Chevy Volt Investment in Detroit Now $700 Million
GM has announced that it is investing another $336 million to fix up its Hamtramck assembly plant in Detroit, now bringing its total Detroit plant investment in building the Volt extended-range electric car to $700 million.
First they’ll clear out the cobwebby remains of the Cadillacs and the Buick Lucernes they used to build there, and then they’ll rework those assembly lines to start rolling out something more in line with the times.
The American people are not asking for so much. Just an electric car with four wheels that we can fit at least a few kids into, that can be fueled with electrons from the solar panels we’ll soon have on our garages.
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The investment is spread out over eight facilities. It includes a new engine line at the Flint South engine plant and the Brownstown Township factory south of Detroit where they are building the battery pack assembly.
Detroit-Hamtramck will be the final assembly location for the Volt. The cam shafts and connecting rods will come from Bay City. The engine generator and stampings will come from Flint. After much shopping around and testing of different battery suppliers, the lithium-ion batteries are being built at GMs own factory.
And this creates a whole new array of other businesses; small electric vehicle parts suppliers making parts that support electric vehicle development that will benefit not merely GM’s Volt, but will also help bring down the costs of that Karma Fisker or Tesla Roadster you’ve had your eye on.
This has already happened in Japan. “Electric vehicle development is creating entire new industries,” said Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of global product planning (press release.) “This includes battery developers, builders of home and commercial charging stations, and power control and electric motor suppliers. Needless to say, these investments in the electric-vehicle ecosystem are creating new jobs, and strengthening Michigan’s and America’s long-term competitiveness.”
As soon as next March, as the first daffodils are coming out of the snow, the arrival of the first pre-pilot Volts will signal the end of another long winter for the US auto industry. The first ever clean new auto-manufacturing jobs will spring from the second-worst economic freeze in US history.
Image: GM
Source: Autoblog Green
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December 8th, 2009 at 11:14 am
GM is a company that truly does not get it. If they did, they wouldn’t be spending $700 million on facilities to build a car that won’t be viable for mainstream consumers.
GM should instead be spending this money on developing their hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Are large numbers of mainstream consumers going to pay the expected unsubsidized price of $40,000 for a Chevy Volt? Or is a 2010 Toyota Prius for $22,400 a FAR better value?
As all of the facts come out over the next year or two, plug-in battery cars will be looked upon in the same way as the dot-com companies and real estate.
Here is one example. How many people know that the battery-only range of the Chevy Volt is expected to be much less than 40 miles when the car is driven at high speeds?
Take a look at what smart companies like Toyota and Honda are saying about plug-in battery cars.
“Top 20 quotes from Toyota and Honda executives criticizing plug-in battery cars”
http://www.h2carblog.com/?p=577
Greg Blencoe
Chief Executive Officer
Hydrogen Discoveries, Inc.
“Hydrogen Car Revolution” blog
December 8th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
@Greg
That is a very short term view that many of us do not share. The rate of advance in battery storage is pretty darn amazing now with R/D reports all over the world. This aggressive R/D wasn’t really being done 10yrs ago when nobody was needing the capacities, but necessity is the mother of invention.
Look at the Leaf story instead, although 100 mile range is okay for local travel, Nissan has already announced their 200 mile range replacement for 2015.
If the Nissan Leaf model is the way to go, people will buy the car and lease the battery. The cost of that lease and infrastructure charging plus the low “tank” cost of electricity will end up being about the same as gas. Only when the technology is really mature will the battery cost fall back to the consumer I expect when 400 mile range is more practical and affordable. By then the economy will have seen gas consumption replaced significantly by electric power. Hopefully coal will be going away at the same time and nuclear will replace it along with other renewables.
The Volt’s reduced range <40 miles at high speed is not a surprise, after that the ICE kicks back in to bypass the battery.
The point of these vehicles is to replace the majority of daily short trips with EV powered trips. The ICE cars (pure & hybrid) will be needed for longer trips for another decade, so most of these EVs will likely be second cars that will take the local trips.
And the Hydrogen economy has been pretty much debunked. All the H-FC cars I see are $100K and more and will be for a long time. The problem with FC is as always the sheer expense of the platinum, there simply isn’t enough of that to make a dent. FCs are also fragile, and where on earth is the Hydrogen supposed to come from, certainly not from coal, or other fuels in short supply or electrolysis.
If you know something about Hydrogen the rest of us don’t, enlighten us. I see vastly more progress in battery and super cap storage than fuel cell and I read as much as I can on it. I expect the H economy will arrive in 50 years when we get past the current issues.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I think GM should focus on electric car, but a car that is super effcient. Changing source from oil to electricity does help as it reduces the air pollution. However, one has to also understand that producing electricity currently requires oil.
So, if GM wants to compete again in the auto market, it really needs to think something different than just stay with the electric cars.
Go Green!
http://www.iecycle.org/blog
December 8th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Greg , take your propaganda else where.
December 8th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Hydrogen fuel cell cars will arrive at dealerships in 2015 and meet customer needs for driving range, fueling time, cold weather performance, and trunk/passenger space.
I highly recommend reading the following article about the Toyota (the best car company in the world) hydrogen fuel cell program.
“7 reasons to love Toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicles”
http://www.h2carblog.com/?p=16
And here is another article that discusses the cost of hydrogen fuel cell cars.
“Cost of hydrogen fuel cell cars will be affordable in 2015″
http://www.h2carblog.com/?p=215
Greg Blencoe
Chief Executive Officer
Hydrogen Discoveries, Inc.
“Hydrogen Car Revolution” blog
December 9th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Personally I have been looking forward to an electric vehicle either pure EV or EREV. Most of my driving is about 2-8 miles per day with occasional daily trips of 32-80 miles. Toyota makes a quality product but they have little to meet my needs. If the Volt does I will buy it. It will be an electric car I can charge but when the need hits I don’t have worry about range.
December 10th, 2009 at 9:22 am
HFC’s are a pipedream. That is all.
December 10th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Greg:
An EV with 86% grid to motor efficiency is supposedly inferior to an HFCV with 25% grid to motor efficiency??!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battery_EV_vs._Hydrogen_EV.png
Can you explain your logic here?
The physics, chemistry and thermodynamics just don’t add up…
January 12th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Crazy lookin car! I really want it. Nice article btw. Did you guys know that the Volt is coming out in November? I read about it here: http://www.kaycircle.com/index.php?q=What-is-the-Chevy-Volt-release-date