Chevrolet Volt Leadership Change

[Z28.com News]

4:02 Rob Peterson: Welcome everyone. Frank Weber and Doug Parks will be joining shortly. As many of you already now Frank is moving back to Europe to join the Opel/Vauxhall senior leadership team and Doug is taking over the reigns for the Chevrolet Volt team effective December 2. 4:02 [Comment From Unni Unni : ] Are you also bailing out because volt is not that great as expected ? 4:06 Frank Weber: Welcome everyone. Glad to be here with you all. It is certainly not connected to the Volt. There 80 preproduction vehicles on the road currently and the program is well under way. I am just coming back to the office after a weekend of pure electric driving in the Volt. I can ensure one thing that driving the Volt will blow you away. 4:06 Doug Parks: Hello everyone. I?m glad to be on the team. I?ve been working on our new global compact vehicles for the last four years (Astra, Cruze) and now moving up to the Volt. It?s a natural move and a great place to be. 4:06 [Comment From Dos Dos : ] What is the charging efficiency of the volt on 120? 4:08 Frank Weber: It doesn?t make a real difference in the efficiency whether you are charging with 120 or 240 volt. Time to complete the charge is the big difference. 2.5 vs. 7.5 hours. 4:09 [Comment From Lyle Dennis, GM-Volt.com Lyle Dennis, GM-Volt.com : ] Mr Parks, now that you are taking over I assume you will be involved in 2nd and 3rd generation Volt development. What is the timeline to production for each of those and what areas will you be focusing on? Also does GM plan to develop a partnership or JV with a battery production company? 4:10 Doug Parks: Our primary focus is on making this Volt the best it can be for the start of production late next year. We?re already applying learnings into Gen 2, but stay tuned on timing announcements. 4:11 [Comment From ViVAPartnership ViVAPartnership : ] What would you say are the biggest barriers to trial and adoption on a mass scale? 4:12 Frank Weber: The biggest success factors for electric vehicles are robust and low cost solutions for advanced batteries, electric motors, power electronics and thermal systems. The evolution can be compared to cell phones where you were initially carrying suitcases and today you have mobile computers at one-tenth of the initial price. 4:13 [Comment From Nate Nate : ] Are there any plans to delay the Volt for the same reasons that the Cruze was just delayed (seeing as they are on the same platform)? 4:14 Doug Parks: Our most recent ride and drives inside the company confirm we are on track. The Volt is on time and on target. There are no plans to delay production launch. 4:14 [Comment From Paul Stoller Paul Stoller : ] How will Opel fit into the overal picture at GM, does GM lacking controlling ownership present any problems with regards to future collaboration. 4:15 Frank Weber: It has been said before that Opel and its technical center will remain a part of GM?s Global Product Development even if GM is only a minority owner. Opel needs GM and GM needs Opel. 4:16 [Comment From CaptJackSparrow CaptJackSparrow : ] Why did you start with such a low number of 10,000 Volts for the first year? 4:18 Doug Parks: I?m not announcing production numbers but people need to be aware that the whole system (dealers, service, production, salespeople) all has to be trained. This is a new technology with new training for all systems and we need to start as we intend to go. That means a controlled launch (sorry, no numbers today.) 4:19 [Comment From Polly Polly : ] Will Opel have the rights to market their version of the Volt in Europe after GM sells Opel? 4:19 Frank Weber: The Opel entry that is using the Voltec technology is called Ampera and has always been part of our plan. You will see in Europe Chevy Volts and Opel Amperas. 4:19 [Comment From ViVAPartnership ViVAPartnership : ] Doug what do you think your main philosophy will be after you take over the reins? 4:22 Doug Parks: My main philosophy is to focus on the car - perfect it so that all details will be addressed and customers will be delighted. Believe it or not, this about more than ?just? the Voltec propulsion system. The entire car needs to be right. 4:22 [Comment From Polly Polly : ] Is the Volt obese carrying a battery pack with a 49 mile range and an engine powerful enough to heave that battery pack around? 4:23 Frank Weber: The battery pack is only 180 kg and by the way the impact on overall vehicle efficiency is fairly limited because you can recuperate your energy while braking. Our pack will be much lighter than the big packs you need in pure electric vehicles. 4:24 [Comment From jd jd : ] What do you do with thousands of spent lithium ion batteries? Are they toxic? Are they able to be recycled somehow? 4:26 Doug Parks: The battery actually has two lives: firsy for automotive use and later for stationary use to store energy from solar or wind. Finally, it can be safely recycled because there are no toxic or precious metals in a lithium ion battery. 4:27 [Comment From Nick Del Grande Nick Del Grande : ] How does the Volt perform with a full load? (4 passengers + luggage) Monday November 2, 2009 4:27 Nick Del Grande 4:27 Frank Weber: The very high torque the powerful electric motor is providing will give you an extraordinary launch performance whether you are alone in the car or with 4 people. I am sure you will like it. 4:28 [Comment From Guest Guest : ] If I could, I was hoping for some clarification from Fritz Henderson?s comments to the Michigan members of congress yesterday. He said ?the Chevrolet Volt is on track for production in late November or December 2010? We have been under the impression that cars would be reaching customers in Nov 2010?Fritz?s latest statement seems to infer some slippage, or at least a realigning of expectations. Production in december of 2010? reads as not getting to customer until early 2011. Is Fritz?s statement accurate the way it reads? Production at GM starting in maybe dec 2010?and to customer?s sometime after? Typically what is the leadtime from ?in production? status to ?delivering to customers?? 4:29 Doug Parks: There is no contradiction. Fritz essentially said we are on time and target. Our start of production remains November 2010 - a year from now. 4:30 [Comment From Unni Unni : ] Last day we read that the extended range ICE is going to work from 0-4000 rpm instead of a fixed rpm to aviod too much use of battery : the question is ?Is this range designed for a replacement of the ICE part with a HCCI engine later? the second question on the same is how you evaluate the alternative of using fixed rpm and super capacitor to avoid the extra cycles on battery ? how much efficiency difference this will make. 4:34 Frank Weber: I?d like to make you aware that once the battery is depleted and the engine is generating electricity it is not suppose to ?charge? the battery but rather to provide the electricity that you need for your current driving because you want to arrive home empty. Therefore, you vary the engine speed and power not to charge the battery. The system is capable of working with any combustion engine technology (gas, diesel, ethanol, HCCI). The interesting aspect however is that our propulsion system will allow you to use engine technology that would not work in the dynamic use in a conventional vehicle application. A single fixed engine rpm would lead to unnecessary efficiencies. 4:35 [Comment From Polly Polly : ] What was the reason for choosing a 40 mile electric range when most commuters travel less than that or can recharge at work? 4:35 Doug Parks: Studies show that up to 80 percent of commuters travel 40 miles or less per day. We pick this as a way to stretch our current technology by a realistic amount and still allow most customers to travel only using grid electricity. We think it is much more convenient to charge at home and this is our focus for infrastructure. 4:35 [Comment From andre b andre b : ] did the car have been tested in winter conditions? 4:39 Doug Parks: We?re about to find out. The Volts will be heading up this month to Kapuskasing - five hours north of Toronto - for some serious Winter weather. This is strictly big-time parka weather. 4:39 [Comment From cheap-power-in-Seattle cheap-power-in-Seattle : ] Are there any technologies you?ve learned from the Volt so far that could be applied to other vehicles not slated for the Voltec powertrain? 4:39 Frank Weber: Just to give you one good example and it is even a traditional area. We have set very aggressive targets for rolling resistance in the beginning of the program and still didn?t want to compromise vehicle dynamics or safety. The tire we have selected from Goodyear is better than anything else we have in production and can be applied immediately to other products in the GM portfolio. 4:39 [Comment From Nate Nate : ] Mr. Parks how do you expect your Volt leadership to change from that of Mr Webers ? 4:42 Doug Parks: It?s more of a focus than a leadership style. As we are moving into the detailed execution and production phase, I am in my element. I have launched more than half a dozen major programs with GM. Getting a vehicle launched with high quality is my specialty. 4:42 [Comment From Mike-o-Matic Mike-o-Matic : ] Quoting Frank, ?You will see in Europe Chevy Volts and Opel Amperas.? Any chance we?ll see Amperas stateside? ALSO: THANK YOU Frank for your hard work on the Volt program, and welcome Doug! We Voltiacs all look forward to ?driving electric? ... and hopefully, affordably AND soon! 4:43 Frank Weber: There is no plan to have Amperas in US but I shre in your excitement of ?driving electrically? It is always tough for me to go back into a conventional vehicle after a weekend in a Volt. 4:43 [Comment From Polly Polly : ] The Volt battery pack uses only part of the battery capacity in order to prolong battery life; do you see that changing as battery technology improves? 4:47 Doug Parks: Absolutely. Battery life and useable energy are the two main areas of exploration. We are fortunate compared to pure electric vehicles which must squeeze as much energy out of the battery as possible. We can create a much better balance for the car because we have supplemental energy in the gasoline engine. 4:47 [Comment From Stefan Gudjohnsen Stefan Gudjohnsen : ] Both Ford and Nissan are planning pure EVs with 100 mile range. Was a 100 mile battery for the Volt just cost prohibitive or what other factors were behind the 40mile battery. 4:49 Frank Weber: Even a 100 mile range is not resolving range anxiety. With those vehicles you will always be concerned where your next charge comes from. You can observe that the 100 mile will very much vary depending on drive style, climate conditions or traffic situations. From our perspective EREV technology is the only way to how you can provide peace of mind and use a Volt like any other car you are used to. People are not ready to design their life around their vehicle. Therefore our conclusion: Don?t make the battery pack larger than what you need for your daily routines. 4:49 [Comment From vehiclegeek vehiclegeek : ] What do you see as the most promising battery technology advancement in the near term and will the 1st gen Volt be able to take advantage of some new advancements? 4:52 Doug Parks: We are on the glidepath to launch so there won?t be any unnatural acts. The focus for major advancements will be Gen 2. The reason we built the battery lab was to constantly evaluate chemistry to cell design, etc. 4:52 [Comment From Dos Dos : ] Welcome thanks for the chat. Another question is what will the warranty be on the Volt battery pack? And will you offer various levels of EV range such as an PHEV10, 20, etc? 4:52 Frank Weber: The final warranty policy has not been decided yet. We are not offering various levels of EV range since the whole system has be optimized around the 40 miles. 4:53 [Comment From Steveland Harris, Memphis Steveland Harris, Memphis : ] Has or would GM consider producing a Chevy Volt with everything (same 16 kWh battery) minus the gasoline generator? Seems like a reasonable configuration. 4:55 Frank Weber: The idea of an EREV that gives you the flexibility of a regular car is essential to make the Volt attractive for the mass market. Making it a battery electric vehicle with 40 miles of battery electric range isn?t attractive for many people. 4:55 [Comment From Polly Polly : ] Doug, how do you see the future for the Volt? Do you expect EREVs to become mainstream or to fill a niche? 4:56 Doug Parks: I think the Volt opens the door to a practical electric vehicle. The Volt?s ability to become a more mainstream vehicle will move in relation to advancement in battery and propulsion technology. I?m betting on some radical improvements as we go forward. 4:56 [Comment From CaptJackSparrow CaptJackSparrow : ] Can you describe how mileage accrued in CS mode will affect batt pack warranty? 4:57 Frank Weber: Since the battery is depleted it will not have a negative effect. 4:57 [Comment From Unni Unni : ] Frank : Best of luck for new venture and Doug : Best of luck with Volt Monday November 2, 2009 4:57 Unni 4:59 Doug Parks: Thank you. I?m super-excited to be on the team. Glad you took the time to join us today. I?ll look forward to chatting again soon. 5:02 Frank Weber: Thanks everyone. It has been terrific experience turning the dream of independence of petroleum into a driving reality just as I experienced this past weekend. Thanks for chatting with me today. 5:02 Rob Peterson: Thanks to all of you for your participation. While we?re losing Doug and Frank for this chat, feel free to join the conversation on Facebook at facebook.com/chevrolet volt Rob

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