Autoblog Green Podcast #2
Sebastian and Sam discuss what's coming out at this weeks Alternative Fuel Vehicle conference in Anaheim, and New York Auto Show as well as some of this weeks news. Prior to the recent GM battery technology briefing, Sam, Ed Ring, David Houle, and Jeff McIntire-Strasburg got to sit down with Larry Burns, GM Vice President for breakfast and a discussion of where he thinks GM is going with alternative fuel technology. The Q and A session led to some interesting discussion.SUBSCRIBE to the AutoblogGreen Podcast in iTunes
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony Belding 3:32PM (4/01/2007)
One thing about the GM discussion puzzled me. We were told that GM contemplated a pure electric, four-door model (an "EV2" perhaps) but decided battery technology wasn't viable to get a 200-mile range out of it. And yet, they decided to go for the Volt hybrid while they admit the batteries aren't available yet to make it work either. Where's the logic?
It might be instructive to look at who is building a four-door EV today: AC Propulsion and their eBox. The eBox has a stated range of 140-180 miles per charge. That is indeed less than 200 miles. Yet, it's not drastically less. Could anything be done to increase the range of the eBox without greatly increasing its manufacturing cost?
A quick glance at the vehicle will answer that: improve the aerodynamics! It has literally the aerodynamics of a shoebox. It seems perfectly reasonable that restructuring the vehicle into a streamlined shape would get it into the autonomy range that GM said they were looking for, or very close to it. That assumes zero improvements in the energy density of li-ion batteries between now and the vehicle entering production.
Tesla have suggested their four-door "White Star" model will also target a maximum range of about 200 miles. If GM's plans are based on a calculation that this can't be done, they may get a rude surprise.
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John Rowell 9:24PM (4/01/2007)
Interesting podcast. It's good to hear GM's point of view on entering the electric car market and the limitations of battery technology. Although it's a bit too long at 45 minutes, and you still need to work on the audio during the interview as it gets kinda quiet and there's background noise - maybe make the people use clip-on microphones or use a boom microphone.
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