The Acadia will be the first vehicle to get the center airbag technology. This tech was unveiled in September of last year and is making its way to 2013 model vehicles. In an accident, the center airbag system deploys from the right side of the driver seat. The goal of the new airbag tech is to protect the passenger and the driver from far side impacts.

A far side impact would be an impact on the passenger side with the driver was alone in the car. GM feels that the new airbag technology has a real potential for life saving. This sort of far side impact accounts for 29% of all belted front occupant fatalities in side-impact accidents. Check out the video to see how airbag works.

[via Lansing State Journal]

OnStar is working with electricity provider PJM Interconnection and developing a technology that could give drivers the ability to choose what sort of power they want to use when they recharge. The drivers would choose their energy preference, and then the PJM company would look at the percentage of renewable power on the electrical grid and ensure that the Volt only charges using that power.

That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. For example, if you have power running through wires in a particular city with 80% coming from something like coal and 20% coming from wind or solar; how is it possible to ensure that only the wind or solar power generated is used for a Volt? The app will encourage the user to plug in when the renewable sources are at peak apparently rather than guaranteeing the driver is getting only renewable energy from what I can tell.

[via CNET]

GM R&D has come up with a concept that makes the windows of the car a transparent display. In the front, the windows can show the driver navigation information, so they can keep eyes on the road. That would be very cool indeed, and it reminds me of the tech in the latest Mission Impossible movie. GM worked with students at the FUTURE LAB at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel with the students coming up with app ideas for the cool windows.

The apps the students came up with include Otto, Foofu, Spindow, and Pond. Otto puts a flying character over the landscape; Foofu makes faux stem on the windows that the kids can draw in; Pond is a music-streaming app, and Spindow lets the users peek into other windows that users around the world create. Sadly, GM says that it has no immediate plans to use these awesome windows in its vehicles. I bet this tech is crazy expensive right now.

OnStar claims ATOMS is the most powerful cloud platform in operation today connecting 6 million OnStar users. OnStar says that it has conducted research and that apps for the system that its customers want most have to do with emergency and security services along with navigation, vehicle information, and diagnostics. OnStar is also looking for some new app services as well.

The first partner OnStar is noting to use the API is RelayRides. This is a peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace along the lines of the high-end peer-to-peer rental service HiGear, which I mentioned recently. HiGear shut down after several customer vehicles were stolen using the service. The RealyRide app will let the car owner rent out their idle vehicle and allow control of rates and availability too. Other firms that have worked with the API include Google and MapQuest.

As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states, even though the General Motors North America president Mark Reuss assures the world that they’ve “made the Volt even safer,” the investigation does not end here. The NHTSA notes that they have not completed their inquiry and will be “continuing to gather and assess information on the post-crash fire risk in these vehicles.” The federal commission posted the following to their website on the matter:

“based on the work that NHTSA has already completed — under the observation of General Motors and in close consultation with experts from the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense — it appears that both battery intrusion and coolant leakage must be present to enable post-crash fire in the Volt.” – NHTSA

The lithium-ion batteries being used currently are having metal containers installed around them and coolant tanks placed beside them in this newest fix. General Motors’ Reuss has been assured, he says, that the investigation will result in positive ends, and that the means will likely not include a recall. You will, Volt owners, probably be able to get the fix for free, on the other hand. Look forward to it!

[via Auto Discovery]

The fires and high price of the Volt undoubtedly contributed in part to the fact that GM came in well under its first-year sales goal on the Volt. GM expected to sell 10,000 Volts in 2011 and fell short. The official sales number was 7,671. The best month of sales for the Volt turned out to be December with 1,500 sold.

The Volt grabs lots of headlines, but GM sells many more of its other fuel-efficient vehicles. One of those fuel-efficient vehicles is the Sonic, and another is the Cruze. The Sonic saw an increase in sales of 42% in December and Cruze sales increased 54%.

[via CNET]

Currently GM is saying that there haven’t been any crashes or injuries related to the missing brake pads, but you never know! Some Sonics are currently missing an inner or outer brake pad, this resulting in increased stopping distance than the norm. The entire recall covers exactly 4,296 of GM’s Chevrolet Sonic models sold inside 2011 (of the 2012 model, mind you.) These models were sold across the US as well as Canada and were assembled in the Orion Township, Michigan assembly plant. John Q Assembler has some explaining to do.

For those of you that own this vehicle, your local approved dealer will inspect your front brakes on your Sonic and do the necessary pad replacement if necessary. Those of you who have likely been affected will be getting dealer letters starting on the 14th of January. That basically means that you’re probably not going to crash, again, as a result of this situation before then. Good luck!

[via WP Natnl]

The WSJ reports that the NHTSA has asked its testing centers to examine welded components under the car that are near the battery pack. Specifically the NHTSA calls for photos of the “floorplan/crossmember near the battery tunnel.” The WSJ reports that the engineers at GM working on the issue think that they can apply a fix to cars in the field once the issue is pinpointed without having to do major recalls.

According to GM, the cause for the fires is cooling lines that were damaged in the side impact tests. Once that coolant line breaks the coolant drips out onto wiring near the battery. Once that coolant crystallizes, it causes a short in the wires and at times leads to a fire. I have to wonder though how that explanation would cover the Volt that sparked and smoked immediately after the accident when it wouldn’t have had time to crystallize.

[via WSJ]

“We’re getting a lot of interest, we’re just not getting a lot of buyers” one GM dealer told the newspaper, referring to the $41,000 price tag of the electric car. “Customers come in, they are wowed by the display, the quick acceleration. It’s just going to take a while for the American public to accept the price.”

Now, though, it seems the public will also have to stomach the Volt’s patchy safety record. General Motors has moved swiftly to reassure early-adopters that the fire risk to the car is negligible, even going so far as to offer to buy back vehicles from those people who have decided the Volt is not for them. Unfortunately, a federal safety investigation is already underway into whether the Volt presents a serious safety problem.

According to GM, a fix is in the works for the roughly 6,000 Volts already on the road – a number that indicates another 2,000 cars are expected to be delivered to satisfy existing orders, or sold to new buyers, before the year is out. The problem, the company claims, is where a broken pipe drips coolant onto the battery wiring and, eventually, causes a short-circuit. US government testing on three cars found the issue caused the li-ion batteries to spark or catch fire, after the cars had been used in crash testing.

GM has set a 45,000 Volt sales target for 2012. According to former vice chairman Bob Lutz, who led the Volt project, the 2011 target “was ambitious and should never have been announced” and was likely to fail from the outset as production couldn’t keep up.

The NYT reports that GM CEO Daniel F. Akerson has said that if an owner of a Volt is worried about the risk of fire that the automaker would buy the Volt back. The move is not common, a major safety issue will result in the cars being recalled and fixes applied typically. The Volt is an important car for GMs image so it is pulling out all of the stops. GM had previously offered to loan the Volt owner another GM model until the investigation into the fires was over.

It’s not clear what the buyback terms would be. On the surface, this sounds like a good deal for worried Volt drivers. More details would be needed on the buyback offer to figure out if it is a good thing. GM has also said that there is a procedure for powering the battery packs down after an accident that wasn’t followed in the crash test fires. The automaker also notes that emergency personnel at the scene of an accident also need to follow some procedures to prevent fire.

[via NYTimes]

In side crash testing at the NHTSA the Volt passed with no issues. The catch was that three weeks after the crash test the Volt used caught fire. This prompted an investigation into the Volt and its battery packs along with an investigation into the EV market in general to ensure that the battery packs were safe after an accident. Two more crash tested Volts since that original fire have also caught fire after side impact testing.

GM is taking its punches on the chin and is working hard to make owners of the Volt feel safe and secure while the investigation is ongoing. Working in GMs favor right now is that there have been no fires on the road, the fires have only happened in testing. GM is offering Volt owners the loan of another GM vehicle until the investigation into the battery packs is complete. GM has also noted that it has a process to depower the batteries after a crash and the batteries in the test cars that caught fire were not depowered. One of the tested Volts started smoking and sparking immediately after crash testing, presumably making depowering impossible in such instances.

[via Business Week]

The fire sparked an investigation into the Volt and other EVs made by major automakers. So far, the investigation into the battery packs of the Volt has required three more Volt vehicles be subjected to crash testing. The NHSTA crash testing intentionally damaged the battery packs by rupturing the cooling line.

In the first test, there was no fire, but a temporary temperature increase was noted the day after the accident. The second test battery pack was monitored and caught fire 7-days after the accident. The third vehicle crash tested began to spark and smoke within hours of the test. All of the test vehicles were subjected to an impact of a narrow vertical object and then rotated to simulate the vehicle hitting a pole and rolling over. The investigation is ongoing. The first Volts were delivered roughly a year ago to dealers.

[via CarAdvice]

GM has been showing off some new and interesting tech that will help those of us that already drive well be even safer. The system is called Dedicated Short Range Communications or DSRC. Vehicles using this tech would be able to communicate with each other over short distances. This would allow the driver to know if there is traffic slow down ahead or if the police are on the scene of an accident.

The device would also be able to alert the driver from up to a quarter of a mile ahead if a construction zone is nearby and it can even tell the driver if the vehicles up ahead are having traction control activate. The big feature is that the device would be able to signal when two vehicles are on a collision course at an intersection. Smartphones with the tech could also broadcast warnings to drivers. For instance, a parent could warn that kids are playing near the road. The tech could be retrofitted into older vehicles as well.

[via Wired]

I would love this movie to be remade, but you can bet if GM is involved, all we will see in the flick are GM cars. I can see the Corvette and Camaro in any remake, but this film was always about the exotics for me. It would have to have some Lamborghinis and Ferraris. You can also count on GM using Ford products for the bad guys too.

Just watch Hawaii 5.0 and you see that all the bad guys drive Ford’s while the good guys roll Chevy products. The rumor comes from some gossip site, so take it all with a grain of salt. Apparently, rather than racing across the US since people are sensitive these days, the film will be set in Europe on the Autobahn.

[via Jalopnik]

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, far-side impact crashes accounted for 11 percent of occupant deaths in non-rollover accidents between 2004 and 2009 involving 1999 or newer models where the driver has their seat belt fastened. It also represents 29 percent of all belted front occupant fatalities from side impacts.

With these numbers in mind, GM developed the center-mounted airbag in collaboration with technology supplier Takata to step up safety measures for its future vehicles.

“The front center airbag has real potential to save lives in side crashes,” GM quotes Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in its press release. “GM and Takata are to be commended for taking the lead in this important area.”

The new models expected to feature this center-mounted airbag include the 2013 Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse crossover SUVs. Below is a video demo of the GM’s industry first center-mounted airbag in action.

[via Forbes]

Updated with OnStar comment after the cut.

“What’s changed [is that if] you want to cancel your OnStar service, we are going to maintain a two-way connection to your vehicle unless the customer says otherwise” Denison told Wired, billing the decision as a way to make reconnections “easier” down the line. Customers leaving the service will be able to opt-out of the tracking, though they will need to actively communicate that request to OnStar (and, presumably, read the privacy policy in the first place to know that’s a requirement).

“We may use the information we collect about you and your Vehicle to improve the quality of our Service and offerings and may share the information we collect with law enforcement or other public safety officials, credit card processors and/or third parties we contract with who conduct joint marketing initiatives with OnStar” Updated privacy policy

Some of OnStar’s potential applications for the data do, on the surface, seem reasonable. The company has suggested that crowd-aggregated location and speed data could be used by city planners to better organize their road networks, monitoring peak hour traffic and improving layouts and maintenance schedules to minimize delays.

However, the scope of OnStar’s new possibilities with user data has been highlighted, with forensic scientist Jonathan Zdziarski pointing out that a new addition to the policy allows the company “to collect any data for any purpose.” OnStar makes clear it can sell personalized data with GM, its affiliates, dealers, “joint marketing” third parties and others, while anonymized data (“including location, speed, and safety belt usage”) can be shared or sold to third parties “for any purpose.”

The new terms will go into effect in December 2011. You can see the new OnStar privacy policy here [pdf link].

Update: OnStar’s VP of Subscriber Services, Joanne Finnorn, has given us the following statement. One of the parts we’re particularly pleased to see is that the company will apparently notify users canceling their subscriptions about the tracking, rather than expecting them to know about it from reviewing the privacy policy themselves.

“OnStar has and always will give our customers the choice in how we use their data. We’ve also been very open with our customers about changes in services and privacy terms.

“Under our new Terms and Conditions, when a customer cancels service, we have informed customers that OnStar will maintain a two-way connection to their vehicle unless they ask us not to do so. In the future, this connection may provide us with the capability to alert vehicle occupants about severe weather conditions such as tornado warnings or mandatory evacuations. Another benefit for keeping this connection “open” could be to provide vehicle owners with any updated warranty data or recall issues.

“Of course, if the customer requests us to turn off the two-way connection, we will do as we have always done, and that is honor customers’ requests.

“Our guiding practices regarding sharing our subscribers’ personal information have not changed. We are always very specific about with whom we share customers’ personal information, and how they will use it. We have never sold any personally identifiable information to any third party.

“Keeping the two-way connection open will also allow OnStar to capture general vehicle information that could be used in future product development.

“We apologize for creating any confusion about our Terms and Conditions. We want to make sure we are as clear with our customers as possible, but it’s apparent that we have failed to do this. As always, we are listening to our subscribers’ feedback and we will continue to be open to their suggestions and concerns.”

GM fitted the car with the track-capable high-performance fuel system and coolers on the engine, transmission, and rear differential cooler along with Magnetic Ride Control and a performance traction control option. Some aspects sound similar to Ford’s Boss 302 with the major exception that the Boss 302 is a naturally aspirated car. That supercharger that the ZL1 uses may be a hindrance on the road course though as power output diminishes as forced induction engines heat up thereby reducing the power and at times making the cars less consistent.

One thing that GM is using to lure in enthusiasts that are considering a Shelby GT500 Mustang is that the ZL1 will be offered with an automatic transmission. The GT500 is a manual transmission only car. The available transmissions in the ZL1 includes either a 6-speed auto or manual. The ZL1 engine also gets an oil cooler and the performance fuel system has an extra pickup to avoid fuel starvation when used in high-g track maneuvers. The traction management system also offers five levels with one including a launch control system for the track. Official pricing on the ZL1 is unknown.

The app also allow the user to shoot an address from their contact list to the car and it supports voice search so the user doesn’t have to type. Once the destination is sent to the car, it can be accessed via the OnStar turn-by-turn nav system or though the vehicles integrated nav system. As soon as the destination is activated, it will be ready to go inside the car at startup.

The updated version of the app is available right now on the Android Market and iTunes. You have to be driving a RemoteLink compatible vehicle for the app to work, check with OnStar to find out if your vehicle is compatible. I suspect only more recent models will work with RemoteLink.

[via Android Community]

The latest partnership in the automotive world is between GM and LG. The two firms have announced that they will be jointly developing EVs. LG has previously been the battery supplier for the Chevrolet Volt and the Opel Ampera extended range EVs. Both of those vehicles are under the GM umbrella. The agreement will help GM expand the number and type of EVs that it makes and sells and allow the integration of LG tech in battery and other EV systems.

For LG the move allows it to expand its reach in the automotive solutions sector. The Volt and Ampera have been successful vehicles, even though they are lower volume offerings. Engineering teams from both companies will work together to develop and design key components for future EVs as well as vehicle structures and architectures.

A company called Evantran has a cool new charging solution called the Plugless Power wireless/proximity charging system this isn’t the plug in sort of charger like the 240V unit I talked about last year. This is a charger that stands in the garage and has this round disk that the driver pulls up over to charge. When the charger is aligned and charging the Volt the green light on the charger will glow.

The cool part is that the charger is very efficient with 90-91% efficiency between the wall to the car. Once the power shoots across the gap between the charge disk and the car it is able to maintain 97% efficiency. The higher the efficiency the faster the Volt batteries can charge. The charger is in the testing phase right now. The home charger will sell for $2,000 and the outdoor version will $3,000.

[via Autoblog]

GM uses rapid prototyping extensively to test new vehicle parts to improve the aerodynamics of a vehicles before an actual prototype is constructed. Traditionally this sort of testing with one-third scale models was done using a clay representation of the vehicle or wood. Today the engineers are able to use computational fluid dynamics software to test the parts in the computer environment and after the changes are tweaked, the parts can be made using the selective laser sintering and stereolithography techniques in the GM rapid prototyping lab.

The improvement in testing and rapid prototyping technology compared to clay or wood methods in the past has enabled GM to double the testing capacity it has over the last two years. The new techniques also mean that there are fewer changes that have to be made to the vehicles late in the development programs. Less changes late in the program allows the vehicles to come to market in less time and with lower costs.

The app will let a driver with an OnStar equipped vehicle that is compatible with the app download all sorts of data about their car or truck. That data includes the fuel level, tire pressure, and oil life. The app will also allow them to remotely start the car or truck and to unlock or lock the doors. GM announced that it has added compatibility for 14 more vehicles to the app for downloading data.

The new vehicles include the 2010 Cadillac DTS, Escalade, Escalade ESV and Escalade EXT; the Buick Enclave and Lucerne; the GMC Acadia, Yukon, and Yukon XL; and Chevrolet Avalanche, Impala, Suburban, Tahoe and Traverse. The downloading of data is the most commonly used feature of the app according to GM with remote door unlock or lock next and remote starting in third.

[via Android Community]

OnStar can be added to any vehicle with a new mirror that has the familiar OnStar buttons that any GM vehicle owner will recognize. The aftermarket mirror will give emergency response, navigation, Bluetooth, security and more features and will land in Best buy stores this spring for $299 with other stores to follow. Pricing on service is unknown at this time.

OnStar also showed off its vision for the future of in car entertainment at the show with a screen for rear seat passengers that offers access to Verizon 4G LTE services for entertainment and more. The service would allow the user to stream video content and access the web with other features as well.

GM has announced that it is recycling the oil booms that were used to aid in the clean up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The booms will be used along with a densification material, post consumer plastic, and recycled tires to make new components used in the construction of the Volt.

GM will be recycling about 100 miles worth of used boom material. The 100 miles of recycled boom will be used to make up 25% of the plastic parts that deflect the air around the cars radiator and another 25% will be recycled tires that come from the GM Milford Proving Ground facility. Recycling the oil booms will keep 100,000 pounds of plastic from landfills.

Via Gizmag

The first round of Volt’s are being delivered to consumers in California, Texas, Washington D.C. and New York and will be in the hands of customers in a few days according to GM. The first couple carriers full of Volt vehicles are the first of 160 units that are expected to ship this week. The Volt is good for a total of 379 miles of driving before needing a recharge and a fresh tank of gas to generate more electricity.

“Today is a historic milestone for Chevrolet,” said Tony DiSalle, Volt marketing director. “We have redefined automotive transportation with the Volt, and soon the first customers will be able to experience gas-free commuting with the freedom to take an extended trip whenever or wherever they want.”

R3 Media Network

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To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

The benefit for GM was the development of the sensor systems used by the robot that can be applied to things here at home like better sensors for vehicles and other tasks. GM reports that R2 is having great success in its mission on the ISS. R2 is able to use all the tools and equipment on the space station that were designed for humans to use because the hands on R2 are very much like human hands.

R2′s hands have a similar range of motion as human hands and are able to apply precise position and force controls. One big difference between the hands on R2 and the hands on other robots is that the thumb and fingers on R2 are slim and use tendons that connect the skeletal joints to sensors and actuators in the palm.

R2 will head to the stars aboard the Discovery for his first real work assignment. The development of R2 began back in 2007 and R2 is intended to assist astronauts as they work on the ISS. The Discovery is set to launch on November 1.

GM has looked at the development of R2 as a way to invent and prefect new technologies that will help to make vehicles safer. Sensors developed for the R2 project will eventually be used to make the workplace safer and current vehicles are already using some of the sensor tech for things like lane departure warnings, blind zone alerts, and adaptive cruise control.

That MSRP is costly, but the lease on the Volt is actually not bad at all. The Volt will be limited production for its first model year, but GM is set to increase production by 50% in 2012. The MSRP could be reduced as more of the vehicles are built and more are sold.

The 50% increase in build volume for the Volt will mean 45,000 units per year by 2012. The Volt is an interesting vehicle that can travel 40 miles on battery power alone and has a generator to make electricity for longer trips.

Chevrolet are painting the expansion as indication that the Volt isn’t just suited to fair weather, city commuting, and that it will be able to withstand the baking Austin summers as well as the icy Manhattan winters.  Production of the car begins later this year, though pricing is yet to be confirmed; last month the company confirmed it would be outfitting 4,400 new owners with home recharging stations, that could provide free 240v power to rejuice their cars.

Press Release:

Chevrolet Volt Adds Four States To Launch

• Texas, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut join California, Michigan, and Washington, D.C.
• Chevrolet Volt can handle a full range of climates and driving conditions

AUSTIN – Chevrolet is adding Texas, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to the launch markets for the Volt, Ed Whitacre, General Motors chairman and CEO, announced today. Whitacre said the company is expanding the initial launch of the groundbreaking electric vehicle in response to intense interest in the Volt from customers across the country.

Today’s announcement brings the initial Volt retail markets to seven, including California, Michigan, and Washington, D.C. The retail launch in Texas and New York will begin with Austin and New York City in late 2010. The balance of Texas and New York, as well as New Jersey and Connecticut, are scheduled to begin receiving Volts in early 2011.

“We can add markets as diverse as Texas and New York because the Chevrolet Volt can handle both urban commuting and longer trips, in Austin summers and Manhattan winters,” Whitacre said. “The Volt can be your primary vehicle, giving you the freedom to drive gas-free without the stress of planning every trip around the battery’s charge level.”

The Volt is the only electric vehicle that can operate under a full range of climates and driving conditions without limitations or driver concern of being stranded by a depleted battery.

“Chevrolet is extending the Volt launch to additional states because of strong customer interest and our confidence in all aspects of the vehicle and battery,” said Tony DiSalle, Chevrolet Volt marketing director.

The Chevrolet Volt is capable of about 340 miles total driving range, with electricity driving the car at all times. For trips as long as 40 miles, the Volt gets its power solely from electricity stored in its 16-kWh lithium-ion battery. When the Volt’s battery runs low, an engine-generator seamlessly engages to extend the driving range to about 300 miles on a full tank of gas.

According to a U.S. Department of Transportation survey, the average driver in America commutes less than 40 miles per day, meaning Chevrolet Volt owners may never use gasoline or produce tailpipe emissions in everyday driving.

A portable 120-volt vehicle charge cord that can recharge the Volt using a standard residential outlet comes standard with every car. Volt’s intelligent charging technology enables the Volt to be charged from a standard 120-volt outlet in about nine to 10 hours, or from a standard 240-volt outlet in about three to four hours. The first buyers of the Volt also may be eligible for one of 4,400 free 240-volt home charging stations from ECOtality, Inc. or Coulomb Technologies, under a program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Whitacre also announced that Chevrolet will add five Texas electric utilities and five Northeast utilities to a Department of Energy development and demonstration program that provides Volts and charging stations to key utilities. The program allows the utilities to study charging station installation process, vehicle charging, and customer feedback. The Texas utilities include: Austin Energy, CenterPoint Energy, CPS Energy, Oncor, and American Electric Power. In the Northeast, Chevrolet is partnering with Con Edison, New York Power Authority, Northeast Utilities, National Grid, and Public Service Electric and Gas.

Volt production begins late this year at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck facility. Pricing has not been announced.

The Volt is set to go on sale in the US and Chevy has announced that 4,400 Volt owners will be eligible to get a free home charging station. Why do you need the home charging station you ask? Well most homes only have 120V outlet in the garage, which will charge the Volt.

However, charging can be done much faster with a 240V source and these home chargers will add that needed 240V source. The chargers will be from ECOtality or Coulomb Technologies. In many cases, GM says that the cost of installation in the home will also be covered. The chargers and installs are being funded through grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Volt is always powered by its electric motors and the gasoline engine powers a generator that can recharge the batteries when longer driving range is needed. GM sent over a link to a video of its crash test facility as a Volt was being tested for crash worthiness ahead of its launch.

The crunching of a perfectly good car is hard to watch if you are a Volt fan, but crash testing is essential and required to pass safety certifications. The most interesting part to me is that GM conducts more crash testing on vehicles than it is required to do. Check out the video below.

I have wondered before if the dummies require lots of maintenance, I mean they do get crashed and crunched a bunch. GM has offered up a video that takes us behind the scenes with the folks who work with its crash dummies.

GM has about 200 of them that are used for various tests. Check out the video below and see what goes into maintaining the dummy hoard. The scene where the dummy gets nailed in the chest by that huge metal beam makes me hurt.

However, other alternative fuel sources are being researched as well like fuel cells. GM has been testing hydrogen fuel cells in the Chevy Equinox for several years now. One of the things I have always wondered was exactly how a fuel cell was built and how far the tech as come since GM first started working on it about three years ago.

GM has a new video that goes over the construction process of a fuel cell prototype and shows how far the tech has come. The first fuel cells form three years ago were large devices. Today’s fuel cells are significantly smaller than the older versions, yet produce more power. Hit the video below to see for yourself.

Robonaut 2 also goes by the name R2, which should make George Lucas happy considering Motorola had to license the name DROID from Lucas for its smartphone. The R2 robot is said to be the most dexterous robot with its hands ever made. The bot is capable of doing tasks with its hands beyond the scope of other humanoid machines according to NASA.

NASA’s needs in the project are clear, but GMs are a bit more obtuse. GM sees the project as a way to develop new sensors, controls, and vision technology that can be integrated into future automobiles and factories to make them safer. GM also worked with NASA in the past by collaborating on key bits of technology for the 1960′s moon mission like the Lunar Rover Vehicle.

GM has announced that it will now become the first major automaker in the US to build its own electric motors. The new GM designed and built electric motors are set to debut in 2013 in next generation rear-wheel-drive two-mode hybrid vehicles.

GM will be able to control the cost, performance, quality, reliability, and manufacturability of the electric motors by building them itself. The electric motor and the battery packs are the two key components that determine the range of a hybrid or electric vehicle on a charge. GM received $150 million in grants for the construction of the plant.

The internet access will be available using Autonet Mobile routers in select GM trucks and SUVs. Autoblog reports that GM will have the WiFi router available as an accessory this month for GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac vehicles. The price for the router and install is $500.

The big catch, as with most mobile broadband plans, is the price of the data service. The service isn’t that expensive at $29 per month. However, that price only gets you 1GB of service and each additional 1GB chunk costs you $29 again. The bigger issue is that the router doesn’t support encryption so anyone within 150 feet of you can log on and use your connection. Download a few HD movies and you can have a large bill.

Neither firm are saying whether the P.U.M.A. will ever actually hit production, nor naming specific sales figures, but they reckon it’ll cost around one-quarter of a “normal” car.  They’re launching it properly today, in advance of the New York Motor Show.

The P.U.M.A. reminds me a little of the BMW C1, though of course while that had two wheels it placed them in a more traditional layout.  Like Segway are doing now, BMW billed the C1 as a low-cost, safe alternative to compact cars.  Segway are likely hoping not to follow entirely in the German brands footsteps, however; BMW canned the C1 after just two years, having sold less than 13,000.

Press Release:

GM and Segway Join Forces to Reinvent Urban Transportation

NEW YORK – General Motors Corp. and Segway today demonstrated a new type of vehicle that could change the way we move around in cities.

Dubbed Project P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility), GM and Segway are developing an electrically powered, two-seat prototype vehicle that has only two wheels. It could allow people to travel around cities more quickly, safely, quietly and cleanly – and at a lower total cost. The vehicle also enables design creativity, fashion, fun and social networking.

GM and Segway announced their collaboration, while demonstrating the Project P.U.M.A. prototype in New York City this morning.

“Project P.U.M.A. represents a unique solution to moving about and interacting in cities, where more than half of the world’s people live,” said Larry Burns, GM vice president of research and development, and strategic planning. “Imagine small, nimble electric vehicles that know where other moving objects are and avoid running into them. Now, connect those vehicles in an Internet-like web and you can greatly enhance the ability of people to move through cities, find places to park and connect to their social and business networks.”

Trends indicate that urbanization is growing, and with that comes increased congestion and more competition for parking. Cities around the world are actively looking for solutions to alleviate congestion and pollution. Project P.U.M.A. addresses those concerns. It combines several technologies demonstrated by GM and Segway, including electric drive and batteries; dynamic stabilization (two-wheel balancing); all-electronic acceleration, steering and braking; vehicle-to-vehicle communications; and autonomous driving and parking. Those technologies integrate in Project P.U.M.A. to increase mobility freedom, while also enabling energy efficiency, zero emissions, enhanced safety, seamless connectivity and reduced congestion in cities.

“We are excited to be working together to demonstrate a dramatically different approach to urban mobility,” said Jim Norrod, CEO of Segway Inc. “There’s an emotional connection you get when using Segway products. The Project P.U.M.A. prototype vehicle embodies this through the combination of advanced technologies that Segway and GM bring to the table to complete the connection between the rider, environment, and others.”

Project P.U.M.A. vehicles will also allow designers to create new fashion trends for cars, and to focus on the passion and emotion that people express through their vehicles while creating solutions that anticipate the future needs of urban customers.

The Project P.U.M.A. prototype vehicle integrates a lithium-ion battery, digital smart energy management, two-wheel balancing, dual electric wheel motors, and a dockable user interface that allows off-board connectivity. The result is an advanced and functional concept that demonstrates the capabilities of technology that exists today.

Built to carry two or more passengers, it can travel at speeds up to 35 miles per hour (56 kph), with a range up to 35 miles (56 km) between recharges.

Since the introduction of the Segway Personal Transporter (PT), Segway has established itself as the leader in the small electric vehicle space. Its approach to congestion and environmental challenges is balanced with a strong understanding of the functional needs of its customers, enabling them to do more with less. Segway has delivered more than 60,000 lithium-ion batteries to the market.

GM has been a leader in “connected vehicle” technologies since it introduced OnStar in 1996. Today, this on-board communications package connects six million subscribers in North America to OnStar safety and security services. GM has also pioneered vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications systems and transponder technology. These and additional connected vehicle technologies could ultimately enable vehicles that don’t crash and drive themselves.

“Imagine moving about cities in a vehicle fashioned to your taste, that’s fun to drive and ride in, that safely takes you where you want to go, and “connects” you to friends and family, while using clean, renewable energy, producing zero vehicle tailpipe emissions, and without the stress of traffic jams,” said Burns. “And imagine doing this for one-fourth to one-third the cost of what you pay to own and operate today’s automobile. This is what Project P.U.M.A. is capable of delivering.”

[via Autoblog]

Make sure to check out the entire NAIAS 2008 image gallery.

Click for images from the event (adding more later).