GM To Road Test Li-Ion Batteries For Volt
GM Vice Chairman of Product Development Bob Lutz spoke about the status of GM’s Volt at the New York Auto Show. He indicated that the company will begin road testing Li-ion battery packs for the Volt in July of this year. This timeframe is behind the company’s previously announced testing schedule, but will not significantly impact the company’s ability to deliver the vehicle to market by 2010.
Lutz also indicated that the company has not yet determined which supplier will manufacture battery packs for the vehicle, and may delay that announcement until the second-half of 2008. Lutz says that GM is still uncertain about which suppliers have the production capacity to deliver the Li-ion battery packs.
Speaking of the broader Volt vehicle program, Lutz said that the sticker price of the Volt and GM’s two-mode hybrid Saturn Vue will be higher than originally expected. According to Lutz, the two-mode hybrid system on the Vue will add about $8K-$9K to the vehicle’s current cost, and the plug-in hybrid technology will add another $8K-$9K to the price, leaving the Vue with a sticker price of $48,000. The Volt has not been priced out yet, but consumers interested in purchasing the vehicle should a sticker price in the neighborhood of $40,000.
GM does not expect the Volt to achieve profitability for years, and is prepared to lose money on the Volt’s production in order to establish GM’s technological superiority and competitive position in the plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle market.
Despite the financial outlook that the company is prepared to accept, Lutz predicts that consumers will embrace the vehicle once it hits the market, suggesting that demand for the Volt could reach 500,000 units annually and could also spill over into its other hybrid models.
In the speech, Lutz also admitted that GM had wasted an opportunity to establish itself as a leader in the PHEV market by not capitalizing on technology the automaker has had since the 1960’s.
April 2, 2008 - by Hybrid Car Chat · Filed Under Hybrid Cars |
