Is the Chevy Volt "miles ahead" of the Prius?
This Prius by Hybrids-Plus achieves more than 100 mpg, todayI just finished reading David Kiley's BW article, GM's Plug-In Push, which opens, "General Motors is developing a plug-in hybrid technology for its Chevy Volt that is miles ahead of Toyota and Honda."
Really?
I heard the same such sentiment several months ago regarding GM's hybrid vehicles, which many have called more advanced and more sophisticated than Toyota's hybrids such as the Prius. Perhaps, but still I have asked, what are the costs of GM's technology, will it be sold in a package that consumers want at a price they are willing to pay? (Finish)
Labels: Chevy Volt electric vehicle concept, e flex system, fuel cells, lithium battery, plug-in hybrid vehicles, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:56 AM
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I just finished reading David Kiley's BW article, GM's Plug-In Push, which opens, "General Motors is developing a plug-in hybrid technology for its Chevy Volt that is miles ahead of Toyota and Honda."
Really?
I heard the same such sentiment several months ago regarding GM's hybrid vehicles, which many have called more advanced and more sophisticated than Toyota's hybrids such as the Prius. Perhaps, but still I have asked, what are the costs of GM's technology, will it be sold in a package that consumers want at a price they are willing to pay?
While those issues still haven't been tested in the market, here's my take on GM's dual mode hybrids: They are irrelevant to a large extent, at least for now. The Volt and the E Flex Platform are GM's real focus, not dual mode hybrids.
It's not that GM's Chevy Tahoe hybrid isn't a great vehicle. It's an awesome hybrid vehicle for large SUV fans (more on my Tahoe hybrid test drive), but there is one problem, 50,000 of them as a matter of fact. With a price tag above $50,000, how can such hybrids be very successful?
And then there is size.
As a guest of GM for several LA Auto Show events, I was able to eat dinner with GM car czar, Bob Lutz, along with 3 other journalists. During that dinner I asked Mr. Lutz about small hybrid cars. Essentially, I posed the question, why not make a small dual mode hybrid around the size of the Prius just to shut up all the GM critics, especially the environmental ones?
Because, Lutz told me, the dual mode hybrid powertrain was designed for large vehicles, particularly full sized SUVs and trucks. It's just not very scalable to small vehicles.
While I had long suspected this to be the case, I was still shocked, even though I felt vindicated.
The Toyota Prius is by far the best selling hybrid vehicle. The Toyota Camry hybrid is also selling fairly well - better than all other hybrids combined, minus the Prius. The Toyota Highlander hybrid, on the other hand, is not selling so well.
So, GM will sort of challenge the poor selling Highlander, but not the two best selling hybrid vehicles until the Chevy Volt?
Now, there is no doubt that Toyota's hybrids were designed for urban traffic, for short commutes - something that the next generation of Toyota hybrids will address according to Toyota. GM's hybrids were designed for large SUV and truck utility. But there is an even bigger, more important difference between the two company's hybrids.
Toyota builds its hybrids on the Hybrid Synergy Drive, largely the same drive that Toyota is also building its fuel cell vehicles on, which are, coincidentally also hybrid vehicles. For Toyota, the Prius can evolve and adapt. The Prius can be a NiMH hybrid, a lithium hybrid, a diesel hybrid, a hydrogen hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, an ultracapacitor-lithium hybrid, and a fuel cell hybrid.
GM doesn't have the same plans for its dual mode hybrid vehicles, instead the Chevy Volt and, more important, the E Flex Drive, is GM's adaptable platform, which offers the same variables as the Prius, but in a different way.
Is GM's series hybrid, electric drive orientation better?
Well, both the Hybrid Synergy Drive and the E Flex Drive are very dependent upon battery technology - it's possibly the key technology - and Mr. Kiley, in his BW article, suggests that GM is ahead of Toyota on lithium battery technology.
I say slow down.
If anything, GM and the Volt are ahead on rumor and innuendo, nothing more - the same rumor and innuendo that created the claims that GM's hybrid technology would blow the Prius away - it won't. For example, there is not one single Volt, or Volt-like, prototype that is using one of GM's potential batteries - and all batteries for the Volt are still a potential fit for the Volt.
On the other hand, more than a hundred Toyota Prius hybrids have been converted into fully functional, 100 mpg+ plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Thus, it seems silly to speculate on how the Volt will blow away the Prius. More important, the Volt might not even compete against the Prius. Both might appeal to very different drivers with very different needs.
Still, what's the point of the Volt, or a plug-in Prius?
It's to reduce oil consumption and clean the environment, right? Thus, GM is striving for the Volt to achieve 40 miles per charge on pure electricity because that is the distance that around 70 percent of Americans drive every day. Still, one must ask, will the Volt be using coal-powered electricity? How much of a gain does that provide?
Imagine, if you will, that Toyota develops an 80 mpg Prius that costs $20,000, but doesn't require any plugging in. On the other hand, let's say that GM successfully launches the Volt, which does achieve 40 miles on electricity, but at any drive over 100 miles the Volt only achieves about 50 mpg. More important, the Volt costs $40,000 plus $100 per month for a battery lease.
Which would sell better?
Certainly, the Chevy Volt could and might be built on a more sophisticated technology than the Prius, but will it be worth the costs?
Recently, I went shopping for a new computer. At some point, you pick the technology that best fits your needs for the best price. Thus, I didn't pick the computer with the best technology or the most sophisticated technology, but the one that fit my needs at the cheapest price.
Technology is not the sole driver of automotive success.
Of course, the Volt might cost only $30,000, or it might achieve 50 miles per charge on pure electricity. Or, Toyota might also have a wild card up its sleeve. Again, numerous Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles have been converted into plug-in hybrid vehicles that achieve more than 100 mpg, some with batteries being made by the same suppliers as GM's Volt battery suppliers.
Consequently, it just seems very premature to assert that the Volt is blowing away the competition, when there are still numerous variables and obstacles that need to be overcome by both automakers.
While I'm very excited and optimistic for the Chevy Volt, and I think it will be a huge success for GM, I don't think it will be Prius-killer. Ultimately, it will be different strokes for different folks. Moreover, for 40 mile commutes, many consumers might choose cheaper, smaller all-electric vehicles - something many companies are working on - for their short commutes, instead of both the Prius and the Volt.
Ultimately, one vehicle is NOT going to dominate the auto market of the future, nor is one kind of automotive technology. Electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles - even bio-fueled vehicles - all have a place in the revolution of the automobile. While I would bet that both the Toyota Prius and the Chevy Volt are major players in the automotive revolution, anything is still possible.
For instance, after test-driving the Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle a couple of times and seeing the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle at the LA Auto Show, for example, I'm beginning to wonder if the automotive revolution could even skip much of the plug-in hybrid technology revolution - something the Prius and its hybrid synergy driven; and the Volt and its e flex platform, are being designed to accommodate.
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