Chevy Volt could get a featured spot at Epcot Center
Back in the 1990s, the GM EV1 was featured in one of the attractions at Epcot Center at Disney World in Florida. Once the EV1 was pulled off the roads the Epcot attraction was also replaced. As GM keeps the hype going for their next electric car, the range extended Volt, they may sponsor a new ride at the Disney theme park featuring the new car. Placing a Volt at Epcot could make it visible to a lot of people who don't go to auto shows or read car magazines or websites. The only problem with all this attention is that it could seriously backfire if GM runs into any technical difficulties with the lithium ion battery packs that cause a program delay.
[Source: Half Life Source]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dad 5:17PM (11/25/2007)
The author states ". The only problem with all this attention is that it could seriously backfire if GM runs into any technical difficulties with the lithium ion battery packs that cause a program delay."
I am always amazed at how folks with no automotive background (don't build them, don't sell them and don't work for GM) can make pronouncements like this one quoted above. It is pure speculation and some might call "baloney sausage". Serves no real purpose, does it?
Bob
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Sam Abuelsamid 5:23PM (11/25/2007)
I am always amazed at how folks with no knowledge of my automotive background can make pronouncements about what I may or may not know. For the record I've been an engineer in the auto industry for 22 years including a stint working for GM. I'm intimately familiar with how the development process works. The likelihood of encountering technical problems on a program like this is almost 100% and GM will have to do everything it can to prevent those issues from delaying the program. If such a delay does occur it will simply feed the conspiracy theories of everyone who took Who Killed the Electric Car at face value.
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Dad 6:03PM (11/25/2007)
The author ". The likelihood of encountering technical problems on a program like this is almost 100%".
Good to know of your recent intimate knowledge of electric vehicles and A123 lithium ion battery work. For a moment, I thought you were just like every other person, out of the loop when it comes to this project and grounded in old school automotive work with ICE.
Bob
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jy 6:55PM (11/25/2007)
@Dad
GM was the first one to doubt their own progress. Throughout the whole development they were saying everything was riding on the batteries. Based on that we can already deduce there are higher chances of things going wrong with the batteries than anything else in the Volt's development. Remember they are creating a 40 mile range phev. The battery to survive the typical 200,000 mile car cycle has to deliver a whopping 5000 cycles (200000/40). Compare that w/ the Tesla's claim 125,000mi/250mi/charge = 500 cycles. GM has their work cut out for them. Yes the a123 batteries project 7000 cycles, but that has to be proven in this first automotive application. And remember they are not just using the cells straight on, they have to develop it as a battery pack. While we can have confidence it will eventually be done if GM stays on track, it's not wrong to expect delays or problems to occur along the way.
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Tony Belding 9:18PM (11/25/2007)
It's been great to see how GM's (particularly Lutz's) attitude has changed over a relatively short time. When they first showed the Chevy Volt, the talk was all about how this represented something they'd like to do someday but "the batteries don't exist yet". That brought forth a lot of skepticism and even ridicule.
After the huge public response, I think GM felt compelled to look closer at the idea, and the closer they looked the more doable it seemed to be. You can follow the changing attitude in their public comments, which started out very timid and full of caveats and disclaimers, but every new comment from GM has been more confident than the one before.
Now they've reached a point where batteries don't look like a problem, and Lutz is talking casually about producing up to 100,000 units in the first year. If it even hits a quarter of that production level it'll send a shock wave through the auto industry.
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BlackbirdHighway 3:05AM (11/26/2007)
So the Epcot thing will be an exhibit showing the "Car of the Future"? Will I be the only one disappointed that it doesn't fly? :)
Good news for the enitre EV industry, in that it help to get the public to buy into the idea. I think GM is really worried that between Tesla, Miles, Mitsubishi, and others, they will miss out on the next big thing, just like what happened with the Toyota and the hybrid.
Or maybe, like me, they have seen the future, and there isn't a lot of cheap oil there. Not a lot of high profit truck sales either.
BTW, Anybody else see Huckabee's claim that he would make America energy independent in 10 years?
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paulwesterberg 4:04PM (11/26/2007)
@BlackbirdHighway
If there isnt much oil in the future then how are you going to power flying cars which would need an order of magnitude more energy?
I havent heard of Huckabee's energy plan, does he offer any specifics on how he would to accomplish this task, beyond opening coastal waters, national parks and ANWAR to oil drilling? Maybe lots of prayer will solve our energy problems? I am pretty skeptical when any presidential candidate makes claims about what they will accomplish in ten years given the 8 year max term limit.
Bush said he would put a man on mars in Ten years, to facilitate this he didnt propose any increase in nasa funding, just more information sharing with the pentagon(star wars):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3381531.stm
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