GM joins forces with 30 utilities for Volt
Forget fuel cells?GM has joined forces with the Electrical Vehicle Institute and more than 30 utility companies to work on tax incentives for electric drive vehicles, such as the Chevy Volt, in addition to recharging stations and and how to stagger recharging to prevent local substation overload. Likewise, "The speed of the recharging, voltage, amperage and other issues all have to be worked out" as well according to the AP.
"This vehicle is real. It's coming into production," said Britta Gross, a GM engineer who is helping to build the infrastructure for cars of the future. "We know that when the vehicle is in the showroom and ready for sale, it's got to work seamlessly with the infrastructure. It's the whole picture. We've got to make sure the infrastructure is ready."
Is the Volt becoming bigger than just the car?
Labels: Chevy Volt electric vehicle concept, plug-in hybrid vehicles
posted by Dahcredyns at
7:36 AM
7 Comments:
Interesting - GM talking about needing to manage the infrastructure - "We've got to make sure the infrastructure is ready". Wow, they did such a good job "managing" the California electric trolly industry in the 1960s and the electric car infrastructure in the 1990s... They sure got out in front of everyone else when it comes to fielding the next generation of cars that people will be buying over the next decade.
I think GM needs to worry about designing and manufacturing cars that people will buy, and let other key players worry about managing their part of the required infrastructure.
I don't care how fast they (or more correctly the the rest of the automotive industry) pump out plug-in hybrids. Do you really think it is realistic to think that the emerging plug-in hybrid car industry is going to bring down the national electric grid? Does GM really think their meddling is required to develop the complete solution? They are so full of it, it is not funny.
The reality is that national electricity providers will certainly be able to implement any new solutions required to sell electricity to their customers. And they will be glad to do it, simply because they will be selling their product (electricity) for a profit, and profit is the most effective motive in a free market economy.
energy independence-
worthy points.
still, as a California resident that has suffered numerous blackouts and brownouts, i'm a little more open to this collaboration. while i agree that GM should focus its energies predominantly on the engineering of PHEVs, etc., this could end up being about more than just the Volt and GM - at least that's my hope.
the US grid is in pretty bad shape overall and too coal intensive. the electrification of the automobile seems to me a great impetus to the plant the seeds of a new energy paradigm that goes beyond EVs, but extends to distributed energy paradigms that reward home efficiency, home solar, etc.
if not, foreign oil dependency, even oil dependency might end, but consumers will be just as screwed as ever. america's free market economy has excelled at just that - further bridging the gap between the haves and the have nots. 90 percent of the people live on the breadcrumbs of the top 1 percent - that doesn't sound very free to me.
call me naively optimistic, but i believe the redistribution of energy more into the hands of the people is bigger than evs themselves. evs, however, can be an impetus towards that end.
If you follow the news on this site and have been following for awhile, you have seen a lot of info and planning for the Chevy Volt. It almost seems like this website could be named the Chevy Volt website. Is this car ever going to happen? GM does not have a real good following for their hybrid vehicles now, partly because they have so very, very few of them. Also the so-called "mild hybrid" of the malibu is kind of a joke. It barely gets better mileage than a regular hybrid and costs more. Just my 2 cents worth.
I had found a 2003 article chronicling the research and technology of the in Hub motor by none other than...GM! 5 years later, where has that gone? The article spoke of how great the technology was (weight dist., few moving parts, etc) yet 5 years later they've again done nothing with it.
Maybe if there is this collaborative, you atleast get a new batch of non-oil lobbyists in the pockets of GM and other car co's. This time pushing electricity instead of oil, which is at least on the right track I suppose.
Brownouts...lived in San Diego during the 'de-regulation' and Duke Energy mess...find it funny that running AC units during they day would cause a shorting or overworking of the grid. Why are the AC units running? TOO MUCH SUN! What can we do with the sun? MAKE ELECTRICITY! It's like you have a well that you are using to pump water to your crops, but the pump isn't working due to the flood you just had!
Another delay tactic by GM is what I think this is. Why are they worrying about the electric companies when there are a grand total of about 3000 EV's in the States? Add in the fact that the Volt will be produced in such limited numbers initially and I fail to see the significance of this PR ploy...
The older I get, the more cynical I get. Also, I am really leaning heavily towards a CNG vehicle...I can get them used for about 13K............
indigo incarnates
I agree that this move has "delaying tactic" written all over it. My prediction is a bit cynicle: GM will develop a fully-functioning prototype of the Volt and then hold a secret auction to sell the patents to the highest-bidding oil company.
Last 10 articles includes one about the Volt - yeah I think Volt blog is definitely a better description.
Anyway, GM has never predicted the Volt for any launch date earlier than 2010 since its debut. So, I'm not sure exactly how this announcement is a delay tactic?
And just to make my love of GM clear, I've regularly criticized GM for overhyping the Volt and, most importantly, for not developing something to contend with the Prius in the interim.
Still, I will continue to hype the Volt whenever a new story breaks. In my opinion the Volt and news about it are more important than the Volt and GM for the Volt is helping to change consumer psychology, especially amongst a consumer group - big SUV and gas-guzzler buyers - that especially needs to reevaluate their consumer habits.
Even more important, changes in the grid are desperately required. Distributed energy, home solar systems, etc can ride on the coattails of Volt buzz - NEED to ride on the coattails of Volt buzz.
The Volt, Tesla, Prius plug-ins, ec. are going to mean far less than they could if they don't couple with much more intelligent energy policy in the US. Considering the last 100 years of energy policy, to assume that free markets and the slow emergence of EVs will just make a perfect world fall into place makes no sense in my humble opinion. In fact its ignorant and, ultimately, counterproductive to what plug-in revolution stands for.
Thus, not only is this partnership good news, it's important news and its why every single other major automaker has a COUPLE or relationships with utilities as well.
If criticism is due, it should be focused on what exactly are the plans of utility companies? Whose interests do they most have in mind? Because if we believe that utility companies are focused on providing nothing but cheap, clean and green energy for the electric revolution, we're taking a huge leap of unfounded, historically inaccurate, faith.
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