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Former Tesla Guru Offers His Take on the Chevrolet Volt
DETROIT — Martin Eberhard, the deposed co-founder of Tesla Motors, is putting in his two cents about how General Motors should proceed on a commercially viable version of the electric Chevrolet Volt. In a posting late Monday, Eberhard suggests that the Detroit automaker consider an "interim" solution for the Volt in the form of a range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) priced around $35,000.
"The REEV concept is a good one for the interim, until nanotech (or whatever) batteries come along and whack the price of batteries down by at least a factor of two and increase the capacity by something like a factor of two," he writes.
His vision centers around a vehicle with a small gas engine of about 75 horsepower, "plus its various support systems plus a generator and a rectifier" that will "cost only about $1,000 more or less."
"Think about the cost," Eberhard said in a posting entitled "Getting from Here to There." "A battery pack that goes 50 miles will cost more like $5,000. Add in the generator system and you are still talking about at least $14,000 saved per car — making a $30,000 (or maybe $35,000) Volt is suddenly possible."
Eberhard admits that such a setup is an "imperfect solution.... But the REEV is something that GM could make today," he insists. "With its forecasted price and driving range, many people will buy them; it will out-green the [Toyota] Prius for sure. And as batteries improve over the years, the range extender will be used less and less until it can go away."
Perhaps of even more interest is the fact that Eberhard said he met with GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz in his "palatial office in the GM tower" about a year ago. "This is when he told me that he started the Volt program in direct response to the Tesla Roadster," Eberhard claims.
"I walked away from that meeting deeply impressed by Bob Lutz and willing to believe that the Volt might be a real program," he said. "Over the past year, I have come to meet several more people on the Volt program. Hold onto your seats, people: I believe that the Volt program is real, with top GM talent moved onto the program, major bucks behind the program, and support all the way to the top within GM. I think GM is placing a huge bet with this program."
As of early Tuesday morning, Lutz had yet to fire back a response — or a job offer — from his bully pulpit, the GMFastLane blog.
What this means to you: Eberhard informally submits his impressive résumé to Bob Lutz via the Internet. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
"The REEV concept is a good one for the interim, until nanotech (or whatever) batteries come along and whack the price of batteries down by at least a factor of two and increase the capacity by something like a factor of two," he writes.
His vision centers around a vehicle with a small gas engine of about 75 horsepower, "plus its various support systems plus a generator and a rectifier" that will "cost only about $1,000 more or less."
"Think about the cost," Eberhard said in a posting entitled "Getting from Here to There." "A battery pack that goes 50 miles will cost more like $5,000. Add in the generator system and you are still talking about at least $14,000 saved per car — making a $30,000 (or maybe $35,000) Volt is suddenly possible."
Eberhard admits that such a setup is an "imperfect solution.... But the REEV is something that GM could make today," he insists. "With its forecasted price and driving range, many people will buy them; it will out-green the [Toyota] Prius for sure. And as batteries improve over the years, the range extender will be used less and less until it can go away."
Perhaps of even more interest is the fact that Eberhard said he met with GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz in his "palatial office in the GM tower" about a year ago. "This is when he told me that he started the Volt program in direct response to the Tesla Roadster," Eberhard claims.
"I walked away from that meeting deeply impressed by Bob Lutz and willing to believe that the Volt might be a real program," he said. "Over the past year, I have come to meet several more people on the Volt program. Hold onto your seats, people: I believe that the Volt program is real, with top GM talent moved onto the program, major bucks behind the program, and support all the way to the top within GM. I think GM is placing a huge bet with this program."
As of early Tuesday morning, Lutz had yet to fire back a response — or a job offer — from his bully pulpit, the GMFastLane blog.
What this means to you: Eberhard informally submits his impressive résumé to Bob Lutz via the Internet. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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