GM-VOLT.COM Moderator Participates in Blogger Interview With Micky Bly, Director of Hybrid Vehicle Integration
June 7, Detroit Michigan - Today, myself and several other bloggers including including Matt Kelly of Podtech, Sam Abuelsamid from AutoblogGreen, Todd Kaho of Green Car Journal, Scott Anderson of Hydrogen Forecast, Philip Proefrock from Ecogeek and Greenoptions, and Matt Mayer of GroovyGreen.com were given the opportunity to interview Micky Bly who is GM’s Director of Hybrid Vehicles. You will soon be able to view a video of the interview. You can hear Matt’s podcast here.
The occasion was the Challenge X event..our hats off to Mississipi State University who won. And thanks to University of Waterloo for letting me drive their hydrogen Equinox! Read press release here.
Mr. Bly was very candid about the Volt’s production. When specifically asked whether the Volt will definitely be produced, he responded that it was indeed Rick Wagoner’s plan.
He confirmed the plan for a Lithium-ion battery and indicated that NiMh was not an option due to it’s lower energy density, potential durability issues, inability to sustain deep cycle discharges, and inability to handle wide temperature ranges.
When asked if batteries might be swappable or upgradeable as technology matures, he indicated that could be a possibility.
With respect to battery manufacturing, he didn’t indicate it part of GM’s business plan to make their own batteries, but though it made more sense to outsource it to other companies. He did admit that the Johnson-Saft solution was not being applied to the Volt..its down to A123 and LG Chem. Interestingly, Mr. Bly noted that Tesla Motorcars presented their battery solution to GM, and that he wasn’t familiar with Altair Nanotechnologies.
In a speech earlier in the day by Larry Burns, GM’s VP of R&D, he mentioned GM’s commitment to energy diversity, and noted that with acceptance of the E-Flex plug-in architecture, U.S. gasoline use could be reduced by 37 billion gallons, per year. I asked Mr. Bly if GM had any communication with the big oil companies on this potential effect, and he noted that he was unaware of any such discussion.
We still couldn’t get an exact date on Volt production, but he confirmed the Saturn Vue plugin was roughly on track for 09. We can only still speculate whether the Volt could come six months later, as that was the separation between original announcement dates of the two vehicles.
He also noted that the Saturn Aura and Vue hybrids are now out for about 4 weeks, and that a limited number if about 100 Hydrogen Sequels will be released in November.
Interview with Nick Zielinski to follow…
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- Interview With Denise Gray, GM Battery Director
- Interview: Darryn Nowicki Electric Vehicle Director, Continental Automotive, Part I
- GM-Volt EXCLUSIVE!: Brand New Interview with Bob Boniface, GM Director of Volt Design on the Production Model Volt
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8 Responses to “GM-VOLT.COM Moderator Participates in Blogger Interview With Micky Bly, Director of Hybrid Vehicle Integration”
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June 7th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
It was great to be a part of this conversation with Micky–a very candid, passionate and forthright individual. Thanks J for posting immediately after the conversation took place and for your insight and input…a recording of it to follow at http://www.nextgearshow.com. -mk
June 7th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
so are the 2015 rumors definitely wrong?
June 8th, 2007 at 1:22 am
4. Design:
Mr. Zielinski noted the enthusiastic response the concept vehicle appearance has gotten, more than GM expected, and he plans to keep it as close to that appearance as possible. They are testing a variety of materials in the structure of car to balance out weight and function as much as possible.
Please do NOT assume that the enthusiastic response for the concept vehicle is related primarily to appearance. I am enthusiastic about the series hybrid plan and lukewarm over the appearance. If a series hybrid is ultimately built by GM, I will be very happy and assume that multiple outward designs will result.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:36 am
I support EVs (Hybrids) but I am concerned about the nation’s electrical capacity to(recharge million of EVs in areas already short on power reserves like LA and NYC. Rather than just grumble about that, there is a proposed solution to build out 10,000 megawatts of TRANSPORTATION dedicated power by 2012 - to directly support acceptance of EVs. A brief is on the “ADAPT POWER PROJECT” url http://mysite.verizon.net/res18elt
I recommend that all VOLTers should check it out!
June 9th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Yes the 2015 rumor is definitely WRONG.
June 9th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
How is it that this man in charge of the GM technology development in Hybrid Systems, does not even know about AltAirNano? This man speaks of safety concerns and that I know of, and yes, I actually read and study unlike GM, AltAirNano makes a battery that is totally safe and last 20 years or 500,000(estimations based on testing) miles and has no safety or heating issues and can charge in less than ten minutes(without heating or damaging the battery). and yet GM doesn’t even know about AltAirNano. what idiots. General Motors, Game over for you. losers. I’m sticking with Tesla and Toyota. I demand quality and a company that doesn’t just talk but actually knows their stuff and builds cars of quality rather than building car to break like GM.
PS. how is it that GM is proud of their Hollow Stop/Start Hybrids? those are not even full hybrids(ie the Vue Green line). Just look at the Fuel Consumption, not even hardly noticeable improvement. what piles of junk, in my humble opinion. Toyota built their Hybrid from the Ground up and it is a True and Full Hybrid. And GM’s Hybrid Two-Mode system is absolutely a fake. Compare a vehicle with a transmission with many gears and moving parts(more things to break and go wrong) ie the GM Hybrid Two-Mode Future Hybrid System compared to the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive with Electronic Continuously Variable Transmission (ECVT) and this car never shift gears and is the most efficient advanced transmission in mass production on this planet. Toyota’s Transmission in the Hybrid makes GM’s future “dream” of Two Mode Hybrid Transmission look like infantile Engineering and is an American Creative Humiliation. GM, please stop trying to deceive the public, obviously you believe your own lies.
PPS. Matt Kelly, You are an amazing man. Please continue your excellent and very insightful and intelligent interviews. I’m following your work closely, I think you should publish a book on this topic. EVeryone is interested in Electric Vehicles, Plug-In Hybrids, and cleaner more “Reliable” and more efficient vehicles(Fuel Choices, including Electric fuel ie 110volt household plug). Matt, You can see past the bullshit, yet not offend your subject, no matter how full of shit they are. Matt, You are the best! Please keep on studying and questioning and making this process and your interviews available to us! Thank you! I find your links via Yahoo Groups.
June 11th, 2007 at 11:50 am
GM Engineers keep kicking butt! The Volt is the most important car GM will produce in the next 25 years!
Very Sincerely a Prius & Escalade Owner
March 16th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I’d like to make a technical note about this statement:
"GM’s Hybrid Two-Mode system is absolutely a fake. Compare a vehicle with a transmission with many gears and moving parts(more things to break and go wrong) ie the GM Hybrid Two-Mode Future Hybrid System compared to the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive with Electronic Continuously Variable Transmission (ECVT) and this car never shift gears and is the most efficient advanced transmission in mass production on this planet. Toyota’s Transmission in the Hybrid makes GM’s future ‘dream’ of Two Mode Hybrid Transmission look like infantile Engineering and is an American Creative Humiliation."
… The GM two-mode hybrid (if I am understanding you correctly, it is the one being co-developed with Chrysler and BMW), works very similarly to the Toyota Hybrid System. In the THS, there is one planetary gear set which uses one of the two electric motors to create the ECVT effect. In the two-mode, there are also two electric motors which create the ECVT capability. In addition, there is a second planetary gear set and two internal clutches (very similar to those used in today’s reliable automatic transmissions). This additional hardware opens up a greater opportunity for control and tuning of the powertrain.