Chevy Volt – A pioneering effort, minimally, according to Burns
The Volt was always worth the effort, but was it ever enough?
Volt versus self-driving cars
There are far more people in the automotive world that I haven’t met, compared to those I have met. And, whether good or bad, I’ve met far more experts from GM than any other automaker, and one of the coolest — by far — was Larry Burns, ex head of R&D at GM.
While discussing self-driving cars — the next great revolution in the auto industry — Burns called the Volt a worthy “pioneering” effort.
“It’s not necessarily about the numbers. We know so much more because engineers are out their pioneering this stuff,” Burns told the AutomotiveNews.
As a constant Chevy Volt critic, I fully concur with Burns. I’ve always respected the Volt as a pioneering effort. Unfortunately, I’ve never respected the Volt as a legitimate response to the growing energy security concerns the US has faced since 9/11, and even before, but only as a piece of such an effort. Like Toyota, if GM had sold 30,000 Prius family contenders last month, much more would have been accomplished than 2,000 Volt sales, subsidized by massive government welfare.
Oddly enough, however, maybe the Volt, hybrid and plug-ins won’t really matter anyway — at least in terms of consumer acceptance. Like Burns I fully believe that self-driving cars are primed to result in an explosive new automotive business model, multiple models actually. In fact, I believe that Burns is underestimating self-driving car potential, but that’s another story.
Until then, despite my criticism, the Chevy Volt was, and is, a worthy pioneering effort.
The software alone is worthy of admiration.
1. While being an electric vehicle, the software makes the Volt accelerate, brake and generally drive and feel like a standard gasoline vehicle.
2. Push a button and the Volt software suddenly turns it into a faster sports car. Imagine converting a gasoline car into a sports car just by pushing a button. I guess in a gasoline car it would need NoS.
3. Push another button and the software conserves more battery power for climbing mountains.
4. Put the vehicle in “L” and the software has more aggressive regenerative braking to extend the EV range.
5. The software also determines if the fuel is getting stale and runs the engine to cycle the fuel
6. The software tracks the oil life based on engine run time and RPM’s, not mileage.
There were a lot of new issues that needed to be addressed. Issues that simply did not exist in a gasoline powered vehicle. GM engineers did a marvelous job in designing the software to address these new issues.
That truly is a pioneering effort.
I totally agree with you, its worth a pioneering effort. Personally i liked this car and its a stepping stone for a new era.