Just received this link today regarding the Volt and in light of the other Volt thread posted today I thought it was ironic. Seems like the Volt is on schedule and can potentially exceed mileage estimates. Consider this some positive news.

http://gm-volt.com/2008/05/14/big-ne...iles-electric/

 

Hell just stick it in the Malibu and be done with it: "Malibu VOLT"

 

This is damn good news for GM.

 

If they are hitting 40 miles with the Malibu, then a smaller lighter Volt should be good to go.
This car will probably change the landscape of cars forever.

 

Good news! Hopefully this car comes together smoothly and they're able to bring out a quality product in 2010. By then gas will be $12/gallon

 

This has really turned out to be one of the most important cars ever for GM.

 

Oh I am sure that they will. Once the volt gets underway I am sure the powertrain will be spread across the lines much like the HF V-6 has.

I hope for GM's sake that the fuel prices stay high, if there were a downturn in oil prices like what happen in the 80's this could be a huge loss. Who got the battery contract? Was it A123?

 

While a flexible, the E-flex propulsion system isn't a traditional powertrain in the sense that we are accustomed to. Sure they'll offer different body designs, but they'll be limited in configuration and most likely unique to the application intended.

Long, but interesting video on E-flex.
http://engineeringtv.com/blogs/etv/a...on-system.aspx

 

I'd go as far as to call that a foolish statement (not because there are known problems with the battery, but rather because there are a host of unknowns that can't be addressed without several years of field data).

 

Which I'm sure is why he said almost.

 

Maybe they've been gathering this field data with other manufacturers hybrid technologies?

 

Probably - after all, there is a substantial amount of field data on lithium-ion plug-in hybrids. Oh, wait...

I heard a similar question asked of one of GM's battery engineers today. He deferred the question to the Toyota rep that was seated next to him

 

Gm is doing 10 years of testing in a 2 year period to try to meet the Nov. 2010 production deadline. How can you accurately test a battery system for power after 4 or 5 years in only 2 years? You can put a lot of miles on them but not actual time in that period.

 

You can put a lot of cycles on a battery pack in a couple of years; USABC standards call for 5,000 full cycle ("charge depletion") and 300,000 partial cycles ("charge sustaining"). That's a lot of work for two years, but it's doable with the right test rig and an understanding of environmental factors.

The scary thing is the pack life degradation over time (iPod and laptop owners know all about this one). I saw A123 put up some calendar-life data yesterday; they've got a whopping two years' worth so far. Since lithium-ion batteries may suffer from several different failure modes over their calendar life, it's extremely dangerous to extrapolate data.

Per AABC, at least 5 years of calendar life data will be needed to get assurance of a pack lifetime of 8-10 years. Until then, expect manufacturers to either lease the pack, or price the replacement costs into the vehicle pricetag.

 

That's what I was getting at. I would be surprised and saddened to learn that GM has not had their own fleet of Prius's running around since they hit the market to begin early testing with. At least to determine the viability of pursuing the Hybrid/ plug in market and when they could reasonably expect to come to market with their own version.