The Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle is unique for more than its advanced propulsion technology.
No vehicle program in memory has seen as much of its development journey shared with the public. And the Volt is still a year away from the start of regular production in late 2010.
The Volt has completed numerous development program milestones and durability development tests this year. By the numbers:
· 80 pre-production Volt vehicles have been built.
· Approximately 250,000 miles of the road testing has been conducted
· The Volt has been tested in extreme heat and height, such as Death Valley, Calif. and Pike's Peak, Colo.
· 300 battery packs have been manufactured by Compact Power Inc.
· More than 300,000 miles of customer use data has been gathered by GM's Global Battery Systems lab.
"It's an important time for the Volt,” chief engineer Andrew Farah said in a discussion with news media. “The next vehicles and batteries produced will be inside a regular GM production facility.”
Beginning in the first quarter of 2010, the Volt will be assembled at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant and its battery packs will come from the Brownstown Battery Assembly Plant south of Detroit.
“This is just as we planned,” Farah said. “We're on schedule to start regular production of the Chevrolet Volt almost exactly one year from now – late 2010. And we're on time because we are confident with the various program development tests we've been conducting this year.”
Among the ways the Volt is being evaluated for rigorous durability: Body structural shaker tests to prepare for rough road surfaces and pot holes, corrosion tests to prepare for seaside markets and crash tests for safety. Because the 400-pound battery pack is so important to the Volt, battery cells, packs and modules are undergoing a litany of tests including cell life cycling, module thermal stress and battery pack corrosion.
GM’s most technologically advanced battery lab opened in June and the Brownstown facility to develop battery packs opened in August.
Although the team indicated that there are no foreseeable challenges to hitting next year’s launch target, issues are found and fixed daily – no different than any other vehicle development program.
