Bob Lutz Interview on Design
The Detroit Press published an interview with Bob Lutz today.
In it, he was quoted as saying in regards to the Volt that GM had probably spent “at this point” $100 million, “but ramping up very fast as it becomes a high-priority product for launch in ‘10.” Once again the 2010 date is re-iterated and certainly fits with the confidence level of the potential battery makers.
He also has previously mentioned that GM now has a dedicated design studio for the Volt, headed by Bob Boniface. He noted that the exterior design is 90% complete but that the final product will likely have a more subdued or less aggressive front-end.
He also mentioned that “a Volt leadership team meets every two weeks to hammer out glitches and keep up momentum on the project”.
By the way, did everyone get to see the GM pull-out ad in WIRED magazine this month? It included a big Volt photo.
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Related posts:
- GM-Volt EXCLUSIVE!: Brand New Interview with Bob Boniface, GM Director of Volt Design on the Production Model Volt
- GM’s Brand New E-Flex Design Center
- The Chevy Volt Will Have iPod Connectivity (Plus More Design Issues)
- Chevy Volt Design Freeze within Weeks
- Production Chevy Volt to Have a Spacious Interior
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18 Responses to “Bob Lutz Interview on Design”
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July 4th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Awesome news. GM needs to stay on the ball with the Volt. I hope they’ve paid attention to the increase in sales of the Prius. The Volt, IMHO, would have EVER Prius owner wanting to trade it in on a Volt!
July 4th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Congratulations GM:
“Hybrid buyers”, Lindland said, “really want people to know what good people they are.”
I knew you would understand we treehuggers are different! We are out there and actually we are ready to buy the first EV on the road at under $30,000, so don’t worry too much about our need to look like the do-gooder treehuggers we are!
Just put a bunch of body options out at once! Don’t worry about making one vehicle be everycar: put out 4 bodies on the new EV platform:
1. a worktruck version,
2. a sedan: the Volt
3. a little sportscar
4. a lightweight SUV to fit 2 grownups, 3 kids in carseats, 2 wet dogs)
Heres a freeway speed SUV EV for sale in Italy:
http://www.micro-vett.it/english/doblom1ing.html
it doesn’t have to weigh 4 tons just to get the kids to the beach
July 4th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Matt,
did you see Prius sales are up 69% over 2006? Strange that Toyota won’t go back to making the RAV4 EV.
Thats a great and usefull car and the ones that didn’t get crushed are stilll going strong and much loved by everyone who wants one too…
Yet Toyota, despite the clear message their Prius success should send them, seems to be stuck now making the bloated gasaholics that are sinking Detroit.
July 4th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
The reason the Toyota Rav4 isn’t being built is because it was and still is abig flop that only a handful of treehuggers could possibly tolerate. The idea that Toyota (or any manufacturer) would kill a popular product is just plain stupid. The Rav 4 met the transportation needs of no one and cost a small fortune. If you don’t think so, go buy a new set of batteries and see just how exorbitantly expensive the per mile costs are. Toyota ruined a nice vehicle when they turned that thing into a do-nothing EV.
July 4th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
How many miles are the early adopters getting on their battery packs? I haven’t heard of anyone that has actually had to replace their batteries and the Prius is, what, 6 years old in the US? Obviously the battery issues are different for the RAV4-EV and the Prius, but Wiki has the RAV4-EV lasting longer than 100k miles and even more than 150k in a few cases. If you get past 150k with a functional battery pack, I think you have to see that car as fully depreciated and any excess miles as a bonus. I don’t see a lot of 10+ year old small ICE SUV’s out on the road.
July 4th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
IIRC RAV4 EV’s are commanding $50,000 prices whenever one comes up for sale. Apparently they’re meeting somebody’s needs.
July 4th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I showed one of the last of the RAV4 EVs at the Ecofest in Marin, thats where I discovered there are treehuggers who want SUVs (IF they are EVs!), and I heard from two people there that there were a couple of RAV4 EVs on EBay + one sold at $73,000!
So yeah, we are getting pretty desperate for outr EVs!
Battery costs will come down when theres a massmarket vehicle using them as GM can do.
July 5th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
GM knows that Hybrids, and then PHEVs are the last death throws of the ICEs. Mr. Lutz even said that the future is electric. They know that Volt will help people transition from ICEs to BEVs. The “range extender” is our security blanket. Some day we won’t need it any more. GM will then just replace the ICE with more batteries. The EV-1 was simply premature. In 15-20 years or so, liquid biofuels and Hydrogen (as inefficient as it is) will only be used for emergency back-up, heavy hauling and long-range travel.
The 21 Century will be distributed renewable electric. http://www.nanosolar.com/economic.htm Good going, GM!!!
July 6th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
I’m not too wild about the $100 m. “spent” statement. That’s great GM is putting money into R&D we all think will pay off…but what would Tesla have done with $100 m? I don’t think it’s the dollars invested or the time or even the effort…what are the results? Should they be proud they’ve blown $100 m. and don’t have a prototype?
July 6th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Dave - That’s $100M in addition to the $1B they spent on R&D on the EV-1 and they are just getting ramped-up.
July 6th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
The $100 mil. isn’t just for the Volt. This early design phase is much to do with E-Flex, which will effect a number of other vehicles, and reduce their cost to market.
I’m happy to hear 2010 for launch. However, I would be more pleased to hear of a 20 mile volt out in ’09. From what I’ve read, the battery suppliers are saying they have the chemistry to meet GM’s specs now (though there is more work to do). It doesn’t make sense to have the car essentially finished, but wait for a 40 mile battery to become cost effective. Surely, a 20 mile battery would cost less in 09, than a 40 mile battery in 2010.
If the average car drives 30 miles/day, then a 20 mile Volt would provide 20 electric miles and 10 gas miles, yielding a 150 mpg car! A 40 mile trip would yield 100 mpg.
July 8th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Quote:
“Just put a bunch of body options out at once! Don’t worry about making one vehicle be everycar: put out 4 bodies on the new EV platform:
1. a worktruck version,
2. a sedan: the Volt
3. a little sportscar
4. a lightweight SUV to fit 2 grownups, 3 kids in carseats, 2 wet dogs)”
A return of the Fiero might mnake a nice E-Flex Sportster…
Johnnie
July 8th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
George, I agree. Surely the batteries would be swappable so you could exchange a 20 mi for a 40 mi range, for a fee of course. Why not?
July 9th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
George & Dave- The challenge now is with the battery control, heating and cooling systems and not in the individual cells. It’s the same system if you have a 5 mile pack with 10 cells or a 40 mile pack with 80 cells. GM may as well do it right the first time and deliver the biggest bang for the buck. Why sour the milk for future Volt buyers by offering an inferior product that requires upgrading?
July 9th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Dave - The Volt is better compared to Tesla’s White Star than the Roadster, since GM has to design for profit margins that are a fraction of what Tesla is working with for the Volt.
Also, while I have no idea how much money Tesla has spent, they must be pretty close to the 100 million dollar mark in funding.
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