View Larger Image | 6/6/07 General Motors has announced that it will be putting the Volt E-Flex concept car that it unveiled during January's Detroit motor show into production by 2015. The company is 'fast-tracking development', explains fuel cell development boss Chris Borroni-Bird, who says the car's core architecture will be ready to commit to production by 2010. The process of readying the finalised design will be complete before 2015, which is when GM expects to offers this car for sale. However, these dates hinge on the rate of development of its lithium-ion batteries, which need to satisfy GM's target of providing a 40 mile zero emission range. The company is developing the Volt despite the risk of not yet knowing when the batteries will be ready, in part because it "has to see a return on the more than $1 billion it has spent so far on fuel cell research," says Borroni-Bird.
GM plans to offer the Volt with a variety of environmentally friendly powertrains, starting with a plug-in hybrid system in which the lithium-ion batteries can be charged either from the mains, or by a 1.0 litre three cylinder turbo petrol engine if they need a charge while the car is on the move. A European version of the car would probably use a more economical diesel engine in place of the petrol unit.
A year or two after this is launched, Borroni-Bird believes that GM will be ready to launch a fuel cell version of the car. This will do without the internal combustion engine, and three-quarters of the battery pack (producing a useful weight saving), the electric motor propelled primarily by the fuel cell, and only occasionally supplemented by the remaining lithium-ion batteries, mainly for start-up and overtaking.
GM has just awarded two contracts for the development of the Volt's lithium-ion batteries.
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