Gas 2.0

As we’ve talked about on these pages before, the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation of car purchasers is starting. By the end of the year many major auto manufacturers will have some kind of electric vehicle for sale on the mass market and by 2014, nearly all major manufacturers have plans to introduce at least one electric car.

In these early stages, carmakers have chosen several different paths, some opting to go for the cars powered solely by batteries (Battery Electric Vehicles or BEVs) such as the Nissan LEAF, some for the plug-in hybrids (PHEVs; like a Prius with a bigger battery), and some for the extended range electric vehicles (EREVs with small generators on board to charge the batteries) such as the Chevy Volt.

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“Range anxiety” — the worry that your EV will run out juice before you get to where you’re going — is a term that has been bandied about a lot recently… almost annoyingly so. From a common sense standpoint, it seems only logical that range anxiety is a real phenomenon. But since we have so few EVs on the roads right now, the fact of the matter is that range anxiety is, at this point, a made up concept based on what we can logically expect.

And it’s this expectation that is spurring a huge amount of both private and public investment in nationwide charging networks for EVs — the assumption being that the only way EVs will ever become mass-accepted is to eliminate range anxiety.

But will those public charging stations that we’re dumping money into go unused because we have an expectation for a phenomenon that turns out to not really be an issue?

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Audi is continuing its aggressive push into the electric car marketspace by bringing its “e-tron” moniker to yet another model: the A2. What’s that you say, there’s an Audi A2? Well, yes, when it was originally produced in the early 2000’s the A2 (pictured above) was essentially a European market flop.

It was an oddly styled, underperforming mini-minivan that made extensive use of aluminum to save weight. But it was also a very fuel efficient vehicle: the 3-liter diesel version got nearly 80 miles per gallon (US) on the European cycle — making it the first vehicle to break the 3 liters per 100 kilometer mark.

And now Audi seems to think that the A2 was a flop because it was ahead of its time and they’re planning on bringing it back for the 2014 model year. Given the success of vehicles like the Mazda5 and the onslaught of what are essentially mini-minivans, perhaps Audi is right. Let’s just hope they make it look better this time around.

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Fuel efficiency has increasingly become an important factor over the past few years when it comes to buying a new car. But it isn’t the only factor that matters as evidenced by a 7.5% decline in hybrid car sales in 2009 compared to 2008 when summer gas prices soared to $4/gallon. According to a new report by Accenture, American consumers are demanding more from their green cars than just good gas mileage; they want their green cars to wow them with electronics while delivering a superior driving experience.

Are you listening Detroit?

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This November the first production Chevy Volts will begin rolling off production lines. As I’ve already noted, a lot is riding on the Volt’s success or failure. In many ways, it is a measuring stick for GM’s commitment to hybrid and electric cars in the future. While GM has made a few missteps prior to launch, they’ve done a great job of getting the word out there about the Volt.

In a bid to give a few lucky winners a chance behind the wheel of the Volt, GM has teamed up with GM-Volt.com to offer ten lucky winners a chance to test drive a pre-production model next month, right before the New York Auto Show.

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As I’ve said before, the Volt is without a doubt the most important car in GM’s future lineup–with the ability to do wonders for the General’s tarnished image. GM executives have even said they don’t expect to turn much, if any, of a profit in the first generation of the Volt. Hence the Cadillac Converj, a coupe concept based on the Volt that could be sold upmarket, helping recoup some of that lost profit potential.

But the Converj has reportedly been killed, despite near universal praise for its bold looks and Voltec technology. Apparently all the extra equipment Cadillac buyers have come to expect would have halved the Converj’s all-electric range.

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As a sister car to the Chevy Volt, the Opel Ampera has its work cut out for it. Europe already has lots of fuel-efficient cars and many European companies are planning to roll out their own electric or hybrid vehicles soon. So GM has to drum up a lot of attention for the Ampera.

What is the best way to get attention for an upcoming car? Why, drive it across country and blog about it, of course.

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A lot is riding on GM’s Volt. While General Motors is now a sleeker, streamlined version of itself, devoid of a lot of dead weight, the automotive heavyweight still has a lot to prove to the average consumer. The General was not long ago known for its gas guzzling SUVs; now it is trying to remake its image as something more well-rounded. While Chevy has performance on lockdown with the Camaro and Corvette, the Volt is the all important Ying to the performance Yang.

So when Ed Whitacre took over as GM’s CEO, he thought it important to get the Volt on the road and in the hands of consumers as soon as possible. But rushing a car this important is never a good thing, especially a car this important.

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Pushing forward with its newly minted e-tron platform, Audi is planning on introducing a slew of new hybrids and electric vehicles over the next several years. This development is especially interesting in light of the fact that last year, Audi’s US chief, Johan DeNysschen, called electric cars playthings for the elite and said that anyone who buys a Volt is an “idiot.”

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The Chevy Volt is costing GM a pretty penny to produce, and GM execs like Bob Lutz think the company will continue to lose money on hybrids for years to come. But one way of offsetting those costs is to delegate the Voltec technology across brands to other markets. We already know GM is planning on making the Cadillac Converj. And now GM has just unveiled another voltec platform-based concept for its Euro-brand, Opel, ahead of the Geneva Auto Show.

Called the Opel Flextreme GT/E, it is a very muscular looking sedan with a sleek drag coefficient. The GT/E seats four and incorporates some rather surprising performance enhancers, like a rear spoiler that deploys at high speed to keep drag down.

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This morning I wrote a piece about how GM is lamenting the lack of E85 fueling stations in the United States. But the other interesting tidbit of information in there was a simple statement by GM’s Tony Posawat that the generator in the upcoming Chevy Volt extended range electric vehicle would not support E85 (85% ethanol/15% gasoline) initially.

This came as a shock to me, especially considering that of all the car makers, GM has invested the most time and resources to make a huge portion of their vehicles flex-fuel E85 capable. It was also quite a strange statement because as recently as last October GM was proudly touting the fact that their Flint, MI, assembly plant would be building the Volt’s “flex-fuel 1.4 liter” engine.

I couldn’t accept the announcement at face value, so I decided to contact not one, not two, but three GM representatives to hear for myself that GM would not support E85 in the Volt initially.

As it turns out, it’s true. And I’m bummed.

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At the Renewable Fuels Association conference in Florida, GM’s Vice Chairman for Global Product Development, Tom Stephens, said that GM is investing significant amounts of money into making their vehicles compatible with high blends of ethanol in the U.S. market, but that the large majority of those vehicles won’t be able to take advantage of their flex-fuel capability because the ethanol fueling infrastructure in the U.S. is drastically lagging.

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Well Jag has taken the plunge—making yet another luxury auto maker to jump on the electric bandwagon. It really makes you wonder… what were all these knuckleheads doing five years ago?

Anyway, Jaguar has supposedly come up with an electric version of its new XJ sedan. The rumor mill seems pretty specific as far as rumors go, painting a picture of a car with almost 300 ft-lbs of torque and a supposed range of 600 miles in a luxury-laden sedan that weighs nearly two tons in petrol motor configuration. Since this is supposed to be an extended-range EV, it also has an on-board, petrol-powered generator motor, plus the electric motor, plus battery pack, and all that high tech stuff is gonna suck up a lot of electricity. Needless to say, I’m skeptical.

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The Chevy Volt is in many ways GM’s flagship into the future. Many people are critical of the car, saying it doesn’t go far enough on electric power. Others are critical of its cost, which—between media speculation and hints from GM execs—has ranged from below $30,000 to more than $40,000 before tax breaks. In the past, even GM has seemed rather resigned to lose money when the Volt first comes out, rather than expect to turn a profit.

But in a recent interview with GM-Volt.com, GM CEO Ed Whitacre revealed that GM will sell the Volt in the low $30,000 range, and they will make money off of it. Imagine that… GM making money!

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At a pre-Detroit Auto Show industry dinner last night, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz announced that GM has definitely green-lighted the virally popular Cadillac Converj EREV. The car, which is based on Volt technology, made its debut as a concept car at last year’s Detroit Auto Show.

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