by Joe LaMuraglia

I just returned from one of the most fascinating trips of my career to date – an in-depth briefing on the upcoming Chevrolet Volt by the team responsible for the vehicle. It was an interesting two days not only for the information and insight provided by the E-Flex team but also for the fact that the event occurred in the first place.

Two years ago, GM shocked the world at the North American International Auto show when it revealed its Volt Concept. GM’s Bob Lutz publicly announced that it was the showcase for the company’s new platform that would allow the majority of commuters drive to and from world on electricity alone (read Gaywheels.com coverage of the Volt here). If you want to witness shock and awe, you should have been at that event. He was essentially saying that GM was not only back in the game but instantly changed the rules. The press and competitors reacted with both excitement and incredulity. Few believed that GM could be far enough ahead of its competitors to actually debut an extended-range electric vehicle.
Even after the Chicago and New York auto shows with countless press releases, photo ops and a promise to produce the Volt by the end of 2010, the detractors continued with their doubt. Either GM’s reputation is that bad or their competitors are getting nervous. Methinks it is a bit of both with the latter getting more weight.
In an effort to prove to the world that they are serious about the Volt, GM’s PR team invited a group of 80 journalists from around the world to see first-hand the progress being made on the Chevrolet Volt program. Gaywheels.com was among the invitees.
We spent an entire day meeting with the E-Flex team – the engineers, designers and product managers that are working day and night to make the Chevrolet Volt a reality. We had unprecedented access to them and the facilities that are the nerve center for the Volt program and I can say without a doubt that they are working on an actual vehicle that will change the global automotive landscape. More after the side show.

It’s the Batteries, Stupid

The biggest challenge that the E-Flex team is faced with involves the battery pack required to meet the Volt’s stated performance – 40 miles on electric power, 0-60 MPH in 8.5 sec and 10 years of real-world driving which equates to 150,000 miles. Working with suppliers, the GM engineers have developed a new computer algorithm to accelerate durability testing of the advanced lithium-ion batteries needed. The battery cycling equipment is used around the clock in GM test facilities in Warren, Mich. and Mainz-Kastel, Germany. It charges and discharges power from the prototype batteries based on the Volt’s approximately 40-mile electric-only drive cycle.
We witnessed this testing at the Battery lab at the GM Design center and while they were reluctant to share results, they wore their pride openly. We were also reminded that GM has extensive experience in electric propulsion based on the development of the EV-1- the first commercially available all-electric vehicle (since discontinued). Without the learnings from the EV-1, GM’s engineers admit that they wouldn’t be as far along as they are with the E-Flex platform. A simple juxtaposition of the battery pack from the EV-1 with that of the Volt shows how far they’ve come. They have the same output but the new t-shaped battery system is smaller and a full 800 lbs lighter than that from the EV-1. Progress indeed.

Blowing in the Wind

It is one thing to have an advanced propulsion system like the E-Flex platform but if it has to push a brick through the air it will never reach its full efficiency potential. Unfortunately, the stunning Volt concept was rather brick-like when tested in the wind tunnel at GM’s Design Center. At a dinner in the recent past with Bob Lutz, he joked that it had a better aerodynamics when it was going backwards! Enter the designers and engineers to make the shape of the Volt both slippery and symbolic of the concept.
While we didn’t get to see a full-scale model of the design, we were privy to a 1/3 scale model in the wind tunnel as well as sneak peaks at the front and tail of the vehicle. Take a long hard look at the photos of the Volt concept above and then promptly forget them. The Volt will be considerably taller and less distinctive than the concept. The tail of the car will carry over most of the design language while the front required considerable reworking to keep the coefficient of drag in concert with the purpose of the vehicle. All this from studying a tiny model on the floor of a massive wind tunnel and a few sneak peaks under a car cover in the design studio. I may be very wrong on the design but one thing is for sure, they are building this car.

It’s What’s Inside that Counts

The most revealing part of the tour was the interior buck. Designers use foam and clay to experiment with various design themes for seats, doors and full interiors in addition to the exterior design. We were shown a close-to-final version of the interior for the Chevrolet Volt. Remember what I said about the photos above? The same applies to the interior design. Where the concept is futuristic, the working design is feasible and quite attractive. The designers’ challenge is to make it familiar and functional while at the same time reminding the user that they are driving the future of personal transportation. It is difficult to pass judgment based on the prototypes we saw but it shows a lot of promise.

Plugging Into the Future

The purpose of the event was to lay to rest any doubts that the press may have about the E-Flex platform and more specifically, the Chevrolet Volt. Having spent 10+ years working “on the other side” at various manufacturers, I feel comfortable saying that this program is well underway. If they pull it off by the fall of 2010, not only will they have developed an all-new vehicle in record time but they should be able to (finally) put to rest any doubts that GM has the ability and desire to radically influence the way we live and drive.
Read our other article about the Chevrolet Volt HERE.