Chevy Volt “old technology and old news” in 5 years
Is GM preparing to move beyond the Volt?
Will the Volt be “old” because it’s so common?
GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson is intent on reinventing his company with a cultural revolution that embraces a lean, mean and competitive mindset. Additionally, the company is preparing to spend billions on advanced powertrains over the next few years.
So, how does the Chevy Volt fit into this picture?
According to Akerson the Volt “is a novelty (today), but it won’t be in five years. It’s going to be an old, old technology and old news”.
Obviously, the Volt will be much more common in 5 years than it is today, but can it outsell the Toyota Prius or even more interesting, the Chevy Cruze? For instance, is a big chunk of these billions going to perfect the Volt in such a way that it becomes one of GM’s top selling vehicles in 5 years?
Or, is much of this R&D money going into powertrains different than the Volt’s – technologies that will make the Volt seem like an “old technology”?
“In the next 10 years,” according to Akerson, GM “has to break the code on advanced propulsion and that’s going to be a multifaceted solution.”
For instance, Akerson suggests natural gas engines as another possibility, while claiming that ethanol is a dying technology. Additionally, one can assume advanced gasoline engines, even HCCI engines, and eAssist are also probably part of this “multifaceted” approach. Likewise, Akerson also notes that plug-in hybrids are also forthcoming.
Still, what does Akerson mean when he claims the Volt will be “old news”?
Is it possible that a beyond-the-Volt powertrain is already in the works? Or, again, is the Volt destined to become just as ubiquitous as the Prius and that’s why it’ll be “old news”?
Obviously, hyperbole is often found in CEO statements regarding the future and, perhaps Akerson didn’t choose the right words or expression to sum up his thoughts regarding advanced powertrains and the Volt. Nevertheless, however, it seems clear that GM is not content to rest on its laurels regarding the current state of its powertrain lineup under the Akerson revolution.
Larry,
I don’t think it’s that simple.
You have to add all the electric vs fuel arguments into the equation, including range anxiety & charge time.
I think Americans would love to continue to drive large SUV’s powered by American made bio-fuel, if the price was right.
one square meter of earth – to be used to generate energy – from the sun.
will you get more energy from a one meter square solar panel or from a one square meter algae pond using photosynthesis?
is the answer to the above simple or complicated?
Larry,
I think algae-based ethanol/diesel is going to be the secret. The growth rates projected for algae give it the potential to be price competitive with oil.
Plus algae can be grown in the Arizona desert, without wasting precious farm land…
with regard to ethanol, my understanding is that by the time you add in the energy need to grow the crop, harvest it and refine it that you’ve used more energy than it yielded.
And that’s using fossil fuels for the tractor and fertilizers. If you used ethanol, you’d use more ethanol than you produced.
I think that’s what Akerson was alluding to.
correct me if I got it wrong.
but I have another question along the same lines…
If you have a square meter of earth…. 2 of them identical in size….
and on one of them you put a solar panel and on the other one you raise corn (or swtichgrass)…… which one generates more net energy? do not count the production of the solar panel nor the production of the crop… just the net energy that is generated from each method.
Tom?
Contrary to popular belief, Barack Obama did not invent the Chevy Volt.
The decision to produce the Volt was made by GM while GW Bush was still in office, more than two years before GM declared bankruptcy.
Just because the Volt was not cancelled during the GM bankruptcy re-organization, does not mean it is a publicly funded vehicle. If that is the measuring stick, the Chevy Cruze, Chevy Impala, Chevy Malibu, Chevy Silverado, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac CTS are also publicly funded vehicles.
Most of the R&D was taxpayer-funded. I am sure, in another five years, GM will have some newfangled green machine for the rich that is subsidized by the working class.
I dunno Dahc,
It seem like idle talk to me. I didn’t hear much detail about what was going to make the Volt seem like old news.
Akerson did mention an engine that was capable of running on CNG or gasoline, that will hit the market next year. But he talked about this CNG engine like it was “new” technology…. Sorry, but we all know that CNG engines have been around for years. I worked for a school district that converted all of it’s engines to CNG 20 years ago.
It’s kind of like when Microsoft develops a product that Apple has been selling for years, and calls it “new”.