The first big hurdle in GM's quest to make the Volt concept a reality was choosing the right battery chemistry and battery supplier. The lithium battery in the Volt is not the same as those in the burning laptop computers on view on YouTube. Standard lithium-ion batteries—technically, lithium–cobalt oxide—power most consumer electronics. Instead, the newer, safer lithium batteries for vehicle applications typically substitute manganese oxide or iron phosphate electrodes for the more costly and less stable cobalt oxide ones, reports professor M. Stanley Whittingham, a researcher at Binghamton University in New York State who many call the "father of the lithium-ion battery."
"Selecting the battery supplier is also important because you cannot assume that the supplier can deliver a 'drop-in' battery," Weber tells ScientificAmerican.com. Because the battery's operating characteristics are so crucial to how the car runs, "the battery must be integrated into the entire system right from the start." This means that the carmaker and supplier must work closely to fine-tune the battery as it is being developed.
"You need a nearly perfect manufacturing process that employs strict quality-assurance methods, because a single cell failure will cause the entire [250-cell] battery pack to fail," he says. "I'd rather have an 80 percent–capable cell chemistry with a perfect production process than a perfect chemistry with 80 percent–effective manufacturing process."
GM considered two battery makers for the Volt. One, A123 Systems in Watertown, Mass., is a three-year-old firm that builds batteries that use electrodes made from nanostructured iron phosphates, an innovation developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), according to Whittingham. (A123 is teamed with German auto components–maker, Continental, to package its cells into battery packs.) The other, LG Chem, the largest chemical company in Korea and corporate sister of giant LG Electronics Worldwide, uses manganese oxide–based electrodes.
The car company has not publicly announced the winner, but according to Reuters, it's settled on LG Chem to build the Volt's battery. If true, it is a good bet that the Korean firm's six-year effort to beef up its production of lithium ion batteries—mostly used in mobile devices—figured strongly in the decision. Some longtime observers, such as Felix Kramer, the hybrid car proponent and founder of the California Cars Initiative, wonder if GM might also contract with A123 for Volt batteries to expand the supplier base.
Keeping the Volt's "diva" happy was the next big issue that its engineers had to address. In particular, Weber says, "You have to avoid letting the battery get exposed to high temperatures, which threatens its operating life." Too much heat drives the cell's electrochemical reactions faster, leading to accelerated aging. "There's a big difference between 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees C) and 90 or 100 degrees F (32 to 38 degrees C)," he says, so the car's thermal management system has to keep the diva within her comfort zone.
The other major piece of the Volt equation is the control system and associated power electronics. The operation of every modern automobile is determined by a set of computerized control functions—a hierarchy of rules that govern when each subsystem should activate, to what degree, and for how long. Each control function "constantly talks to and affects each other," Weber says and, so, they must work together in a finely coordinated manner to ensure smooth sailing. Because the Volt constitutes a "whole new propulsion category," he notes, "hundreds of control functions that have never before been implemented must be integrated so they operate seamlessly and flawlessly." Usually this process takes several years of progressive iteration, but Weber's engineering team must rethink all these basic interactions in the relatively short time remaining until the new model is rolled out.
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Add CommentThey damn well better bring that thing to market, if we're all paying for it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHas anyone seen Motor Trends latest article which mentions the Volt at the end? It specifically talks about a new type of multi-phase AC induction motor that should solve several of the electric motor problems encountered in hybrids. The article is at http://www.motortrend.com/features/editorial/112_0901_flying_hybrids_technologue/index.html
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisand what happened to the PV unit they were going to put as the sunroof. When closed it would charge a car sitting in a parking lot. Good for people driving to work, let it charge, then drive it home.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe this isn't standard and is an option, but when GM announced this car, they talked a lot about the PV array on the roof
From my understanding, the small engine (gas, diesel, etc.) does not actually recharge the batteries after draining. It is used to power the electric drive motors after the batteries are drained. That way, the batteries can be recharged via a plug, which is more efficient than using an engine to do the same thing. The batteries are suppose to retain a small charge to power some electrical components that are needed for safety or when the car is not on (remote entry detectors for example).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI hope for GM's sake it is not only ready on time, but ahead of schedule. based on what I have read at http://www.chevy-volt.net the platform GM is building the Volt on is highly scalable and has the capacity to be leveraged across different GM lines (Saab, Saturn, etc). If this is indded the case, they might ahve a true success story to tell a few years from now.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn regards to the PV array, I have my doubts that any roof mounted array could generate enough energy in 8 hours to propel a 3 ton auto. Plus, for the majority of the country, 1/2 the year is cloudy or hazy so I am not sure how beneficial this would have been.
The green in our personal philosophies will always take a back seat to the green in our wallets.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhich is more likely to be your next car: a $40,000.00 hybrid, or a $16,000.00 E85?
(So much for the hybrids ~ I see Ethanol in your future).
Or what about a $27k Toyota plug-in Prius? You can buy a new or barely used Prius for around $17k, then buy and have installed the $10k plug-in kit that already exists for the Prius after-market.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf GM is serious they better find a way to drop the price tag. I hope they do.
Chevy Volt. Nice Idea. But...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this-At what point will our power grid be unable to handle the increased demand?
-About 20% of U.S. electricity is generated by nuclear power, about 80%, fossil fuels. To drive your plug-in electric vehicle using electricity from a coal-fired powerplant you will be burning a pound of coal for every 3.4 miles (44 miles on a cube of coal 6 inches on a side). We need more nuclear powerplants immediately.
-When you are driving your Volt you will be dragging around 400 pounds of batteries all the time which costs energy -- in a gasoline vehicle an average of perhaps 80 pounds of fuel. Regenerative braking might make up the difference in efficiency for short trips but not on long hauls.
-We need standardized removable battery packs throughout the whole industry. Drive up to a fuel station and get your battery pack replaced in 10 minutes by a robotic machine. You would get credit for the charge left in your pack and be billed for the difference between that and the charge in your replacement pack. Fill up your gas tank while you are at it.
- Nice start, but it's going to be a long, hard and interesting road.
even though you burn a pound of a coal for every 3.4 miles for the electric car, isn't it better than using 100% gasoline?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you only drive a few miles alone in your car, why not car-share with others, or buy an electric byke?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthey should be less dumb with there own money before they get any of mine.maybe they can use some six or maybe seven stigma on stupid car designs? HHR anybody?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTo understand GM better, the documentary, "Who Killed the Electric Car," must be seen: ( http://www.clipmarks.com/clipmark/AD0CDDA3-AFD6-4FA5-9219-464B71A1CC5B/ ) There is much to be learned by examining a company's history, especially that of its management. When taking this documentary together with the behavior of the CEO in the recent Congressional Hearings, the word "hubris," comes quickly to mind. Would you lend money to these people? Apparently your representatives will do it for you soon, whether you want them to or not.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe following is why GM is in the fix they are in:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this( some history first. EV1 over 10 years ago could go 80+ miles per charge at 65-70 mph with older battery technology)
- Volt's battery will go 40 miles per charge with latest technology and they are having a difficult time getting to that goal
- Volt can go 600 mile range on generator when battery is "drained". That's 50 mpg x 12 gallon tank.
So while they have been basically tweaking body styles and not much else, all these years we could have been driving cars that are electric with smaller "buffer" batteries and small gas generators getting 50+ mpg!
The following is why GM is in the fix they are in:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this( some history first. EV1 over 10 years ago could go 80+ miles per charge at 65-70 mph with older battery technology)
- Volt's battery will go 40 miles per charge with latest technology and they are having a difficult time getting to that goal
- Volt can go 600 mile range on generator when battery is "drained". That's 50 mpg x 12 gallon tank.
So while they have been basically tweaking body styles and not much else, all these years we could have been driving cars that are electric with smaller "buffer"
if you look at the picture at the beginning of this article, and then look at the concept car that they showed at the auto shows, you will notice that they managed to turn a pretty cool car into a great big turd. The last thing that GM needs is another expensive, ugly car that no one wants to buy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you look at the picture at the beginning of this article and compare it to what they showed at the auto shows, you will see that they managed to turn a pretty cool looking car in to a big turd. The last thing GM needs is another ugly car they can't sell.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat do the heating and cooling needs do to the the range? Most of us have to run a lot of lighting loads especialy in the Winter months when it's dark on the way to and from work.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA hot steaming car in the Summer is no dream either and air conditioning eats energy. Just turning on my air drops my power maybe 15 HP and a mile or two per gal.
Just some thoughts. These cars won't be running in a dream world.
Electric cars have less dispersed pollution than gasoline. The batteries can go to a rebuild or recycle center. The electricity comes from a power plant where burnoff can be scrubbed. By constast petro cars spread their pollution all over the place.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe one thing that I really liked about the Volt is that the car had enough room for four people. The acceleration was more than enough. The biggest surprise to us was Volts’ handling. It after all is rather heavy car, because it carries all its pieces and bits of both a gasoline-powered vehicle and an electric.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.chevyreview.net/chevrolet-volt-expensive-but-practical.html
Way before it enters the market; GM’s plug-in hybrid the Chevrolet Volt, having a backup gasoline engine already has taken a lot of beating from media. We’ve driven the pre-production Chevrolet Volt, and although our experience wasn’t sufficient for a full-size road test, the Chevrolet Volt came out as a much better vehicle than what we were expecting, and an irrefutable engineering coup for GM.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.greenautozone.net/2011-chevrolet-volt.html
The real news is that beyond this "engineering controversy" the Volt delivers on the premise; during the first 40 miles between charges, the Volt runs on 100% electric power. If one drives beyond 40 miles in a day, the gasoline engine delivers 33 MPG. For most drivers, they would be able to cut their gasoline use by 80-90%. The Volt also costs too much for the fuel savings to payback the high up front investment.<a href=http://www.carsfind.net>Used Cars</a>
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href=http://www.carsfind.net>Used Cars</a>
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