Holden Volt: Hard to Say, Easy to Charge

Sorry to harp on about the Chevy Volt again but today Autoblog Green confirmed that the Chevy Volt will be coming to the land of Oz around 2012 under the sneaky name of the "Holden Volt". While the guts of the car will remain the same it has yet to be confirmed if it'll have a face lift or not. I guess in this current economic climate they'll try to keep the costs down meaning they'll just whack a giant Holden logo on the front.

One good thing about the Volt here in Australia is our 230-240 volt AC power will be able to charge the car's battery pack in half the time the poor 110-120 volt North Americans can.

Looks like I'll be trading my old Nissan in for a Holden come 2012.

Volt Visits Down Under

Seeing as I didn't make it to the Australian International Motor Show (AIMS) in Sydney this year I have to settle for news coverage from CarAdvice.com.au, the only useful Australia-oriented motoring news site.

I was pleased to see amongst their thorough coverage of AIMS that the Chevy Volt has made the trip down to the Southern Hemisphere to give us a wave and a nod before heading back to the US. G'day Volt! *waves*

As mentioned previously we'll most likely be seeing the Volt in one way, shape or form here in the land of Oz by 2011 or thereabouts. It may be branded as a Holden, it may not even look like the Volt or GM might just give up and just move the steering column over to the right side and sell it on city corners.

Regardless of how it'll get here I still want one. More pics and plenty of coverage of the Volt (and AIMS in general) over at CarAdvice.com.au.

Production Volt Spied On Transformers 2 Set

Here it is folks! The first shots showing more than just a tease of GM's saviour, the Chevy Volt.

Autoblog alerted me to the spy shots taken on and around the set of the new Transformers movie today and I must say it's a relief to see the Volt dressed in something other than the silver we've seen so many times before although I'm not a huge fan of the purply blue either.

The official coming-out isn't far off but it's still exciting to see what could herald in a new era for the US car market, if not the world car market. Remember, the Volt uses only the electric motor for propulsion with the secondary internal combustion engine kicking in to recharge batteries when they dip below a certain limit. Other, older hybrids rely on their internal combustion engines for propulsion and only use the electric motor when idling or driving slowly around carparks etc. This means if you only drive 50-odd miles between charges you may never use petroleum again. It's also based on the E-Flex architecture where the secondary "recharge" motor can be swapped out at a later date for something completely different.

Here's another shot of the Volt where you can actually read the word "VOLT" just next to the side mirror (click for a higher res image).

More photos are available over at AutoblogGreen but they're mostly fuzzy mobile phone camera shots.

Production Chevy Volt Photos Leaked!

The moment we've all been waiting for has arrived. After months of spy shots and teaser photos we finally get to see shots of the production version of GM's wunderkind, the Chevy Volt.

Props to gm-volt.com for bringing us these leaked studio photos but I must say I am totally underwhelmed. I knew the Volt was going to look different to the out-there concept but they've managed to make it look boring. Then again, it could just be the weird angles most of the photos are taken from.

Understandably the production Volt is a lot more rounded than the concept which was just a tad un-aerodynamic and I have to admit it is a lot more attractive than the whale-like Prius. I don't mind the rear and the black (glass?) roof is a nice touch but the best thing about it is that this thing is real. Real full electric propulsion, real E-Flex system, real plug-in charging. W000T! I'd buy one.

By the way, if you're wondering who the guys in the suits are they're GM senior execs.

More photos and original story available here.

Edit: More (and higher res) photos available at Autoblog.

Concept vs Production: Chevy Volt

For those of you interested here are some side-by-side shots of the concept Volt vs the production Volt.









The shape is different due to the fact that the production vehicle needed to be as aerodynamic as possible to ensure good mileage but the GM designers did a good job in keeping the overall "feel" the same, especially in the hind quarters. Perhaps when we see some modded versions with larger rims etc. and in different colours the production Volt might look sportier.

It'll be interesting to see what GM do with rebranding the Volt internationally with it being confirmed recently that it'll go on sale in Europe as an Opel or Vauxhall depending on where you live and may be branded as a Holden in Australia, of course after shifting the steering column to the right side of the car. At least there's no gear box to worry about getting in the way.

Chevy Volt On The Move

Sick of seeing photos of the Chevy Volt? Well, feast your eyes on these videos!

The first video shows the Volt driving around slowly to the anesthetic sounds of this year's greeny marketing band, Coldplay. You also get some more footage of the interior gadgets etc.

The second video is from My Ride which has a lot of the same footage but the voice over gives you plenty of information on how the E-Flex system works among other things. It also shows (finally!) how you plug this baby in and how, running 240 volt AC power like we do here in the land of Oz, you can charge the Lithium Ion battery pack in only 3 hours.

Still no video of someone using that giant gear shift thingy in the center console though and it would be nice to hear the car running (if that's possible).

Thanks for the tip Engadget.

Coldplay valium:


Informative video:

Video Of Production Volt

Further to my post last week about the spy shots of the production Chevy Volt that were taken on the set of Transformers 2 comes this video of the same thing. Here you can clearly see the "VOLT" logo on the back of the car and get an idea of how this EV moves.

The first half of the video shows more familiar Transformers driving up the road with Bumblebee and the new silver Corvette concept car (that has yet to be officially announced) in the lead but then it cuts to the purply blue Volt being unwrapped then driven off.

If the video below doesn't work try this link... and I'd still prefer it in black.

Gen 1 Chevy Volt To Cost $40K USD

So now Bob Lutz, GM's Vice President, tells us that the Chevy Volt which was pretty much promised to be sold in the US at around $30K is more likely to be $40K. $40K at a loss to GM. But that's the price you pay to innovate.

Seen by many as the saviour of the (US) car industry, the 2010 Volt promises so much and the almost daily news we get on its progress toward release helps. Personally I'd buy one if I had the cash and it was released and it was available in Australia. At least there's some good news ahead.

GM Teases With Partial Photo Of Production Volt

Feast your eyes on this lovely close up of the production Chevy Volt. So far all we've had to go on is the concept vehicle photos of the car that will hopefully bring the US car industry into the future but GM just released a couple of teaser shots of the actual production Volt.

While looking vastly different to the concept car this new design still bears some resemblance as though it is its brother or cousin from interstate. The front grille appears to be enclosed, most likely due to aerodynamic issues and I'm not entirely sure what the series of funky blue and red LEDs at the front do other than look cool. You can get a gander at it's rear flanks over at Autoblog but you'll just have to wait a bit longer to see any more of this beasty.

Happy 100th Birthday GM: The 2011 Chevy Volt

Here it is, right on schedule. GM's saviour the Chevy Volt. I'm not going to say much except YAY! Finally! Here's a bunch of pictures and videos for you to look at but there are more over at Autoblog. I'd love to see it in another colour (black!) but I do like the view from above rear, the black roof looks great. Note the funky LED fog lamps and cool (although quite plasticy) touch-based interior controls. In the video you see the driver's console reporting on all sorts of things including the current tyre pressure!



Autoblog on location at the Reveal. (video below)
Intererior walkthrough. (video below)
Photos from Autoblog Shanghai.

Reveal:


Interior Walkthrough:

iMiEV Ain't Gonna Be Cheap

Here I was thinking that a smaller EV would be cheaper than a larger EV but apparently the Mitsubishi iMiEV is going to go on sale in Japan in 2009 for the handy price of only 4 million yen ($38,899 AUD / $37,496 USD). Fair enough, you might say, but that means it'll be around the same price as the larger and cooler looking Chevy Volt.

If I was judging on looks alone the Volt wins hands down but if I was judging on the mechanics of the vehicle the iMiEV wins as it's purely electric. Decisions, decisions!

Chrysler With Tesla-Like EV

A few months ago Chrysler were behind their competition in the EV stakes then they introduced us to the Dodge EV prototype which is now a reality and doing the show circuit.

Chrysler kind of cheated in the Tesla way by basically taking a Lotus Europa and replacing the engine with an electric powerplant. That said this little beasty with its 268 hp electric motor has a 0-100 time under 5 seconds and it will run for up to 200 miles (320 km) on a single charge.

Not quite the rocket that Tesla have but I reckon this thing will be half the price of the Tesla Roadster and being badged as a Doge will probably be within reach (geographically speaking) of many more people. To give the Chevy Volt a run for its money the word on the street says is it could be available as early as 2010. Of course it's still only a 2-seater so won't be in direct competition with the Volt. Looks like fun though!

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Are Not The Answer

Recently Top Gear had a segment on the "world changing" Honda FCX Clarity, a commercially available (in California and Japan) hydrogen fuel cell car. The hyperbole spewed forth during the segment was over the top even for Top Gear. Statements about how this car is the single most important thing to happen to automobiles in the past 100 years, or that it makes all battery electric vehicles obsolete were thrown around with gay abandon. Jeremy Clarkson, famous for "dissing" plug-in electric/hybrid vehicles among other things, was in full agreement with James May's assessments that this car is basically Jesus with wheels.

It annoyed me no end and actually prevented me from falling asleep for an hour or so as their biased comments kept bouncing around in my head. Sure, hydrogen fuel cell cars are a step in the right direction (i.e. away from oil dependence) but to liken it to the invention of the internal combustion engine was just too much for me.

Refuelling

What most boggled my mind was May's joy in finding that he had to stop every 250 miles (~400 km) in the Clarity to fill up on liquid hydrogen at the few and far between filling stations at a cost similar to what we pay for petrol. Surely if we're going to have a revolution in motoring it won't involve making things worse for us by opening the door for a whole new generation of cartels and corporations to rule our driving.

Currently I travel around 450-500 km in my Nissan Pulsar per tank and I despise having to divert from my route just to fill up, and that's with petrol stations all over the place. My vote goes to whichever technology means I don't have to keep stopping at some third party establishment where the unit price fluctuates hourly. Imagine if the local store had a sign out the front showing how much a litre of milk was going to cost you if you bought it right now.

The Power

Ahh, but the hydrogen fuel cells emit only water as a byproduct but BEVs use the electricity from the AC outlet and where does that come from? This is one of Clarkson's oft repeated BEV-bashing comments and is based on the fact that most household power comes from polluting sources like coal, natural gas, nuclear power etc which is totally true. Unfortunately for the Clarity electricity is required to produce the hydrogen that it needs, as are the raw materials the hydrogen is ripped from. Once the hydrogen is prepared it still needs to be shipped and trucked to fueling stations which uses up even more energy.

Wikipedia says that "As of 2006, 49.0% of the electricity produced in the United States comes from coal, 19.4% comes from nuclear, 20.0% comes from natural gas, 7.0% from hydroelectricity, 1.6% from petroleum and the remaining 3.1% mostly coming from geothermal, solar and biomass.^[32] When hydrogen is produced through electrolysis, the energy comes from these sources. Though the fuel cell itself will only emit heat and water as waste, pollution is often caused when generating the electricity required to produce the hydrogen that the fuel cell uses as its power source (for example, when coal, oil, or natural gas-generated electricity is used)."

Surely the best answer would be to cut out the middle men and use the electricity directly and via the billions of AC power outlets around the world. Or even better, get yourself a nice solar panel set up in your house to charge your car for free.

Batteries

The Clarity and other fuel cell vehicles don't require batteries for storing power. Batteries are the biggest cause for concern in BEVs in that they take a while to recharge, they don't hold the charge long enough, they're heavy and they're made from finite natural resources such as zinc, nickel and other metals. There are a few points here that I'd like to address.

Charging Time

During Top Gear's test of the Tesla Roadster in the same episode, the statement was made that it would take 16 hours to charge the car's battery pack completely. As part of Tesla's response to the review it was said "that the 16-hour recharge time quoted by Top Gear is an absolute worst-case scenario - sort of like filling your gas tank using a thousand Dixie Cups full of petrol." The Tesla website says it can take as little as 3.5 hours with the High Power Connector which you'd install in your garage at home. Countries with higher voltage AC, like Australia's 240 volt, 50Hz power, will be able to charge their cars faster.

The general public will have to change their thinking around charging their cars. Currently the thinking is that it is same as filling up with petrol but in actual fact it is a lot more like how you handle the power in your mobile phone. I keep my phone plugged in at work and I have a charger at home. It never goes flat.

Of course, you aren't required to charge the car's battery totally each and every time you plug it in. If you need a quick charge you can give the car enough juice to get you where you want to go. Cars like the Chevy Volt take the idea a little further by having a secondary power source (a small internal combustion engine) to generate the electricity if you get into trouble.

Battery Technology

Battery technology has taken great leaps in the past few decades. Remember the handbag sized battery packs that were required to power mobile phones back in the 80s? How much smaller are the batteries you now find in phones and laptops? Even if we can reduce the size of the batteries by half over the next decade that's a huge leap. Regardless of Top Gear's admittedly ficticious review of the Tesla Roadster, it comes with a custom lithium ion battery pack that gives you up to 220 miles (300 km) per charge which is far more than I'd ever drive in a single day.

Servicing

After the Clarity review, as May and Clarkson dried their tears of joy, an off-hand comment was made that you might never have to take your Clarity in for servicing as it only has "one moving part". Sure, the propulsion system only has one moving part (the electric motor) but what about the wheels, axles, tires, brakes, suspension, steering and accessories?

This is the case for all cars using electric propulsion. Doing away with the noisy and messy internal combustion engine doesn't mean you don't need your car serviced, it just means the service will be easier, cleaner and maybe less frequent.

The Final Straw

May's final statement sums up everything that was wrong with his Honda Clarity review nicely. To paraphrase, he said the Clarity was the most important car in living memory because it was just like the cars we drive today. Fuel-cell vehicles are more polluting, rely on an overblown production, transportation and delivery infrastructure, are more complex than BEVs and with advancements in photovoltaic panels (solar panels), battery technology and newer methods of generating clean electricity maybe we should be trying keep things simple instead of just doing what we've always done.

Australia to Become A Better Place

Great news everyone! Australia usually gets shafted when it comes to big new technologies that require brand new infrastructure due to the amount of whitespace between cities but today we got some great news.

Better Place, "a California-based, venture-backed company that aims to reduce global dependency on petroleum" has just announced that their next target for building a nation-wide electric car charging network is the good old Land Down Under. They say, "[w]e will build an electric vehicle network capable of supporting the switch of Australia’s 15 million gas cars to zero emission vehicles.", just in time for me with my Holden Volt!

I like Better Place's stance on why they chose Australia as their next area, "If Australia can do it, so can others.". I assume they're talking about the previously mentioned wide expanses rather than us being so stupid that anything we can do, others can do (better).

About Better Place, Wikipedia has this to say, "In January 2008, Better Place announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Renault-Nissan to build the world's first Electric Recharge Grid Operator (ERGO) model for clean transportation in Israel. Under the agreement, Better Place will build the electric recharge grid, and Renault-Nissan will provide the electric vehicles. In 2009, Better Place expects to deploy hundreds of charging stations as the company moves toward wide-scale deployment in 2011.". I guess they'll be doing something similar here.

Yay Australia!

Queenslanders Wake Up, Invent New Engine

Revetec, a Gold Coast, Australia-based company has created a new type of internal combustion engine, dubbed the "controlled combustion engine", which uses half as much fossil fuels, is half the weight and is cheaper to make than a similarly sized modern engine.

If that's not enough, because the engine delivers higher torque, and can perform and operate well at much lower revs than a conventional engine, the noise levels are lower.

gas2.org reports that Revetec have a prototype which has been attached to an actual vehicle and independently tested to substantiate their claims.

Even in the foreseeable future we'll be needing secondary engines to give battery powered cars extended range by charging batteries on the go. Platforms like GM's E-Flex system, to be used first in the Chevy Volt, are designed in such a way that the secondary motor can be replaced with pretty much anything that can generate electricity. GM should talk to Revetec.

Thanks for the tip Ottey!

Fuel Prices Have Dropped. Yay, Let's Buy SUVs!

Here we go again, the price of petrol ("gas" if you don't know the difference between liquids and solids) has dropped back to the price it was a few years ago and people have already forgotten how much money they were forking out only a few short weeks ago to fill their tanks.

Autoblog Green tells us the sad tale of a manufacturer kicking their SUV/Truck manufacturing plants back up a notch in anticipation of increased demand after almost shutting them down over the past year and people who went through a car downsizing are now feeling buyer's remorse.

All price and environmental issues aside, oil is a fossil fuel and therefore a finite resource. Why go burning through something we'll still need in the foreseeable future for the production of plastics and the like when there are alternatives already available. All the people who were bitching and moaning about the price of petrol, imagine if you drove up to the bowser and there was no petrol at all.

Now I'm not a big fan of hybrids as they don't really solve the problem, they just make people who would have driven a medium sized car use the fuel of a small car or a more efficient car. Ultimately you'll still need to stop and fill up with fuel which is a chore and plug in electric cars are still a few years away from being in my garage.

So while I wait for my Holden Volt or Mitsubishi iMiEV I've been trying to drive more efficiently using some basic hypermiling techniques (apparently it's the word of the year for 2008) and tracking my success with Fuel Frog. My last fill up shows I averaged 7.7 litres per 100km, not too shabby, and that's basically from accelerating and braking slowly and coasting when possible.

While I was stoked to pay only $1.19 AUD per litre for my tank of dead dinosaurs I still hate having to stop for petrol. At the weekend we drove to Marysville which has a lot of trees and not much else for half the trip and I was thinking how screwed we'd be if we ran out of fuel out there.

And if that's not enough, now we have ninja kittens driving around on our roads!

While I'm on the topic, take a look at these car ads from the 1970s during the "energy crisis", look familiar?

Top Gear Does Tesla

Time for my weekly Tesla Roadster post (not quite). This time it's about a story run by the whacky guys on the original (and best) Top Gear. The shows wordsmith Jeremy Clarkson got his hands on not one, but two of these zippy zappers from the valley of silicon and thrashed the crap out of them (as he does).

I don't want to ruin the surprise ending for you but let's just say that he's finally found a car that runs on electrons he'd consider buying thus making him a "volt head" instead of a "petrol head". The Tesla manages to do quite an impressive run around the test track with The Stig at the wheel but the driving range of the car was markedly different to the official Tesla figures.

Click onwards for the video and thanks to AutoBlogGreen for the tip.

Who Rose The Electric Car From The Dead?

Chris Paine, the director of the controversial documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car" is back again with a sequel and this time the electric car wins!

Autoblog Green is reporting that Chris has tentatively scheduled this revenge film for a 2009 release and titled it "Revenge of the Electric Car". Interestingly there's no mention of it (yet) on IMDb.

I guess with the Telsa Roadster, Chevy Volt and others all making big noises in the media it makes sense to bring the topic up again.