GM’s vice chairman Bob Lutz says the feasibility of the Chevy Volt’s drivetrain will be proven by Easter. Drivable test mules with electric drive systems and lithium batteries will be being tested by then. The Volt is powered only by electric motors and is targeted to go 40 miles on a fully charged battery. When the battery is depleted, a small internal combustion engine will start and be a generator to charge the batteries. Lutz was critical of a Toyota executive that called the Volt “completely wacky”. He also pointed out that all the Japanese companies refused to bid on GM’s battery proposals and they are hoarding advanced battery technology for themselves. Lutz also called for the U.S. government to match the Japanese government’s funding of advanced battery research. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy laws were also a target and Lutz says they have failed and will never reduce oil consumption. He went on to say that the only way to get people to drive less and buy smaller cars is to raise the gas taxes. GM is putting considerable resources into the Volt. Over 600 employees are working on the project and GM is aggressively hiring battery engineers.
Source
Business Week
0 comments:
Post a Comment