One of the biggest concerns many automotive manufacturers has with electric vehicles, and hybrids is what to do with the batteries once they are no longer appropriate for automotive use. General Motors has been conducting an investigation into what to do with the batteries from its Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicle once those batteries are removed from the vehicles. GM announced a partnership with ABB today to reuse those Volt batteries.
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‘Volt’ Stories
GM partners with ABB to create backup power storage units with old Volt batteries
2013 Chevy Volt receives update after reports of shutdowns
We've reached this strange moment in time when updates are released for our cars in the same manner they're released for our gadgets. Thus is the case with the 2013 Chevy Volt, which GM has pushed a software update out for after reports of shutdowns. The manufacturer is not issuing a recall, however.
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Chevrolet Volt/Opel Ampera wins European Car of the Year
If you're the sort who has thought winning the car of the year trophy in the automotive industry was nothing but a popularity contest, consider this. A panel of automotive journalists from 23 countries have named the Chevrolet Volt/Opel Ampera as the European Car of the Year. The irony is the Chevrolet Volt is so unpopular, production has been halted due to an oversupply on the market.
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Volt production frozen amid patchy EV sales
General Motors has frozen Chevrolet Volt production as demand fails to keep up with current supply, though the company insists the electric-powered car hasn't been derailed by recent safety concerns. The Hamtramck, Michigan factory responsible for constructing the Volt will be offline from March 19 to April 23, GM confirmed to the WSJ, with around 1,300 workers unemployed for that five week period. Despite aggressive marketing and government subsidies for earth-friendly vehicles, the Volt missed its 2011 sales goals.
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OnStar invites tech, utility, and energy companies to use Smart Grid APIs
OnStar is pushing major utility companies, energy companies, and technology firms to develop Smart Grid solutions that will allow the Chevy Volt to interface with utility grid for various tasks. The goal is to allow the driver of the Volt to have granular control over how and when their vehicles charge, and the sort of electricity that is used.
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OnStar system helps Volt drivers recharge using renewable power
Many of the Chevrolet vehicles on the road have OnStar inside. This is the system that has been around for years that allows the driver to make phone calls and alerts emergency services in the event of an accident. That OnStar system will do other things too, and one of the other things is to help the Volt driver recharge their car with renewable energy.
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Chevrolet Volt cleared of fire defect suspicions
Chevrolet's electric-powered Volt has been cleared by US federal safety investigators, with the plug-in car deemed to present no more significant fire risk than its gasoline-powered counterparts, and leaving Chevvy with the unenviable task of re-marketing the vehicle. "No discernible defect trend exists" the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said of the Volt, going on to highlight General Motors' improvements to the structure of the car and the battery cooling systems. The investigation - perhaps uncomfortably public for GM - will educate new NHTSA guidelines on dealing with electric car safety.
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Volt misses 2011 sales goals
GM has offered up the final sales numbers for 2011 on the Volt. The Volt has had some very high profile issues this year with two examples catching fire after crash testing with the federal government. The exact source of the fires has yet to be pinpointed, and the investigation is still ongoing. Some welded parts near the battery pack are being investigated.
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Volt fires possibly caused by welded parts near the battery pack
The Chevrolet Volt has been under investigation for a while now after several of the vehicles caught fire after crash testing. GM has since offered to buy the Volts back from concerned drivers and the issue has hurt sales of the vehicle that were already slow. The NHTSA is now zeroing in on a possible cause for the fires after the crash tests.
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GM Volt to miss sales targets amid fire furore
GM's fire problems with the battery-powered Volt may have been only the latest of the car company's headaches around its earth-friendly vehicle. General Motors is apparently set to miss its conservative first year sales targets by 20-percent, the WSJ reports, with around 8,000 of the 10,000 expected to be sold set to leave the forecourt before 2011 is through. The reason for the shortfall is simple, dealers say: the Volt is just too expensive.
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GM will buy Volts back from owners worried about a fiery death
The GM Volt extended range hybrid has been in the news a lot lately after a test vehicle caught fire in the test center parking lot three weeks after a side impact crash test. The fire sparked a wider investigation into the Volt and other vehicles that use similar battery packs. Three more Volt vehicles were tested and two of them also had battery issues, one caught fire after a side impact crash test and the other smoked and emitted sparks. This has led to some worry among owners of the Volt and GM is doing all it can to make them feel better, including offering to buy the cars back.
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GM tries to comfort Volt owners after fires during crash testing
GM has worked long and hard to bring the Volt to market and the car is now facing its biggest challenge with several fires erupting after crash tests. The car was originally unveiled back in 2007 and then it took longer than GM had hoped to get the car onto the market for consumers to buy. The Volt has hit a few speed bumps along the way, but the cars have been selling and are nice options for the green fans that want an EV but don’t want to worry about how far they can drive. The Volt can go 40 miles on battery power alone and has a range of 379 miles with the gasoline generator.
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