GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

The Chevy Volt is now in the pre-production phase. GM has been building about 80 of these fully functional production intent prototypes, and are likely to be finished with this phase within days. Those cars are undergoing extensive testing and the learning and tweaking will be applied to the final production cars.

Part of this test process is seeing how the cars behave in real-world situations.

I received the following note from Volt fan Jim Northrop who lives in Nevada near Death Valley. Since it sent chills up my spine I thought I’d share it here (with Jim’s permission):

It was the best lunch I’ve had in a long time…. It was 11:55 AM. I was waiting for a traffic light in Pahrump, Nevada, on my way home for lunch and what should pass in front of me, headed North on Nevada Highway 160, but five (5) mysterious cars: silver and also white, with strange masking panels, antennae, and Michigan manufacturer plates. The fifth car was lagging and I had a chance to study the grill, gold accents, silhouette, then the rear spoiler. I had seen these features somewhere… they were Volts!! The “Fleet”. I quickly fell in behind, but intervening vehicles kept me distant and I couldn’t pass. I was hoping they would turn on Bellvista which is a popular route to Death Valley Junction and my house. Lucky for me they did make this turn and the chase began. I drove uncharacteristically fast to catch up, passing what I now believe was a large white Chevy “support van” and a few other cars. Finally, the trailing Volt was in reach. I was going way too fast as I pulled up and abruptly slowed next to the Volt–the two occupants didn’t give eye contact–they were probably busy praying they would survive this scary encounter with me (sorry guys). Momentarily mesmerized, I again accelerated, and pulled in front. I was now gaining on the other 4 Volts which were beginning to slow for the stop sign at Leslie. I pulled up behind the fourth Volt (sorry guys, I didn’t mean to scare you, but was completely focused on that round, gray, plug/cap centered low on your rear bumper–darn near caused the first Volt wreck…gasp!) Once I came to my senses and stopped, I honked my horn a few times, and grinning from ear to ear, gave driver and passenger excited “thumbs up”. They both gave me firm thumbs up in return and away they went. I rolled the stop and accelerated to catch them–they easily pulled away from me in my 2005 ,V8 Silverado– acceleration was comparable to my wife’s V6 07 Malibu (I know this as she always tries to beat me home, often from this same stop sign). Noteworthy… they had their windows up which meant they had to have their A/C’s on (in our heat)– strong acceleration!! They continued West, on Bellvista, toward the foothills. So excited, I forgot to eat lunch, too busy calling everyone I know… They are really beautiful, artistically sculpted automobiles. Wow! Very, very Impressive!!! Thanks GM for your commitment to the Volt, and for bringing them through our town today. By the way GM, please send some to Pahrump Valley Auto Plaza, a Volt is on my Christmas list.

Jim, didn’t have a camera with him, but apparently another lucky guy from internetautoguide caught a glimpse of this same fleet in a parking lot (photo above)

Several news agencies now have had their chance at the wheel of the Chevy Volt Mule.

1. Jalopnik – the tongue in cheek and heavily prolific automotive blog had a mule drive with Bob Lutz riding shotgun. They called it “utterly unremarkable” to GM’s delight because that is the goal. Making a car that doesnt use gas seem the same as cars people are used to. They timed the 0 to 60 at 8 seconds letting them call it “peppy”

2. Automobile Magazine – the author seemed pleased by the silence not only at low speeds but of course during acceleration, quite distinct from current hybrids. They wrote “the mule feels like a normal, if slightly pudgy compact.” The also advise us “the team says it hopes to have closer-to-production prototypes for us to drive by fall.” That would be the IVers.

3. Detroit Free Press- Title says it all “Volt is sporty, fun in test spin.” The author experienced a “fast, smooth blast from 0 to 70 mph.”He quoted Volt executive Frank Weber as saying “People must understand that you don’t have to give anything up to drive an electric vehicle, this is something you will really like and enjoy.” A pedestrian alert signal will be installed due to the car’s silence. He noted “the electric steering was responsive and well balanced,” and that the car hugged the road well.

It was also noted, and this I am sure, the true Volt prototypes (and actual Volts) will be sleeker, faster, smoother and better handling. I can’t wait to see.

Also by now its no secret that GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz will be a guest on the David Letterman show tonight. He will be there to redeem the image of the Volt which was maligned and misrepresented by Letterman a few weeks ago when Elon Musk was a guest.

It has also come out that comedian Stephen Colbert with be joining Lutz and Letterman on the show as part of the discussion. Lutz made his famous “the Volt will get you chicks with hairy legs” comment while on Colbert’s show. The Volt will be onstage too, and no doubt this will be an event to remember for us Volt enthusiasts.

In preparation for this historic segment the Detroit Free Press’ Mark Phelan decided to see Mr. Lutz off from Detroit to New York with a Chevy Volt top ten list for Dave to study:

10. With 40 miles of battery power, it’ll clear a driveway that stretches from Times Square to Piscataway, N.J.

9. About 80% of Americans drive fewer than 40 miles a day, so they’d almost never need the onboard generator.

8. For longer trips — say to Muncie, Ind., for Ball State alumni weekend — the Volt’s gasoline-powered onboard generator keeps the batteries charged for up to 400 miles between fill-ups.

7. Jay Leno wants one.

6. The Volt accelerates fast enough to put Letterman back on the New Jersey State Police’s radar.

5. The Volt will be built by UAW workers in GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant.

4. Danica Patrick will look great in one.

3. The Volt has an unofficial fan Web site, www.gm-volt.com, just like Dave. (my personal favorite)

2. Entering “Chevrolet Volt” on Google produces 3,460,000 hits. Entering “Late Show with David Letterman” gets 1,320,000.

1. Putting your tongue on the terminals of its lithium-ion battery pack would be a really stupid human trick.

What is your number one reason for wanting to buy a Chevy Volt?

Call for Help from GM-Volt.com: Can someone please upload the segment to YouTube tonight and email me the link or video to: chevyvolt@gmail.com

Source (Detroit Free Press)

I had the chance last week to watch live and in person as the production version Chevy Volt broke out onto the stage in front of thousands of journalists packed into an arena at GM headquarters, at the cue of CEO Rick Wagoner and driven by none other than GM vice chair Bob Lutz himself.

It was an experience I wont soon forget. I have included the video I shot of that moment below to share it with you.

After the unveiling we ran a poll to see if GM-Volt.com readers preferred the production or concept model.

Of 2468 unique respondents, 48% preferred the production version and 40% preferred the concept version, and 11% preferred both models equally.

It is good to see more people prefer the production model to the concept, and I’d like to say a final goodbye to that concept and thanks to GM for making it happen.

The photo above shows the swarm that immediately occurred after the car rolled out. It is the official GM shot, and it was fun to discover myself standing right in the middle of it all (arrow).

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKW2hvIKF8o]

On 9/16/2008 at 8:30 AM EST the player below will display GMs special LIVE global webcast. I will be right there at GM Global Headquarters in Detroit Michigan as the broadcast is taking place, and will get a firsthand account of this monumental moment in automotive history.

Other key events of the day including the possibility for live online chats with GM execs can be found here .

We expect the Chevy Volt will be revealed at this time, as well as “some other surprises.” The video will be available here afterwards for replay.

[UPDATE 8:02 AM: Im sitting before the stage in a crowd of about 1000]

Remember the production version of the Chevy Volt that was “leaked” last week?

Edmunds has found out a little more about that particular vehicle. Apparently it was indeed a production Volt fiberglass shell, only one of which was made for the movie, with restrictions that it be held under very tight security.

That shell was mounted on a standard Malibu chassis, dirvetrain, and interior by Saleen.

GM sources still insist that it isn’t a true production version.

The article rapidly loses credibility though on its insistence that the production Chevy Volt itself will be available in showroom next summer (2009) when the Transformers 2 movie debuts.

What we do expect to see by next summer are fleets of hundreds of near production Volt prototypes out gathering data.

Source (Edmunds)

GM-Volt.com has reached the next level.

For more than a year I have served as your intermediary. After building visibility and credibility to the point I could meet with actual GM executives in charge of building the Volt, I brought your questions, ideas, and enthusiasm to them. We let them know we are here and holding them accountable to building this car. It has always been my hope to connect you all to them as well. A couple of months ago I proposed to GM that they co-host the GM-Volt.com community in a town hall-type event, where we could all get together, meet in person, inspect the Volt show car, and get our questions answered directly from GM executives.

Well, they took me up on the offer!

Wednesday, March 19th, 4:30PM at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in New York City, the first VOLT NATION Town Hall event will take place.

The venue will be the last conference of the NY Auto Show press days, before it opens to the public.

The first 250 people to register, exclusively on this site, will get guaranteed entry and a press pass. At the show we will have a private, exclusive get-together with the entire Chevy Volt executive team, on stage, gathered around the show car. Your questions will be taken and answered.

Don’t miss this unprecedented opportunity to continue to get our message and input to GM how much this car means to us and the world.

Register by sending your name, address, email address and phone number to voltnation@gmail.com. Your data is secure and will be managed by me (with a little help from GM’s PR firm).

Witness the power of social media!