General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it would use an existing Michigan plant to build engines for its key all-electric Chevy Volt and its new Cruze small car, slashing capital investment costs by $120 million.
GM, which last week raised its request for U.S. government aid to support a turnaround, said it would invest about $250 million at an existing plant in Flint, Michigan, rather than continue construction of a new facility there at $370 million.
“This means that GM will not invest in new floor space at this time due to current capital expenditure constraints and available floor space in existing facilities,” GM said in a statement.
GM has received $13.4 billion of loans from the U.S. Treasury and has sought up to $30 billion overall.
The automaker expects to begin preparing its Flint South engine plant in the spring for installation of new machinery and equipment. Production of the four-cylinder engines is targeted to begin in December 2010.
San Francisco is going to be one of the first two cities to pilot test the new Volt. In preparation for the incoming Volt and to help charge the already in-use electric city vehicles the city is installing power outlets in various locations. They’re called “Smartlets”, they come in two basic configurations. One has a single mode 110 volt charging capacity and the other has dual mode chargin capacity with both 110 and 220 volt plugins.
There are already some installed right infront of city hall. More will be on the way.
The European version of the Volt will be delivered under GMs Opel brand. It’s name will be Ampera, and it’ll go on sale close to the same time that the Volt does in the US. As you can see from the pictures the EuroVolt will have almost the same exact styling as the US version does with probably only the front facia looking different.
Keeping the body lines the same wasn’t a choice since the aerodynamics of the car play a major factor in how far it can go while on battery power and how much gas it will use while in extended range mode.
The new Transformers movie: Revenge of the Fallen stars a plethora of GM vehicles. We all saw the new Camaro making it’s debut as Bumblebee in the first movie. In the new movie the Volt will make an appearance as an autobot named Jolt. Here’s the trailer:
Electric cars sound great until you realize that turning on the stereo costs you mileage. So Bose is hopping on the bandwagon with low-power speaker systems early.
Their new Energy Efficient Series, debuting in the 2011 Chevy Volt, promises to be 30% smaller, 40% lighter, and use 50% less energy than “conventional Bose sound systems.”
Reports are that GM is going to show up at the Chicago Auto Show with their line up from the new Transformers movie. We already know that the Volt will appear in the movie, as well as the new Camaro and many other GM vehicles.
General Motors has outlined a comprehensive plan of action to help communities get ready for plug-in electric vehicles, such as the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. GM announced the plan at the Washington Auto Show.
“Collaborating with communities such as San Francisco and metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., where there’s already an interest in plug-in vehicles, is another important step toward raising customer awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of vehicles such as the Volt,” said Ed Peper, GM North American vice-president of Chevrolet.
GM said it is working with key stakeholders, including governments, electric utilities, regulators, public utility commissions, permitting and code officials, local employers, Clean Cities coalitions, universities, and early electric vehicle adopters.
We reported earlier that GM is cancelling the construction of the Flint, Michigan plant that was to build the gas engine for the Chevy Volt and the Cruze. GM already makes a four cylinder engine in Europe, so instead of investing new resources here in the US they’ll just be importing the engine that’s made overseas.
The engine plant in Flint, Michigan that GM was going to build to make the inline 4 cylinder engine that would power the Volt and the Cruze was put on hold. Now we are seeing reports that the plant altogether will be scrapped.
The worsening economy is causing the car market to shrink, with fewer sales GM doesn’t have the cash on hand needed to pay the $370 million for the facility. According to ABC 12 GM has cancelled all construction plans for Flint giving no official explanation for it. However, GM says it remains commited to the city of Flint.
“Our commitment to the city of Flint hasn’t changed,” GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel said. “Right now we are looking at all possible options and scenarios.”
With the new plant cancelled it is likely that GM will either outsource the engine or just use one of their existing engines for use in the Volt or the Cruze.
We reported earlier that GM will be the first automaker in the US to produce battery packs for cars. The General will by buying the lithium batteries from LG Chem and them assembling them into a pack for the Volt at a new plant to be built in Michigan.
“We are investing in the future and creating jobs with a technology that will define the destiny of this industry,” said Edward Peper, GM’s North America vice president of Chevrolet, according to his prepared remarks.
No one knows yet where in Michigan the plant will be located but I expect it will be close to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the Volt is going to be assembled. GM plans to spend about $30 million building the plant.
Loading ...