Lutz says Volt's batteries are "flawless"
Now that we've seen at least a blurry vision of the Chevy Volt's exterior and a Photoshopped front end (above), how about hearing a bit more about the inside, specifically the batteries? According to GM's
We heard already that GM has picked a battery supplier, and this has got to be good news for either Continental/A123 Systems or LG Chem/Compact Power Inc. Lutz continued: "It's almost scary we are not seeing any problems with the batteries."
There is one big potential flaw, though: price. Durability and longevity predictions are showing that the batteries will work as hoped, but in their cost projections, GM is expecting each and every Volt will need a new battery pack while it is under warranty. Thanks to Dave T.
[Source: Kicking Tires]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Turbofrog 3:40PM (9/02/2008)
Are the LG Chem batteries lithium iron phosphate as well? I thought A123 was suggesting a predicted lifespan of 10+ years, so that warranty stat is a little surprising.
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Anth 3:54PM (9/02/2008)
I honestly don't see it being a big deal. If every Volt needs a battery replacement under the 10 year warranty, lets assume the earliest ones will come up at 4 years, which would be late 2014 or early 2015. I have a feeling that replacement batteries wont be nearly as expensive as the first battery they put in there. Probably half the original price (or about $5,000).
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tankd0g 12:25AM (9/03/2008)
Ya that's what they said about the Insight. The price of the batteries actually went up.
Bill 3:56PM (9/03/2008)
Yep, Toyota just slashed the replacement battery cost for the Prius (a little more popular than the Insight)
meme 5:37PM (9/02/2008)
The LG Chem batteries are stabilized spinel. They're impressive in their own right -- just not as widely publicized.
GM is offering a 10 year warranty. When determining vehicle pricing, they're assuming the worst, which is probably a sound strategy for a company in as much red ink as GM.
I think it's interesting that we've become acclimitized to the concept that there *must* be something wrong with battery packs. They *must* die in short order. They *must* be toxic. They must be unpredictable, or burn easily, or have too little power, or overheat, or be too bulky, or too short range, or charge too slowly, or on and on. I think it's hard for people to accept how much the tech has advanced. Right about now, I think the only real problem is price, and even that issue is overblown, what with the price reductions on the horizon and the lower operating costs of EVs.
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Joseph 12:25AM (9/04/2008)
"GM is expecting each and every Volt will need a new battery pack while it is under warrenty"
:O
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gorr 5:42PM (9/02/2008)
Im minding if they didn't sold their ev1 battery to chevron some years ago if they could have beginned the commercialisation of this car earlier to help reduce their 15 billions dollars quaterly deficit. But wait maybe Gm is not their own property. That is the strange twist in high financial business.
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MemphisNET 6:29PM (9/02/2008)
They'll pull a Toyota/Honda and replace defective OUTSIDE of warranty in the name of good press. What's a warranty these days anyway, 5years, 120,000 miles? I'm not worried.
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Nick 8:31AM (9/03/2008)
Yeah those evil bastards. How dare they make a well designed auto and fix it out of warranty.
I can't tell you how upset I was when Honda offered to replace the starter on my 98 accord under warranty even though I had 180,000 miles on the car.
stevefazek 6:39PM (9/02/2008)
Those battery packs should be good for at least 160,000 miles according to my math.
A quality Lion battery should keep 80% charge after 2000 cycles.
Given the 16KW battery back is only used to 50% and that the car has a 40 mile range. Those 2,.000 charges should actually be 4,000% since it takes 2 charges to drain the power of a single full charge.
Remember the volt given its a high power 3 phrase AC system should use around 200Watts a mile.
That means after 160,000 miles of driving it should have 32 miles of EV only range.
I mean seriously Even NIMH batteries have been proven a non issue with proper care. That means no 100%-0% driving that kills any battery. On the PHEV i am trying to fund i am going to beat the crap out of the battery but then again at 4500 Bucks for a 50AH LiFePo4 cell i really dont care its only 156 volts.
The rate i drive its a non issue. The things that are giving me trouble is sourcing a Good OEM quality electric powersteering system and a figuring out what size motor i need for the AC compressor. as well as the heat.
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tankd0g 12:25AM (9/03/2008)
Lutz continued: "It's almost scary we are not seeing any problems with the batteries."
Oh man, you don't kick fate in the face like that.
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Ken Brunot 3:21PM (9/03/2008)
This is all good news here, but I keep hearing: "Smooth runs the water where the river is deep".
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Rodrigo 7:05PM (9/03/2008)
A123 does not appear to be in the running.
see: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080829/BUSINESS01/808290343
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Rodrigo 7:10PM (9/03/2008)
Apologies...didn't see that Continental was partnered w/ A123. Hope the article from DFP is still helpful.
Joseph 11:55PM (9/04/2008)
I love ABG. You guys are awesome and really are the best source for "green" auto news and your reporting tends to be pretty good, but this post makes a grave journalism mistake. You said,
" GM is expecting each and every Volt will need a new battery pack while it is under warrenty,"
but here is what was really said,
" "Longevity is the unanswered question," Lutz allowed, but he added that simulations have left him optimistic that a lithium-ion battery’s life expectancy will be competitive with nickel-metal hydride, the current standard in hybrids. As a backup, he said, "We're being conservative on battery life. For our cost calculations we're assuming each car will need a replacement during the warranty period." "
Please don't resort to sensationalist reporting.
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Reachstacker 11:43AM (9/06/2008)
Exactly!
Considering that Prius taxi cabs in BC have reached up to 700 000 km ( 440 000 miles) on their first set of batteries I don't understand the problem....
Either way replacing batteries under warranty should cost less than the 15 Billion loss for cars not sold....
Chris 10:44PM (10/25/2008)
"Either way replacing batteries under warranty should cost less than the 15 Billion loss for cars not sold...."
ROTFLMAO...
Seriously, I'm sure GM is looking at the price tags of the Volt's batteries and saying to each other "well we can always go back to selling trucks and SUVs...oh wait, that's the kind of thinking that made us lose an average of $130 million A DAY for the last 2 years." I mean seriously, if you're gonna flush that kind of money, you might as well do it saving the environment from the endless monuments to middle eastern oil dependency and environmental serial killers you've been flooding our country with for the last 10 years or so.
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