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doug korthof 2:12AM (2/18/2007)
IGNORANCE ABOUT NIMH AND THE EV1
The Toyota RAV4-EV contains 24 EV-95 NiMH batteries IN SERIES, not parallel. If you do research, you would would learn that the EV1 also had its battery pack in series. Not parallel, and not heavy; only 770 lbs. for up to 30 kWh, enough to take an EV1 up to 200 miles (the actual EV1 NiMH batteries only contained 26 kWh, so only went up to 160 miles on a charge, but would have done better with the very best Toyota NiMH batteries).
The Volt would only need 300 lbs. to go 50 miles.
Contrary to the false impression promoted by GM-flacks, NiMH is the most tested, most researched and the only successful battery that lasts longer than the life of the car -- even a Toyota car.
On the RAV4-EV pack, 288v in series, it deep cycles, travels up to 120 miles per charge at freeway speeds, has no memory effect, lasts longer than the life of the car, even a Toyota car, and is still running strong on hundreds of 2001 and 2002 Toyota RAV4-EV. Don't believe it? We drive them every day, and pay for it with excess electric from our solar system.
Do some study on this, and report back after you learn something about it.
"...The only reason the EV1 worked was because of the size of the battery pack. Having 150 mile range means you have to arrange groups of cells in parallel to get the capacity. This in tern (sic) means the current draw on each cell is drastically reduced thus prolonging the life. [false] Also NiMH don't like deep discharge [also false] so the pack is sized larger than required. [also false] Sure you could build a pack of a similar size for the volt but it would be too heavy and cost too much.[also false]..."
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