GM's battery director leaves Volt behind
Leaving her babies behind?Denise Gray, GM's Director of Global Battery Engineering, is leaving GM to take a senior leadership position with an unannounced California start-up.
Gray has worked with GM for 30 years and took over her director role in 2006. Her main task has been building GM's battery labs in preparation for the Chevy Volt, a division that has grown from 25 to 200 employees.
In the last year or so there have been a few high profile departures and shake-ups within the Volt program, especially in the top ranks. Of course, with executive salary caps in place, maybe Gray and others have had little choice for advancement within the company.
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:46 AM
10 Comments:
They obviously know something we don't know...but I'd venture to guess the Volt is a dud.
Always was, always will be.
Could she be leaving for Bloom Energy? Did you see the 60 minutes piece on Bloom this weekend? If this device works as advertised, it could take grid overload out of the electric car challenge. The Bloom device could make unlimited amounts of cleaner energy. Google, FedEx, Ebay, Staples and Amazon are already testing it and the results have been good so far. We will have to wait and see I guess. If you missed the 60 minutes piece, check it out here: The Bloom box - 60 Minutes - CBS News
No idea about Denise's destination.
The Bloom Box is certainly an interesting idea, and I've long been a fan of distributed energy, and I mean as distributed and localized as possible.
Still, there is a lot of skepticism about the Bloom Box, but it would be revolutionary if cost-effectively possible, and I've always believed that fuel cells would eventually lead to such a revolution.
It's not just the Bloom Box, there are other very interesting fuel cell developments going on right now as well, that are very exciting.
Even more, just the other day I saw a fuel cell projection that shows by 2020 there will probably be as many fuel cell vehicles on the road as EVs.
Who knows maybe we're closer to an energy revolution than we think, and its not just about big lithium battery packs and super grids.
We can only hope...even Bill Gates is jumping in the energy game.
Unlimited, cheap and clean energy for the world. Who wouldn't want to be in that game?
Are you kidding...there are so many players who couldn't give rat's ass about giving clean energy to the world.
The only time corporations want to use the word "cheap" is when it factors into how much THEY are spending during their pillaging and raping of our planet.
The only history we have to draw on is the EV1.
Based on that, any executives at GM working on the Volt need to make sure they have an exit strategy.... in case history repeats itself...
noz-
you make a good point. a majority of the top 2-3 percent of the world whom control 90-some percent of the world's wealth, for instance, probably don't care about such an innovation.
those of us with a heart connected to our brains, however, have a different view. but, inevitably, if the bloom box is real, that top 2 - 3 percent will eventually own this box anyway, so your jaded viewpoint is probably in line.
yeah, smurf, i wonder what's going on at GM. when you talk to people directly involved with the Volt, they believe they are part of a revolutionary change, but when you listen to guys like Lutz talk you can't help but wonder whether the Volt is really about revolutionary technology, or more about a revolutionary new marketing campaign.
Indigo Incarnates
Well, I've always felt that GM's Volt was indeed a new type of hybrid from day one. Whereas a regular hybrid runs on a combination of gasoline and battery power, the Volt runs on government subsidies and hype.
i still think the Volt has potential.
for instance, if GM made a 10 mpg volt, i wonder if they could make it as cost-effectively as a 10 mpg plug-in prius?
it's important that GM develops the volt, but their insistance on 40 miles of EV range is completely about marketing, rather than sales.
if they were serious, they wouldn't let 40 miles of EV range drive Volt development, they'd let cost-effectiveness be the key driver.
still, my biggest problem with the volt is the use of it as an excuse not develop real world hybrids that can compete with a prius or fusion hybrid in terms of sales. in the next decade at least, perhaps the next few decades, conventional hybrids offer far more potential for change than do plug-ins.
i guess GM just doesn't really want to change.
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