GM to sell E Flex hybrids in Europe in 3 years

Opel Flextreme: Europe's Chevy Volt?

Reuters is reporting that GM's Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster told reporters there that GM plans to offer E Flex vehicles in Europe in 3 years. The E Flex Drive is the same powertrain that will power the Chevy Volt, as the Volt is the first, but not the only, E Flex vehicle.

"We are investing an enormous amount. We will launch these cars in Europe, both as Opel and as Chevrolet, in around three years," Forster told an auto conference in Berlin.

I say this is more evidence that the new design of the Volt is not the failure many think. The Volt, in my opinion, is much more about the E Flex Drive than it is the Chevy Volt. And, if you like this Flextreme design better than the Volt, GM has already debuted a similar Saturn Flextreme concept as well.

Flextreme Dream: Europe key to Volt success?

The Saturn Flextreme: For America, for Europe, for the world?

Soon, GM will begin building a significant number of cars off the next generation Delta platform. That means models such as Cobalt, Astra and Opel will share the same platform, largely bridging the platform gap between much of Europe and America. More interesting, however, these models will also share the same platform with the Chevy Volt and the E Flex Drive.

Thus, as I was reading a story regarding how an almost-production-ready Volt could debut at the Paris auto show, I started wondering how much of an impact the Volt, and/or the Opel Flextreme - also an E Flex Drive vehicle - could impact Europe.

With gas prices at $8.00 or higher in many parts of Europe, it seems that perhaps the Volt could have an even bigger impact in Europe than in America, at least initially. Maybe GM could even sell the Volt closer to real world costs in Europe than in America thanks to high fuel costs.

Could Europe be key to Volt success?

Cadillac Provoq Fuel Cell Vehicle

Another E Flex Concept from GM

GM has now added another vehicle to its portfolio of E Flex Drive concept vehicles, the Cadillac Provoq. The new five passenger crossover concept was debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show today in Las Vegas.

However, unlike its more famous relative, the Chevy Volt, the Cadillac Provoq is planned as a fuel cell vehicle. Read more...

Flex Brothers: Chevy Volt and Cadillac Provoq

E Flex is about more than the Volt

The Chevy Volt is over-rated. Why? Because the car, rather than the technology, is always the focus. For example, while the Toyota Prius is a great car, it's the Hybrid Synergy Drive that matters most, and the same can be said of the E Flex Drive.

Most important, the E Flex drive is not limited to the Volt. Already, GM has showed off the Opel Flextreme which is also an E Flex vehicle. And GM is now ready to show off another E Flex vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tomorrow, the Cadillac Provoq. Read more..

Is the Chevy Volt "miles ahead" of the Prius?

This Prius by Hybrids-Plus achieves more than 100 mpg, today

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? (Finish)

Hybrids versus electrics: Just posturing?

Is the Volt heading in the wrong direction?

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal ran a feature on the debate going on at the Tokyo Auto Show between automakers regarding hybrid vehicles versus electric vehicles.

When I read the piece, I could only laugh.

Big surprise that Toyota would defend hybrid vehicles. Can you say Prius? Likewise GM's Chevy Volt plug-in - a series plug-in hybrid, even though GM hates the word hybrid - puts GM on the same side as Toyota.

Well, kind of.

On the other side is Honda and Nissan. (Finish: Hybrids versus electrics)

A123Systems aquires more money for Volt battery

$30 million round of funding completed

A123Systems acquired $30 million to continue the development of its patent-pending lithium-ion battery technology which could play a big role in the future success of hybrid cars, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles.

Already, A123Systems has a contract with GM to develop batteries for the Chevy Volt plug-in, as well as other E-Flex platform vehicles, of which the Volt is just one variation, one iteration. Thus, If A123 is successful, the future looks, well A+, so I'm sure obtaining funding isn't that hard.

GM steps up E-Flex plans

GM invests in the E-Flex platform - powertrain of the Volt

The Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid is an excellent concept vehicle. The keyword in that sentence is 'concept'. More impressive than the Volt, is the E-Flex platform powering the Volt.

Akin to the the Hybrid Synergy Drive of Toyota, the E-Flex Platform is, almost certainly, the powertrain of the future for most - if not all - GM vehicles. Thus, it's great to hear that GM continues to make solid investments in the E-Flex Drive.

"Word from GM’s design center in Michigan is that Bob Boniface, director of advanced design, has been ordered to take command of a studio solely dedicated to designing cars using the Volt/E-Flex powertrain. GM is investing $500 million in the project and hopes to put a version of the car on the road by 2010." (Autoweek)

The Prius Effect? Only to those with the loser effect

GM saw a joke in the Prius, Toyota saw the future

The 'Prius effect'. That's what competitors have labeled the success that hybrid cars have provided for Toyota. Boy, it's sadly comical how losers look for excuses in everything, and the Prius effect is a prime example of that 'loser effect'.

"We didn't appreciate the image value of hybrids," concedes GM's research and development chief, Larry Burns in a BusinessWeek interview. "We missed that."

That's not the only thing GM missed!

This 'Prius effect' statement has also been echoed by both GM head Rick Wagoner and by GM product guru, Bob Lutz. Even worse, Bob Lutz claimed that GM could have beat Toyota to the Prius, if they had used a fraction of their billion dollar marketing budget for this purpose. Instead, GM spent the money advertising the virtues of its foreign-oil-dependency-increasing gas-guzzlers.

Obviously, a much better investment, at least in terms of "image value" at that time. (Read more of the Prius Effect)

Ford to adapt HySeries hydrogen plug-in hybrid to gasoline plug-in hybrid?

My first thoughts of Ford's HySeries Drive - which debuted at NAIAS - were not great, particularly because this new plug-in platform requires hydrogen to power its fuel cell. The Chevy Volt and its E Flex Drive, on the other hand, provides a much more adaptable and flexible path to fuel cells, as does Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive (See my article on the Hybrid Synergy Drive versus the E Flex Drive). Most important, neither the E Flex Drive nor the Hybrid Synergy Drive are dependant upon either fuels cells or hydrogen - a significant advantage over the HySeries Drive.

It seems Ford is now also keenly aware of this fact. Today, Ford is going to display the Flexible Series Hybrid Edge at the Washington D.C. Auto Show. While it seems this new Edge is based upon the HySeries Drive, Ford has already made changes. "We could take the fuel cell power system out and replace it with a downsized diesel, gasoline engine or any other powertrain connected to a small electric generator to make electricity like the fuel cell does now," Gerhard Schmidt, Ford's vice president of research and advanced engineering. (more)

Was Ford influenced by the success of the Volt? Regardless, it seems the auto game is changing. Consumers aren't interested in what automakers are going to do tomorrow, they want to know what you are doing today, and that requires hybrid cars, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles - all of which can help develop a platform for fuel cells and hydrogen.

Of course, if lithium-ion batteries reduce the cost of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, while also providing at least 400 mile per day range, consumers might question whether fuel cells and hydrogen are even needed.

E flex System versus Hybrid Synergy Drive: First Thoughts

Several years ago I thought that automakers should do everything possible to develop hydrogen powered vehicles, especially fuel cell vehicles. Eventually, however, it became obvious that there were many, many technological hurdles - in addition to massive costs - to overcome and make this hydrogen future a reality. Yet, it seemed obvious, especially after 9/11, that America couldn't just wait for the hydrogen highway to deliver a road to energy security.

Fortunately, Honda launched the Insight hybrid and Toyota quickly followed with the Prius. For Honda, hybrid technology was a niche a technology, an experiment in fuel efficiency. By the second generation of the Prius, however, not only was the Prius a hit with consumers, it was the beginning of a foundation, an element of Toyota's kaizen.

The Prius had become a path to fuel cell vehicles.

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