This blog could be entitled, ”VOLT—Designed By The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight”. About 2-3 months ago I wrote a blog about a battery pack fire in a VOLT that had been side-impact tested at an NHTSA test site. More time has passed and now it appears that Congress wants to step in and second-guess both GM and NHTSA.
Independent (selected by Congress) investigators are now questioning the physical pack configuration and questioning the methods of pack cooling. Another idea pushed by Congress is that after a crash the energy left in the pack should be discharged automatically. In other words you can’t store a partially charged pack. (It is really hard to keep a straight face on some of this). All these ordered “fixes” are estimated to cost between $2000 and $4500 per car to install.
Other problems for the GM VOLT is that sales for 2011 have fallen well below the 10,000 projected AND the average price has been nowhere near the $41,000. asking price. In fact most sold have had a $7500 government discount and some had a 2 x $7500 discount. The double discount puts in the PRIUS range and it still is not competitive.
Further to add aggravation the VOLT, on gasoline operation, does not meet the California emission standards. Also in test drive comparison with the PRIUS, the VOLT doesn’t come off well.
AN ASIDE: In 2012 Mitsubishi, Honda and Ford plan to announce E-Only cars to compete with the Nissan LEAF etc. So slowly the recharging stations are evolving and GM is reportedly considering an E-only VOLT (name) version.
When you consider that in 1995 GM had the IMPACT/EV1, which was enthusiastically received by test drivers, you have to wonder, “What happened?” For one thing, an order from the top was that GM was ONLY interested in “family cars” and did NOT consider E-only such, i.e. GM had NO interest! In the intervening years, GM has been “bailed out” and Obama claims them the “poster child” for government intervention because GM was “too big to fail”.
So now GM has spent some 10 years, using the VOLT name, to attempt a “family car” hybrid. In this 10 years GM has gone from a simple “series mode” hybrid to now a (sorta) copy of the PRIUS. Both use a “2-mot/gen” scheme to achieve CVT operation BUT GM claims “no patent infringement”. So GM has funded numerous experiments at CVT operation, 4-wheel drive arrangement, etc. About 3 years ago GM admitted that at highway speeds the ground drive was at least partially mechanical similarly to the PRIUS.
So GM has a problem of,“What to do with a hybrid they cannot sell and make a profit?”
It will be interesting to watch what evolves!
What happen to the EV1 was also government. As I recall GM told California that they (the state) can begin installing charging station. To my knowledge not one charging station was ever installed.
The plan was to roll out in California and bring to the rest of the nation later. As California was constantly implementing regulations to strangle the auto industry and energy industry. It would only seem natural that an electric car would begin in the so called eco friendly state.
Posted by: WELambert | January 17, 2012 at 03:39 PM