GM Technical Manager Shares Plug In Challenges For Volt

Chevy Volt On Display at its Manufacturing Facility

During his presentation on challenges for battery development for an extended range electric vehicle to the AABC event in Pasadena this past week, Roland Matthé, GM’s technical manager for the Voltec Battery System, as an aside touched on another challenge: finding an appropriate plug.

I noticed [a charging outlet] was quite hard for me to find for the Volt here in Pasadena, finally I found one in the Hilton Hotel. There was a Magna charge unit...with dust on...but was operational. The Magna charge unit is a...paddle for the EV1...and I found the DC connection, which Ford I think used in the 90s and the French vehicle used. And finally I found a normal US plug, and so luckily my car is charged every night.

If I wouldn’t have found it, it wouldn’t have mattered, I still have the range extender.

—Roland Matthé