Chevrolet Volt in GM Battery Laboratory in Warren, Michigan.
At an event yesterday announcing the expansion of GM’s Battery Laboratory in Warren, Michigan, the company’s VP of global product programs, Doug Parks, let slip that the General is looking into an affordable long-range electric vehicle. The news was first reported by the The Wall Street Journal, but GM confirmed to us that the executive’s comments were accurate.
Although some rumors are flying that Parks’s comments indicate that GM is working on a competitor to the Tesla Model S, it’s worth pointing out that this very likely isn’t the case. The only things the two cars would share—should the EV come to fruition—is a 200-plus-mile driving range. Such a figure would be impressive, given that most mainstream EVs today offer operating ranges of less than 100 miles. Otherwise, General Motors is working to bring such an EV to market in the $30,000–$35,000 price range, which is quite a bit lower than the Tesla’s $70,000-and-up pricing—although Elon Musk’s operation is in development of an electric vehicle that would occupy the same segment that GM is aiming for. When asked whether the future EV would augment sales of the similarly priced Chevrolet Volt (technically a plug-in hybrid) or replace it altogether, a GM representative refused to comment.
- Instrumented Test: 2011 Chevrolet Volt
- Instrumented Test: 2013 Tesla Model S
- First Drive: 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV
GM similarly refused to lock down the EV project’s timing, as well as what kind of technologies it might utilize to attain 200 miles of driving range. A company representative tells us that GM’s Warren battery facility is capable of testing batteries of various chemical compositions, but wouldn’t elaborate on what those are—or could be. Still, we doubt we’ll be seeing this car any time soon. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Parks also reiterated that cost is by far the biggest limiting factor to an electric car with a usable driving range. It will be a while before batteries capable of propelling cars past 200 miles come down in price enough to allow for a $30K–$35K consumer vehicle.
Source: CarAndDriver
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