Key executives from General Motors held a media briefing last week to discuss the Chevrolet Volt and its current Gen One pack as well as subsequent generations destined for its platform.
Executive director of global engineering – hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries – Robert Kruse; director of global battery systems Denise Gray; and Volt Vehicle Chief Engineer Andrew Farah; took turns talking about the work that has been completed to date and the next steps for the project.
It was noted that more than 30 similar sized Chevrolet vehicles have been modified to accept Volt powertrains with another 50 expected to be built by the summer. The team expressed its commitment to the Volt’s 40 mile all-electric range especially when comparing costs to a battery pack that can achieve several hundreds of miles on all-electric range. No commitment has yet been made however, on the business model to be employed when the 16kWh battery pack goes on sale in November 2010.
They emphasised that they are satisfied with the chemistry, controls, performance and thermal management of the current battery pack but costs per kWh remain high and development beyond the current pack is focused on cost reduction.
According to Bob Kruse, the company is thinking long term with its electric vehicle strategy and is making significant investment in vehicle electrification in the Volt, the Voltec powertrain and the battery itself. The company believes that vehicle electrification is the future of the industry and that mastering battery technology is the key to success.
Consequently the company already has resources working on generation two and three battery packs.
