GM to road test Volt battery packs in July

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN1334279820080313

GM to road test Volt battery packs in July

Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:51pm EDT

GOLETA, Calif., March 13 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) will road test lithium-ion battery packs for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid beginning in July, slightly later than expected, Chief Executive Bob Lutz said on Thursday.

In an interview with Reuters, Lutz also said that GM may not name a battery supplier for the Volt's next-generation lithium-ion power supply until the second half of the year.

"We were hoping to do that in the first half," he said when asked when GM would name a battery supplier. "That may also be a little bit longer now, as we need a better handle on who has the technological capability we need and who is going to have the production capability."

[Ian David]

1. I don't care if GM develops a car that runs on happy thoughts and leaves fairy dust in its wake.

General Motors is dead to me.

I will never, EVER buy ANY car from General Motors, after all they have done to hurt America, to hurt American workers, and to hurt the environment.

General Motors belongs in the dustbin of history.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

2. Yep.

And also, the last car I bought from them was a complete piece of junk. And it was not cheap, yet had dropped to 1/3 of it's list price within 2 years.

[DainBramaged]

4. And how many years ago was that?

Sounds like propaganda to me. No facts, just a blanket statement disparaging a brand name.

[Ian David]

8. Go work for Toyota. n/t

[kristopher]

6. Actually 1/3 is pretty good.

Standard wholesale depreciation is usually closer to 50% after 2 years.

[DainBramaged]

3. And so do some members here

I think I shall forever put you on ignore.

Union hater.

[Ian David]

9. I don't hate Unions. I support Unions. I love Unions. You just work for an evil company.

Your Union is Good, your boss is Evil.

Should I just shut the fuck up and shop at Wal-Mart and pretend to like it?

What if UAW added environmental responsibility to the list of demands in their contracts?

[wtmusic]

5. GM headquarters, plowed under, would make a beautiful park in Detroit

[Ready4Change]

10. While I despair at their past performance

I still monitor what GM puts out. They've not produced products to my liking, but if they were to turn around I'd love to buy a domestic product that suits my needs and desires.

The Volt, done right, might be such a product. I can see testing in the heat of summer, as handling the batteries under heat stress will be critical. So many cell phone and laptop lithium battery packs have been catching fire that they'll need to address those issues very completely.

But waiting for summer doesn't make sense. I'd still want to get in some earlier testing, and have some packs with more charge cycles at hand when summer arrives.

[lectrobyte]

7. Just in time for $5 gasoline:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080315/BUSINESS01/803150358/&imw=Y