Webchat with Volt design boss Bob Boniface on Tuesday, July 28
General Motors is continuing its series of almost daily webchats with one of the people who helped bring the Chevy Volt to life. This week's target is the leader of the team that gave form to the upcoming extended range EV, Bob Boniface. Boniface led the exterior design team that created the extremely aggressive original concept and, after the concept gained production approval, he became the design director for the Volt and other vehicles coming off the Voltec (formerly E-Flex) architecture. He was then tasked with transforming the concept into something more production viable, a job we certainly don't envy.
When the production design for the Volt was rolled out last fall at GM's Centennial celebration, it drew plenty of comments ranging from cheers to jeers, particularly for the resemblance of its profile to a certain hybrid from brand T. Tuesday's webchat will be your opportunity to directly interrogate Boniface on why the Volt looks the way it does. You can register in the chat widget after the jump to get a reminder before the 2pm EDT event kicks off Tuesday.
Gallery: 2011 Chevrolet Volt Live Reveal
[Source: General Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nick 12:27AM (7/28/2009)
Volt looks good inside and out, congrats Boniface, but what's up with the black stripe under the side windows? I'm afraid some people will point at it and say 'eww what is this?'.
The Ampera also looks great, maybe even a bit cleaner than the Volt in my opinion. I'd love to own either one if I could afford it.
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unni 1:43PM (7/27/2009)
Started getting bored on the hype without real numbers or products
None knows drag coaff
None knows what is extended range mpg
None knows how to compare it with a industry leader car.
And on other side :
No minivan (sliding doors one ) from GM
Some products just hype building on re badging ( G8 )
No Strong hybrids (sedans)
Not a real prius-insight taker
I don't know how may hybrid technologies GM works on ( BAS, BAS+, 2 mode, Voltec, some other new hybrid, Fuel cells ) and all are in papers but nothing out on road.
Sorry folks, Please find some time to work and make things than just interviews. Let your products speak than you. Let others speak on products and demand you to speak on.
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NickDG 3:24PM (7/27/2009)
The Volt is supposed to have a 10 gallon tank with a rating of 50mpg when in extended range mode. So 500 miles per tank minus the 40 all electric miles.
unni 4:11PM (7/27/2009)
Not 7 Gallon tank ? I know you are also not sure, and even the GM guys :-).
50 mpg ? thatz Prius rating - with 5 seats and people get more that that. but how ? Cruze using same engine predicated to get 40 mpg (high way ), this means in optimal operation.
With 2 energy conversions - mech to electrical and electrical to mech and normal electrical path efficiency of 70% , you expect the same engine to give 50 mpg where the car carries a lot dead weight of batteries also ( this is why the rumor of 30+mpg is in place ) ? Last day the product person told its better than 30+mpg but no numbers. but he also said the most efficient way on extended range operation is parallel hybrid. For me the translation was : volt efficiency on this mode will be below prius efficiency.
alexdonegan 2:37AM (7/28/2009)
GM has been and is working on game-changing new technology. I think it's good that a company as large as GM is taking time for personal web-chats with its executives and designers
unni 4:11PM (7/28/2009)
follow up on my own comments : Look from the actual web chat :
2:03
[Comment From David]
Hi Bob, Can you give us an approximate number of how many mpg the volt will achieve after the battery runs out?
2:04
Bob Boniface: When battery is depleted you should expect several hundred more miles running on engine generator.
--Question is on MPG and answer is time pass
2:24
[Comment From Lyle Dennis, GM-Volt.com]
Hi Bob - you mentioned that car was "meeting aerodynamic performance," what exactly does that mean, and are you able to tell us the actual CD at this point in time? Tesla mentioned its yet to be built mode S has a CD of 0.27
2:28
Bob Boniface: Hi Lyle. People may think we are skirting the aero issue by not quoting our tunnel figures. We are not. The fact of the matter is that many of our competition quote grossly exaggerated aero figures that are not repeatable when we test their vehicles in our tunnel. If I quote an actual GM derived tunnel figure, it may not look impressive to you when, in fact, it is superior to most if not all of our competition. It is very much like the horsepower race back in the 60s. The Volt aero performance is second only to the EV1 in GM history.
-- Again no numbers or even they don't have guts to say the other guy is cheating.
2:28
[Comment From Paul]
Can you compare and contrast the Volt styling and aerodynamics against the 2010 Prius?
2:29
Bob Boniface: We plan to test the 2010 Prius this week and I expect the Volt to stand up to the competition.
Again : not done
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