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GM ExecSays Volt Battery Pack Now Costs $10,000; Aiming for 50% Cut for Gen II Car  


 



GM's E-Flex electric-drive system was designed to use a variety of range-extending generators - from internal combustion engines burning a variety of fuels to hydrogen fuel cells.


But a rotary?


Who'd of thunk it? After all, one purpose of GM's E-Flex system - which makes its debut in the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in hybrid late this year - is fuel economy, and while rotary engines make a lot of power, they aren't all that effiicient. Just ask anyone who owns a Mazda RX 7 or RX 8.


But Karl Stracke, General Motors' new vice president of global vehicle engineering, told a group of Edmunds editors this morning that GM does, indeed have a strategy "to go to rotary engines" for the next generation Volt or other vehicles using the E-Flex system - which mates a rechargeable battery with up to 40 miles of range with an on-board generator that keeps the juice flowing when the grid charge is depleted.


Options


If not a rotary, he said, other options are a 2-cylinder gas engine and/or a small diesel, either sized to produce 15-18 kilowatts of power.


Acknowledging that a rotary sucks more fuel than a conventonal internal combustion engine, Stracke said the benefit is packaging.


A small rotary engine that could provide sufficient power to keep a Volt-sized car going would not be much larger than a 2-gallon ice cream carton.


"One rotor could be enough," Stracke said.


The higher rpm at which a rotary operates would require some additional work on noise dampening as well, but GM apparnetly figures it would be worth the expense.


Stracke said he's already driven a car - apparently a GM test mule - with a rotary range-extender.


Battery Costs Falling


GM, which hasn't announced pricing for the Volt, seems likely to be subsidizing it when the car does go on sale, Stracke hinted.


"Right now, the propulsion system is too expensive, even with using the existing [1.4-liter gasoline] engine. He said the Volt's 16 kilowatt-hour battery pack cost now is "roughly  $10,000 per car and that GM is aiming to cut that to $5,000 for the second-generation car (sorry, no launch date for that one).


GM is expected to launch the Volt in the territory of $35,000 (before federal and local tax incentives) in order to be competitive with the $33,000 Nissan Leaf battery-electric car that goes on sale in limited release in December.

Tags: Chevrolet, General Motors, Plug-ins and Electric, Extended Range Plug In Hybrid, General Motors, GM, PHEV, Volt Battery, Volt Battery Cost. Chevrolet Volt

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Volt II - A $5,000 Battery Pack and a Rotary Engine Range Extender? was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.