GM needs power company help to make Volt work

Tag : battery powered indicator
GM has high hopes for its Chevrolet Volt but drivers must have easyaccess to charging points the development of battery cars isdoomed. A new deal with 30 US utilities will help.

US presidential candidate John McCain, addressing auto industryworkers recently about GM's promised Volt, said: "The eyes of theworld are on the Volt. It's the future of America and the world."

The future of the world, no less. No pressure, then...

GM launched the Volt with a good deal of fanfare at the motor showin its native Detroit in 2007 and it has tooted its trumpet severaltimes sinces as the car has progressed beyond the concept stage

The Volt's trumpet has been tooted several times since its '07Detroit launch .

In June 2008 the GM board approved the Volt's commercial productionand promised it would be in showrooms in 2010.

GM has now announced it is working with the Electric Power ResearchInstitute, an industry group representing more than 30 of the topelectric utilities in North America.

The company needs help from power companies to make sure theinfrastructure is in place to make the Volt a mass-market success;the utilities want to make sure millions of Americans plugging-intheir cars at the same time do not overwhelm the electricity grid.

The two sides want to standardise the technology that will allowthe grid to recognise electric cars and charge their batteries inthe most efficient way.

Jon Lauckner, GM's vice-president of global programme management,said: "Together we can transform automotive transport and get theworld past oil dependence and toward a future that is electric

Power companies have to come on board with viable battery-chargingpoints .

"We are focused on creating affordable, highly desired vehiclesthat will take advantage of the grid and accessible, reliable,convenient, cheap electricity to plug-in customers."

Photo-ops with McCain certainly help GM make up for the nastypublicity surrounding the shutdown of its last electric carproject, the EV-1, in 2003 after only 1100 were assembled.

A 2007 documentary, 'Who Killed the Electric Car?', not only arguedthat GM conspired with oil companies to axe the project but alsothreatened to turn GM into a bogeyman for the green movement andthe Left.

GM insisted the EV-1 wasn't commercially viable but the Volt hasput it back at the head of the pack of major companies developingplug-in cars.

Behind the high-falutin' rhetoric, though, lies plenty ofscepticism; plenty of hurdles loom. Is the Volt really viable?

GM's car is, technically speaking, a hybrid, but while existinghybrids employ a battery-powered electric motor to supplement apetrol engine the Volt runs only on electric power until thebattery is drained. That would only be after only 60km, more thanmost people's daily drive.

Debatable calculations

Only then will the petrol engine kick in to feed a generator toproduces electricity and extend the range to hundreds ofkilometres. The average driver would hardly ever need to fill thetank, GM says � simply plug-in the car overnight.

Many calculations are debatable but there is little doubt electriccars offer a significant breakthrough in the battle against carbonemissions. Even taking into account the emissions likely fromadditional electricity generation at power stations, plug-invehicles might put about 80g/km of carbon dioxide into theatmosphere against the 160g of the average petrol or dieselvehicle.

That's according to an analysis in 2007 by the consultancy E4techand is large enough to make pursuing electric-vehicle technologyworthwhile.

At 2008 fuel prices, GM calculates the per-km cost of electricpower will be about one-fifth that of petrol.

What is in doubt is whether GM and its rivals can make an electriccar at a cost anybody in the world would be willing to pay - andwhether the battery technology is sufficently safe and reliable.

Great promise

The battery issues: A lot of caution was on display this week atthe 'Plug-In 2008' conference in San Jose, California fromautomakers, investors and government regulators. The successfuldevelopment of electric vehicles hinges on making lithium-ionbatteries (like those used in laptops) effective as a replacementfor the bigger but less powerful nickel-metal hybrid batteriescurrently on the road.

The technology shows great promise but, discussion panellists said,battery-makers worldwide were still grappling with the effectrecharging has on battery life; keeping the batteries cool is alsoa problem.

One sceptic, former General Motors' chief executive Bob Stempel,likes to say lithium-ion batteries are prone to being "naughty"� he means "exploding".

One panellist's biggest worry was cost; a lithium-ion battery packfor a small car at present costs more than $10 000 but optimistsbelieved that figure would fall as production numbers rose.

GM hasn't said what a Volt would cost. Until it does it will beimpossible to gauge its commercial viability. Even then, if petrolprices fall from their current levels, the economics could changequickly and dramatically against the Volt.

Just such a Bill

One particular indicator suggests GM is nervous: the ferocity withwhich it is lobbying for big subsidies from the US government. GM'schief executive Rick Wagoner spent two hours with John McCain'srival, Barack Obama, recently to press his case, and McCain hasalready promised customers will get a tax credit of up to $5,00 ifthey buy a zero-emissions car.

A Bill proposing just such a thing has already started throughCongress. The Republicans are also proposing a $300-million prizefor breakthrough battery technology.

Obama, meanwhile, is promising $150-billion to create jobs inindustries developing green technology.