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As GM Goes So Goes the Nation

October 9th, 2008 | Posted in: Financial with 155 Comments

Thursday was a very sobering day indeed. As the Dow plunged to below 9000, GM shares continued their very dramatic slide.
When the Volt was first introduced, GM stock was around $30 per share, eventually reaching $40, at the close of today’s session it had dropped 31%, reaching a staggering $4.76 which dropped its market capitalization [...]

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Posted by: Lyle with 155 Comments

Lutz Provides More Volt Details: Photovoltaic Roof to be Unveiled in January, and Volt Development Ahead of Schedule

October 9th, 2008 | Posted in: Features, GM Q and A with 156 Comments

After the Volt unveiling the Toronto Star had a fruitful Q& A with GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz.
Lutz told reporters that because things have gone so well, the Volt is actually ahead of schedule. He indicated that he was now 99.9% sure the Volt will be a success, and that as a result it will [...]

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GM’s Electric History

October 8th, 2008 | Posted in: EV-1 with 120 Comments

Most people coming here either for the first time or regularly are likely to have heard about the EV-1, GM’s previous electric. But not as well known is GM’s more distant electric vehicle history. Automotive News has an excellent article detailing some of that.
From 1912 to 1917 GM built a line of electric [...]

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Project Better Place CEO Calls the Volt a Niche Product

October 7th, 2008 | Posted in: Charging, Financial with 117 Comments

Shai Agassi is the CEO of Project Better Place (PBP). That is a well-financed endeavor to create an infrastructure of battery charging/swapping stations across, at present, Israel and Denmark. The concept is that electric cars would be cheap if they didn’t have batteries in them. The batteries would be owned by PBP, [...]

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The Production Chevy Volt Has One Charging Port, and Unnamed Object Identified

October 6th, 2008 | Posted in: Charging with 206 Comments

Prior to seeing the production version of the Volt unveiled, we speculated whether it would have two charging ports as did the concept, or one. We actually took a poll here indicating that most readers preferred one well-placed charging port to two.
It turned out the production car has one charging port which is located just [...]

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Video: 60 Minutes - Race For the Electric Car

October 5th, 2008 | Posted in: Video with 134 Comments

In case you missed it, CBS 60 Minutes aired a piece tonight called “Race for the Electric Car,” the video is below. The interview features Elon Musk of Tesla and GM vice chairman Bob Lutz.
There wasn’t any breakthrough information here.
Lutz tells the story about how GM was inspired by Tesla. He mentions the [...]

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Chevy Orlando: Will This Become an E-Flex Microvan?

October 4th, 2008 | Posted in: E-Flex with 122 Comments

GM revealed the Chevrolet Orlando MPV7 concept this week at the Paris Motor Show.
The car is built on the same global compact delta platform as the Chevy Volt and Cruze. GM notes this is an entry into a new segment for the brand, a small footprint 7-seater with “impressive interior space,” and an adaptable [...]

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Along With Wall Street Bailout, Plug-in Car Tax Credit is Passed: Chevy Volt Now $7500 Less

October 3rd, 2008 | Posted in: Financial, Politics with 244 Comments

GM and the Chevy Volt turned up three “7s” on the Congressional slot machine. First, automakers got the $25 billion in low interest government loans. Second, the Wall Street bailout will likely help the beleaguered auto industry. Third, plug-in tax credits have now been signed into law.
The now passed by the House [...]

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Chevy Cruze Versus Honda Insight

October 2nd, 2008 | Posted in: Competitors, Hybrid, Public Opinion with 135 Comments

GM and Honda chose this week’s Paris Motor Show to debut new cars that are expected to sell in high volumes, the Chevy Cruze and the Honda Insight.
INSIGHT
The Insight is a low-cost hybrid. It uses an Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system, which is actually a mild hybrid, in that the car never drives on [...]

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The Chevy Volt May Have a “Calculate Most Efficient Route” Navigation Mode

October 2nd, 2008 | Posted in: Efficiency, Engineering, Features with 178 Comments

GM vehicles offer OnStar technology which allows a satellite to detect the vehicle’s position through GPS and communicate with it.
Because of the Volt’s unique characteristics and GM’s goal for it of maximizing EV range and minimizing petroleum use, there are several opportunity for productive synergy in this regard.
I spoke with Bob Kruse, GMs executive Director [...]

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GMs September Auto Sales Only Down 15.6% Beating Admittedly Low Expectations and all the Other Major Automakers

October 1st, 2008 | Posted in: Financial with 60 Comments

On our journey to the Volt, we have to check in regularly on the financials, as we know the Volt depends on GMs survival. Things have been very tough for automakers this year with sales down through the end of August an average of 11%. This from high oil prices and slowing economy, [...]

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Marketing: Will NASCAR Fans Want a Chevy Volt?

October 1st, 2008 | Posted in: marketing with 91 Comments

Since the production Chevy Volt was unveiled, GM has begun showing it around the country. It was seen at the Alt Car expo in California, and also was shown last week at a closed media event at Texas Motor Speedway, so-called the heart of NASCAR.
It is of interest that NASCAR fans love the speed, [...]

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EEStor Rides Again, This Time on a Bike

September 30th, 2008 | Posted in: Battery with 91 Comments

An interesting potentially revolutionary sideline to the Volt/electric car story is the secretive Texas company called EEStor. They have reportedly been working on a special low-cost, low-weight, super-high energy density electrical storage device similar to an ultracapacitor, called the EESU. As much of a breakthrough as this device seems on paper, no one [...]

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