# Chevy Volt's Updated Design



## rbgrn (Jul 24, 2007)

Director of Design for the Volt, Bob Boniface, talks about the updated designs.

http://blog.gmnext.com/?p=229


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## summer09 (Aug 8, 2008)

love the bumpers esp. the fog lights, its design is really a genius, but other than that how come there's no picture of the whole car? i'm looking forward to it...


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## ice (Sep 8, 2008)

Whoah! Love the look of it!  Thanks for the nice info!


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## 85bmw528edude (Oct 17, 2008)

Nice looking car, too bad its probably never going to be produced. Its way over priced. Drop the hybrid part. Get down the price to around $20k If $40 k is the target price GM will not sell many of them. Why GM insist upon making vehicles that are out of the price range of working people I will never know. All the manufacturers need to be cognisant of the fact that very few working people can afford a car over $20 k. Although my grandfather was an autoworker for Ford and the Unions were needed back then, The Unions are killing the automakers with greed now. I have no problem with Unions, but the Unions have got realise by now that their greed is killing the car manufacturers.


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## TexasCotton (Sep 18, 2008)

GM and Ford stocks have hit rock bottom. Detroit automaker did not plan ahead and where really just interest in profit margins of individual car lines. The Clinton admins gave the domestic automakers a chance to bulid a future high mileage car. The automakers executives screwed their workers with no real vision for the future and we are know at that cross road again with the automakers whining for government money. The housing, mortgage, and auto industry had the chance to plan ahead and they screwed up!!!


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## saab96 (Mar 19, 2008)

85bmw528edude said:


> The Unions are killing the automakers with greed now. I have no problem with Unions, but the Unions have got realise by now that their greed is killing the car manufacturers.


I don't think it's greed as much as clinging to a post WWII Leave it to Beaver vision of the US that has now passed.


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Woops. I tried to start a thread on the volt in the chit-chat section, but forgot we have a hybrid section.

I do have a question about the volt though. Has anyone seen it driving faster than ~15 MPH?


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## LeTank (Jun 24, 2008)

I think I saw one go about 65 mph on its way to the crusher, but maybe I was just seeing things.


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## saab96 (Mar 19, 2008)

david85 said:


> I do have a question about the volt though. Has anyone seen it driving faster than ~15 MPH?


The concept is a rolling movie prop with no suspension that sounds like cinder blocks scraping on pavement when it lumbers around. Nobody's actually videotaped the mules in motion but presumably they can go freeway speed.

Chrysler's ENVI prototypes are far more impressive as far as showing stuff actually in motion. But it's since been revealed that outside parties did most of the work FOR Chrysler in getting those up and running.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRnbnlay36M


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Heres why I'm getting worried about the volt:

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/chevy-volt-24159.html

I also found the original documentary that this clip was ripped from if you want to see it. (PBS frontline episode: "heat")


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## TexasCotton (Sep 18, 2008)

david85 said:


> Woops. I tried to start a thread on the volt in the chit-chat section, but forgot we have a hybrid section.
> 
> I do have a question about the volt though. Has anyone seen it driving faster than ~15 MPH?


The volt is "supposedly" to be in production by 2010. The one media invite to the test track and the volt never got over 10mph and then had to be pushed onto a rescue vehicle. GM lead by Mr. Waggoner and Lutz need to get on the ball. The Volt range is only 40 miles then the split cycle of a onboard ICE will recharge the lithum cell. GM has not shown or really built the ICE part of the Volt design. Mr.Lutz does not like the Prius but by 2010 Toyota will be geared up to mass produce the Prius hybrid 1.8 ICE which will get a better mpg than current production. The Mississippi Toyota plant will be shipping Prius by rail by year 2010 as well.


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

It begs a lot of questions if GM has not completed a powertrain for the volt at this point. 
Where is the sale price coming from if the car isn't even finished? 
What about the performance/MPG claims (i thought they already picked a fight with the EPA on how to rate the car's MPGs)? 
What is powering the current prototypes? 
How much more cash will they need before the car is ready?

The prius on the other hand is a platform that can already work as a plug in hybrid and some have already made such upgrades without toyota's blessing. I don't really like the prius, but even I have to admit the car has a sound track record along with the company that made it.


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## Jordan (Oct 29, 2008)

To my knowledge it is a 1.4l engine. Kind of a spin off of the old Geo three bangers with an extra cylinder. The engine should get around 50 mpg by itself.

The GM CEO drove it from Detroit to DC so I am assuming some progress has been made.


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Jordan said:


> The GM CEO drove it from Detroit to DC so I am assuming some progress has been made.


I noticed, but I don't trust wagner or lutz as far as I can throw them. Who knows what that car was really powered by. I'm still skeptical.


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## Jordan (Oct 29, 2008)

I can definately understand the distrust.

It is GM so if this car does make it production I doubt they are really going to use anything new in the way of engine or transmission. They love to dust old crap off the shelf, barely alter it and then throw it in new stuff.


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## ww321q (Mar 28, 2008)

I'll bet the prototype that they will drive around will be made from EV-1 parts that they have laying around in storage . J.W.


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## hybrad (May 24, 2008)

> The GM CEO drove it from Detroit to DC so I am assuming some progress has been made.


Hardly...it was trucked to DC and driven a COUPLE OF MILES at very LOW speeds...that put's a lot of doubt into GM's progress with the Volt.

c/p from priuschat-

According to Jalopnik, Wagoner will drive the Volt mule from his Washington hotel to "a 9:30 AM rally at the corner of Delaware Ave. and C street just outside the Russell Senate Building." 
That's a distance of just a few miles, probably at speeds below 25 mph - so it still won't come close to showing us how close the Volt prototypes may be to finished products. The fact that Wagoner didn't drive one from Detroit, but apparently had it shipped to Washington in order to drive the last few miles, may be an indication that the Volt program has a long way to go to keep its promises.



GM CEO Drives a Chevy Volt to Washington...Sort Of - U.S. News Rankings and Reviews


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Points to you, hybrad. Thanks for that article.


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## Jordan (Oct 29, 2008)

Sounds like you where right not to trust David85.


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## hybrad (May 24, 2008)

david85 said:


> Points to you, hybrad. Thanks for that article.


thanks for the thanks..as far as your Prius comment, I also didn't have a lot of admiration for the Prius until I learned that it only uses 200wh/m. So we are now modifying them to Plug-Ins and they are great little EV's. I drive to work and back w/o using the engine.

10-12 miles with LA and over 40 miles with Lithium. Better and cheaper than the Volt and available today. The tax payers money could go to a better use if only people knew....


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

The prius is aerodynamic and uses low rolling resistance tires, so I could see that. It would be nice if they offered other cars with similar aero tech, but without the hybrid premium. Eventually I can see them devaluing enough that they could be a good donor car for strait EV.

I don't consider it a hybrid though, at least not until it can plug in (toyota is working on that). We have an old tractor that has no neutral safety switch that can propel itself a few feet off the starter. Do I consider that a hybrid? no, the prius is more than that and that was a crude example, but neither are a true hybrid in my view.

As far as being right, I've been there and its not all its cracked up to be


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## hybrad (May 24, 2008)

david85 said:


> I don't consider it a hybrid though, at least not until it can plug in (toyota is working on that).


Toyota's version of a plug-in is pretty lame...they will parallel 2 NiMH packs and go from less than one mile to less than two...We are already getting 12X more distance (soon to be 50X) than their "New" plug-in out in 2010...how come we can do it and they can't?

Hybrad


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## ToyBuilder (Dec 23, 2008)

We need to start digging for lithium. The volt ad is merely a supplier message and I don't see supply shifting much. China is monopolizing on lithium. Bolivia won't trust anyone. If lithium is the only solution to lead batteries, anti EV policy is likely what we will get in two years rather than a Volt. The corporations must have seen the lithium supply problem over a decade ago after they started the EV1 project. Is this another good reason for the push for hydrogen and hybrids rather than pure EV's?


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