Subscription Center
Feb 5, 2009 04:45 PM | 18
The company that killed the electric car is ready to resuscitate it. General Motors (GM) this week laid out plans at the Washington (D.C.) Auto Show to prepare communities for the 2011 debut of its Chevy Volt and plug-in electric vehicles that other automakers are set to start building next year. So where are they likely to show up first? Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, GM says, noting that those cities not only have ready-made markets for its lithium ion battery-powered Volt but, also, have a history of welcoming new kinds of cars (like the Volt's predecessor, the EV-1).
See a Scientific American.com slide show featuring the Volt
The keys to a successful electric car launch, according to GM, include making the cars affordable (current estimates range from $30,000 to $40,000, much of that due to the pricey battery); providing public and workplace charging stations (GM wants the Society of Automotive Engineers to develop standards for the vehicle charging interface); ensuring there's enough electricity to go around (particularly when the air conditioners come on in the summer); getting government and businesses to switch their considerable automobile fleets over to electric, and offering other incentives such as high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lane access even if the driver is the only passenger.
Some of these challenges could become major speed bumps. City dwellers (especially those who have to park on the street or in garages) will be hard-pressed to find a place to plug in their electric cars overnight until a large infrastructure of charging stations is built, the San Francisco Examiner noted in August. California will also have its work cut out trying to keep the grid up if large numbers of electric car owners choose to plug in at the same time.
In addition to its multi-billion dollar automaker bailout, the federal government is doing its part to ensure the Volt and its electric ilk make it to market. The Bush administration in October approved a $7,500 tax incentive for consumers of plug-in electric vehicles such as the Chevy Volt. A month later, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland announced a joint effort to build a plug-in vehicle infrastructure and offer incentives (such as convenient recharging stations) to people who garage their gas guzzlers for the green machines. A new Michigan law providing tax breaks for businesses that develop and build electric car lithium ion batteries in that state.
The Volt is different from the current crop of hybrids such as the Toyota Prius, because it uses its gasoline engine only to generate power to extend its driving range beyond what the battery could provide on a single charge alone, Scientific American.com reported in December. The Prius and other hybrids now on the road are propelled primarily by their electric motors, with the gasoline engines cutting in at higher speeds. GM anticipates Volt buyers will plug their cars into home electric sockets each evening and then drive more than 40 miles (65 kilometers) a day on the overnight charge. Because about 80 percent of U.S. drivers travel less than 40 miles on an average day, many should be able to get by on the car's electric power alone, GM says.
Now all GM needs to do is produce the car—and stick with it, something it failed to do with its EV-1 (introduced in 1996 and axed in 2003, according to GM, because the car wasn't profitable).
Image © GM Corp.
Tags:
electric car,
Chevy,
Volt,
lithium-ion,
GM,
battery
More News Blog:
Next: Mystery of NYC maple syrup smell solved!
Previous: Going the extra green mile: No refrigerator
See what we're tweeting about
notscientific Human Body Factory by Dan Green | Book Review. By @GrrlScientist http://t.co/4EAiRDQ0lW #scilogs
BoraZ Mary Roach Takes A Trip Down the Alimentary Canal: http://t.co/wbWTOAuYPj
fredguterl Amphibian populations are shrinking 3.7 pct a year, says USGS survey. @sciam http://t.co/vCaZwdWbKR
Deadline: Jun 29 2013
Reward: $7,000 USD
The Seeker for this Challenge desires proposals for chemical methods that could rapidly degrade a dilute aqueous solution
Deadline: Jun 30 2013
Reward: $1,000,000 USD
This is a Reduction-to-Practice Challenge that requires written documentation and&
Powered By: 
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
18 Comments
Add CommentIf you care about alternative energy cars, if you ever hoped to drive one. If you ever wanted to be supportive and help make cars happen then now is the time to act on a VERY SPECIFIC ISSUE:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is no more investment money for alternative energy cars. The Venture Capital market is dead and may never come back. IF, it comes back, Teslas problems have put such a bad taste in the VCs mouth that they will never invest in cars again and those few that did invest in a few car companies have proven that they have no comprehension of how a car company works.
Detroit and the oil industry has managed to block alternative energy cars for decades.
BUT, now, a single door, a last chance has opened. Money was approved and banked, on a emergency fast track basis called the Section 136 DOE ATVM but it was supposed to be released last year and it has been either stalled intentionally by Detroit and Big Oil or mismanaged by those with no idea what they are doing or mis-used by those exploiting the interest revenue on the $25B sitting in Treasury.
Most of the alternative car companies have applied for this money, they are dying in this economy and they all planned for receipt of funds long before this.
What can you do? Tell those in charge to get this money released today.
Today: Call the White House at 202-456-1414
Today: Call Steven Chu, the new head of the DOE at 1-202-586-5000
Today: Call CNN and demand an expose at 800-CNN-NEWS
Please re-post this and forward it to your friends.
Because of parking conditions, everyone does not have access to a plug-in. Wouldn't it make more sense to place a full spectrum/high voltage solar panel on top of the car so it can continually charge while it is in daylight? If the automakers would just read Scientific American every now and then, they would know about that full spectrum/high voltage solar panel. Scientific American should give all the auto makers a free subscription to their magazine.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGM should be ashamed of themselves. They have an excellent hydrogen powered battery on wheels that can be charged with water. Why did they hide that car on the back of shelf?
Hi Dear Folks,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI do not understand why the focus renews on electrical power when "what in the world isn't chemistry" should jolt us into an electroysis reality. Why can't the "tecknological" gurus pick up where the chemists left off in devising conditions where we can split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Thereafter, let the hydrogen do its trick only to rejoice again when water is "reinvented" in the process.
Has anyone analyized how much enegy is needed to carry out this electrolysis?
C'mon you National Science and Technololical Organizations...Wake up...to answer this call. Or, is it that we're stymied by the giant oil and gas conglomerts so as to not rock the proverbial boat.
Ah, that's it. The ethical dilemma is not one for science to grasp?
Peace. Oh how we all need this.
Murray
Creation of hydrogen is energy intensive, electrolysis being the worst method of obtaining hydrogen. Not to mention, clean water is more scarce than other energy sources.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDue to the conversion, storage and transportation issues with hydrogen, it's not really a very viable energy source when it comes to transportation.
Additionally, electric vehicles hold the advantage of being charged at night. Smog doesn't form at night, and wind power is most prevalent at night. Wind supplies to baseload power significantly in states like CA and TX. This improved load shape means we would need fewer power plants to meet the demand and can operate at overall improved efficiencies.
Thanks for the phone numbers....it's good to express how we want our tax money spent and how it should be accounted for. The people who misused our tax dollars should be held liable to compensate for the money.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy limit the availability of the Volt to San Francisco and Washington D.C.? This is not rocket science the technology is sound just release the car into the markets where it is ordered. I could see a slow ramp up to availability but not a total control of the markets where the vehicle will be released. Either GM is committed to building the car and ramping up the production or they are not; I can see them destroying yet another electric vehicle and then blaming the public for not buying it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"On Oct. 10, 2000, GM sold control of GM-Ovonics, and the NiMH batteries it controlled, to Texaco. On Oct. 16, 2000,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTexaco announced it was merging into Chevron (Standard Oil of California), taking control of the NiMH Electric car batteries with it.
Chevron renamed GM-Ovonics as Chevron-Ovonics BAttery SYStems ("COBASYS"). In 2001, Cobasys filed suit against Toyota and others,
claiming violations of its patent rights.
To this day, Chevron's unit Cobasys retains control of the NiMH batteries; ...For example, NiMH has a useful life of more than 10 years and over 100,000 miles, ... value of $2,400 or a net cost of about 10 cents per mile.
The Lithium batteries in the Tesla ...or a net cost of more than 25 cents per mile. ..NiMH would be as little as 4 cents per mile."
http://www.ev1.org/ http://www.ev1.org/nimhsup.htm
So you can safely say that big auto/oil kills EVs. It's what they do. Only now, some do it bankrupt.
GM's Chevy Volt/EV-1 to hit the streets of San Francisco/LA ..as history repeats. Same firm - same result..
The Aquitaine region of France has funded the development of a range of five electric cars. They are from two to five seaters and cost from 3,500 to 5,000 euros. They have good city range and cruising speed. They are made of hemp fibre and resin and have passed crash-tests. car manufacturers could have done this years ago. Instead, public investment has done what private entrprise refused to do.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUnless the market supports it no amount of gov't money will help. Witness the EV1. The Prius has been successful only because it is tuned to the market. Gov't CAN help in the risky and costly R&D effort to develop technology. We should spend our money there.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBernieK
Dear eco steve:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUnless the vehicle is tuned to the market, no amount of gov't subsidy will suffice. Witness the EV1. The Prius is successful because people buy. That simple! Gov't can help support the risky R&D necessary to develop technology. We should put our money there.
BernieK
How many of you EV1 murder conspirators actually know someone who leased (you could not buy) one? In all my years in Silicon Valley I only knew one. He sold a software co. for $200 million. It was fun to ride in for 30 milles then we had to make back to his $8,000 charger. Now why was it not necessary for BIG GAS to kill it?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBernieK
A lot of people have feared a GM shutdown. A GM shutdown is now more of a certainty than a possibility, as General Motors is coming short on a $1 billion debt payment, and they are forecasting a shutdown of all activity for at least 9 weeks. This is obviously a case beyond the scope of payday loans, as the auto maker is close to $30 billion in debt. The idea is to shut down production in order to reduce the backlog of vehicles left on lots, and the government has guaranteed warranties on all GM vehicles. Installment loans may not be able to stave off a <a rev="vote for" title="Temporary GM Shutdown Could Be Imminent" href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/04/23/temporary-gm-shutdown-imminent/">GM shutdown</a>.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAfter reviewing numerous documents regarding the upcoming 2011 Chevy Volt being designed by GM I perceive the following problems:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBACKGROUND: the car Is being designed to be used only for short trips of about 40 miles powered by a 400 pound Lithium Ion battery and a 149hp electric motor which provides about 4 miles of driving per kilowatt hour of electricity. In other words the battery holds a 10kwh charge which will power the Volt for about 40 miles. It has been estimated that this will serve the daily needs of most users going to and from work. The car is then to be plugged into a standard AC electric outlet and recharged during the night and be ready in the morning for another daily 40 mile trip. Learning from their previous electric car disaster the EV1, GM is also including a 100hp gasoline engine with 7gal gas tank that will drive a large generator that will power the electric motor if/when the battery can no longer do so. This is take place primarily if the driver continues to operate the vehicle after driving it for 40mi and not recharging it. The gas powered generator is not allowed to recharge the battery under any circumstances.
PROBLEM 1: is purchase price. I do not know many people who are ready, willing and able to pay $40,000 for a small car to drive back and forth to work on a daily basis. Sure there are a few that will buy it but not nearly enough to make this product profitable. And all of the current “hype” that it gets 230mpg is all smoke and mirrors as new measurement standards are being developed by the EPA.
PROBLEM 2: is operating costs. Most areas of the country have “tiered” electrical rates based upon the amount of usage. In my neck of the woods (CA) electricity costs $.26 per kwh at the tier 3 level which is easily reached during the summer due to AC. In other words recharging their Volt on a daily basis is at the highest rate that they are paying for all other utilities which is greater than the baseline rate quoted which was estimated to be about $.11 per kwh or $.03 per mile cost. Realistically it is more likely to average $.05 per mile which “equates” to about 60mpg and would be as high as $.0625 per mile equating to 48mpg at the tier 3 rate. Additionally, today’s gasoline prices are going down and electric rates going up putting a damper on the long term outlook. When driven more than 40 miles the volt is no better than most hybrids on the market today that cost a whole lot less and deliver about 50mpg.
PROBLEM 3: when everything is running according to plan the gasoline engine, tank and generator are “excess baggage and costs” used only for an emergency. I think that it would be a lot smarter to eliminate them and have warning lights indicating when the battery is getting low and will need recharging. The EV1 was too limited in mileage for this to be effective.
PROBLEM 4: if the driver wishes to use this car for much longer trips or on vacation the battery becomes 400lbs of excess weight and there is no easy way to temporarily remove it for this usage. I think that GM should include a switch that will allow the driver to recharge the battery while driving more than the 40 mile limit making it more like all of the hybrid vehicles that are now available.
PROBLEM 5. most people are not going to like having to plug in their car every night to recharge it especially in the winter or when it is raining. Additionally many drivers do not have easy access to an AC outlet, especially those who live in apartments and some condominiums.
PROBLEM 6: we have all been using Lithium Ion batteries for the last 10 years in our cell phones and laptop computers and have not experienced one to last more than 3 years with good functionality. And we do not subject these devices to outdoor summers of Arizona or winters of North Dakota. The battery in the Volt costs about $8,000 and will have to be replaced about every 3 years regardless of what the warrantee states. GM will not be able to continue to support or sell additional Volts until this problem is solved which will require a totally new design which is being partially funded by our government at this time.
PROBLEM 7: is depreciation. With technology changing so rapidly the value of a 2011 Volt will decrease rapidly. What else is new?
Here are some truth and facts regarding the upcoming 2011 Chevy Volt being designed by GM (Government Motors?):
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBACKGROUND: the car Is being designed to be used only for short trips of 40 miles or less powered by a 375 pound 16kw Lithium Ion battery that has been restricted to 10kw and a 149hp electric motor. This provides about 4 miles of driving per kilowatt hour of electricity for a maximum of 40 miles. In other words the cost per kwh of electricity divided by 4 yields the electric only cost per mile. It has been estimated that this will serve the daily needs of most users going to and from work. The car is then to be plugged into a standard AC electric outlet and recharged during the night and be ready in the morning for another daily 40 mile trip. Learning from their previous electric car disaster the EV1, GM is also including a 100hp gasoline engine with 7gal gas tank that will drive a large generator that will power the electric motor directly if/when the battery can no longer do so. This is take place primarily when the driver continues to operate the vehicle after driving it for 40mi and not recharging it. The gas powered generator is not allowed to recharge the battery under any circumstances.
PRICE. I do not know many people who are ready, willing and able to pay $40,000 for a small car to drive back and forth to work on a daily basis especially when they learn what the real mileage figures are. Sure there are a few that will buy it but not nearly enough to make this product profitable. And all of the current hype that it gets 230mpg is all smoke and mirrors as new measurement standards are still being developed by the EPA.
ELECTRICAL RATES: vary across the country and even within the states. Below Is a chart that lists costs by areas of the country which are fairly uniform within. Please note that some states have implemented Tiered Rates that means the usage goes up when defined baseline usage is exceeded. California is especially noted for this by charging $.25 kwh when the baseline of 380 kwh is exceeded which varies slightly between summer and winter.
Census Division Number of Average Monthly Average Retail Price Average Monthly Bill
State Consumers Consumption (kWh) (Cents per kWh) (Dollar and cents)
New England 6,122,590 649 16.70 $108.46
Middle Atlantic 15,535,148 722 13.95 $100.71
East North Central 19,558,522 830 9.74 $80.84
West North Central
Here are some “truth and facts” regarding the upcoming 2011 Chevy Volt being designed by GM (Government Motors?):
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBACKGROUND: the car Is being designed to be used only for short trips of 40 miles or less powered by a 375 pound 16kw Lithium Ion battery that has been restricted to 10kw and a 149hp electric motor. This provides about 4 miles of driving per kilowatt hour of electricity for a maximum of 40 miles. In other words the cost per kwh of electricity divided by 4 yields the electric only cost per mile. It has been estimated that this will serve the daily needs of most users going to and from work. The car is then to be plugged into a standard AC electric outlet and recharged during the night and be ready in the morning for another daily 40 mile trip. Learning from their previous electric car disaster the EV1, GM is also including a 100hp gasoline engine with 7gal gas tank that will drive a large generator that will power the electric motor directly if/when the battery can no longer do so. This is take place primarily when the driver continues to operate the vehicle after driving it for 40mi and not recharging it. The gas powered generator is not allowed to recharge the battery under any circumstances.
PRICE. I do not know many people who are ready, willing and able to pay $40,000 for a small car to drive back and forth to work on a daily basis especially when they learn what the “real” mileage figures are. Sure there are a few that will buy it but not nearly enough to make this product profitable. And all of the current “hype” that it gets 230mpg is all smoke and mirrors as new measurement standards are still being developed by the EPA.
ELECTRICAL RATES SUMMER: Most areas of the country have “tiered” electrical rates based upon the monthly amount of usage and the time of year. During the middle of summer in CA electricity costs $.115 for each of the first 338kwh (Tier 1), $.131 for each of the next 101kwh (Tier 2) and $.259 for each of the next 237kwh (Tier 3). After using 439kwh of electricity for the month Tier 3 level is easily reached due to AC requirements. Any additional usage such as charging an electric car would be at the $.259kwh rate.
ELECTRICAL RATES WINTER: are $.115 for each of the first 403kwh (Tier 1), $.131 for each of the next 121kwh (Tier 2) and $.247 per each of the next 283kwh (Tier 3). After using 524kwh of electricity for the month Tier 3 level is easily reached due to heating requirements. Any additional usage such as charging an electric car would be at the $.247kwh rate.
ELECTRICAL MILEAGE: using the data above it will cost me about $.0625 per mile ($.25kwh divided by 4 miles per kwh = $.0625) which “equates” to about 48mpg in gasoline terms with gas at $3.00 per gallon. Today’s gasoline prices are going down and electric rates going up putting a damper on the long term outlook for all electric cars.
GASOLINE MILEAGE: When driven more than 40 miles the Volt is no better than most hybrids on the market today that cost a whole lot less and deliver about 50mpg. If used in this mode it would be more efficient to remove the large battery, generator and electric motor and run directly from the gas engine. Of course this would defeat the whole purpose of this design.
DUAL SYSTEM: when everything is running according to plan the gasoline engine, tank and generator are “excess baggage and costs” used only for an emergency. I think that it would be a lot smarter to eliminate them and have warning lights indicating when the battery is getting low and will need recharging. The EV1 was too limited in mileage for this to be effective.
LONG TRIPS: if the driver wishes to use this car for trips longer than 40 miles or on vacation the battery becomes 375lbs of “excess weight” and there is no easy way to temporarily remove it for this usage. I think that GM should include a switch that will allow the driver to recharge the battery while driving more than the 40 mile limit making it more like all of the hybrid vehicles that are now available.
DAILY RECHARGING. most people are not going to like having to plug in their car every night to recharge it especially in the winter or when it is raining. Additionally many drivers do not have easy access to an AC outlet, especially those who live in apartments and some condominiums. Additionally, charging a Volt on a daily basis will increase (almost double) your monthly usage by 300kwh and significantly add greenhouses gases to the atmosphere from the coal and gas burning generation plants.
LITHIUM ION BATTERY: we have all been using these for the last 10 years in our cell phones and laptop computers and I have not experienced one to last more than 3 years with good functionality. And we do not subject these devices to outdoor summers of Arizona or winters of North Dakota. The battery in the Volt costs about $8,000 and will have to be replaced about every 3 years regardless of what the warrantee states. GM will not be able to continue to support or sell additional Volts until this problem is solved which will require a totally new design which is being partially funded by our government at this time. The question that needs to be answered is when does the battery go bad? When you can only drive 39, 38, 35, 30 … miles before it needs to be recharged?
DEPRECIATION: With technology changing so rapidly the value of a 2011 Volt will decrease rapidly but what else is new?
SUMMARY: There is one option that could make the Volt a viable method of transportation. That would be the use of Solar panels to provide the electrical power needed. A home PV system with a minimum of 2kwh of peak power should pay for itself within a few years at the Tier 3 rate for electricity. During the day this system should be able to store enough power to recharge your car at night for no cost. Additionally, if corporations would install solar systems in their parking lots employees could charge their vehicles during the day while they are at work. Of course all of this only works in areas of the country that receive enough sunshine throughout the year.
GM is on the wrong track again, for the enormous amount of wasted money, they come up with another dead end concept, lacking true practicality. Alas I expected nothing better from a corporation, which robbed it shareholders blind and took the taxpayers money and burned them by the Billions each month.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI just wish Obama would stop meddling and let GM go bankrupt and out of business.
The Volt is neither an electric or gasoline car. It has a separate engine for each which must be run indepenantly. Might as well put in a steam engine and really cover the bases. Of course how efficient can a car be carrying all of the excess baggage when operationg in one of its modes? THIS IS ANOTHER REALLY BAD DESIGN BY GM.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow come most people just don't get it? /DaveB
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this