How fitting is it that the motor for the Chevy Spark EV is built in a factory that is LEED Silver certified? Even better, that factory is located in Maryland, where Spark EV sales will begin shortly.
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design and is a program of the US Green Building Council. The General Motors eMotor building at the company’s Baltimore facility earned Silver LEED status recently by installing a 580 kilowatt solar panel array to the roof, installing LED exterior lighting, and switching to compact fluorescent light throughout the interior, according to a GM press release.
“Improving the energy efficiency of our nation’s plants and buildings is critical to protecting our environment,” said Jean Lupinacci, acting director of the EPA’s Climate Protection Partnerships Division. “GM is addressing this in its Baltimore plant by achieving a 15.5 percent reduction in energy intensity and is leading the way by making the buildings where we work, play and learn more efficient.”
Greg Martin, executive director of Global Public Policy for GM, said the company views its sustainability activity as a way to improve the communities where it does business. “We believe reducing our environmental footprint is good for the climate and good for our business,” said Martin. “Wherever we can, we are reducing our energy use, powering our plants with renewable energy and conserving resources.”
Chevrolet has recently cut the base price of the Spark EV to $25,995 and trimmed its lease payment to just $139 a month. Federal state and local credits and incentives can reduce the cost of putting a brand new Spark EV in your driveway to as little as $14,995. Factor in the gas savings from driving an electric car and your effective cost per month could be $50 or less. That’s pretty good for a fun little car with lots of features that gets high marks from Consumer Reports.
The new low prices have ignited a mini sales explosion for GM’s smallest EV. Last month it outsold the Chevy Volt for the first time, selling more cars in April than it sold in all of 2014. Too bad the car is only available in California, Oregon and Maryland.
As we detailed just two weeks ago, the Spark EV’s $129 per month lease deal led to a buying frenzy at one California dealership. Well, as it turns out, that buying frenzy extended well beyond just that one location.
Chevy Spark EV Deal
In April, Chevrolet sold 920 Spark EVs, an all-time record high for single-month sales. This result also marks the first time the EV has outsold its PHEV counterpart, Chevrolet Volt – which sold 905 copies in April.
The previous high for Spark EV sales in a single month was 182 units back in May 2014.
It appears as though General Motors has found the sweet spot for pricing (new pricing moves the base LT model from $27,645 to$25,995) for its electric Spark. It’s hard to beat $139 per month with $0 due at signing.
We do wish that GM would make its Spark EV available nationwide. Imagine what the sales volume would be if the electric Spark was available in more than just 3 states.
If you’ve ever wanted to get into a low-cost, well-reviewed electric car, now may be your best chance. GM has just dropped the price of the Chevrolet Spark EV to $25,995, and after federal and state tax incentives, the Spark EV could be had for as little as $14,995. That’s a low price for a lot of EV.
Unfortunately for most of us, the Spark EV is only available in a handful of states, those being California, Oregon, and Maryland. In California, buyers can get an additional $2,500 off the cost of the Spark EV, and in Maryland buyers can take a $2,300 excise tax exemption, taking about $10,000 off the MSRP. Oregon is considering a similar tax break of about $3,000 but has yet to pass it into law.
For most of us though, the Chevy Spark EV remains something that we’d like to have, but probably can’t just yet. Besides being rated better than its gas-powered version by Consumer Reports, the Spark EV can also save a lot of money over its operating lifetime by plugging in rather than filling up. It’s no surprise that in the few places its available, the Spark EV has proven to be a surprise hit.
I can say with confidence that if the Spark EV were available in Connecticut today, I’d go buy one. Seriously. My wife’s commute to work is less than ten miles, and we’d save about $150 a month in gas costs. The Spark EV would practically pay for itself! Alas, I’ll probably have to wait for the Chevy Bolt. And I will, unless Tesla actually meets a deadline for once.
Chevy first rolled out the production-ready electric version of its Korean-born Spark city car ahead of last year’s LA Auto Show, and by fellow Gas 2 writer, Chris DeMorro, took an up-close look at the car a few weeks ago at Detroit – with this very cutaway display, in fact. Chicago, though, was my first up-close look at the car, and I (for better or for worse) took a bit more interest in it than Chris did. Here, then, are a few of the Chevy Spark EV bits that I found interesting …
the Spark is Nicer than the Volt
This is a matter of taste and opinion, I’ll grant you that – but hear me out. By providence if not by design, we walked around the GM section of the Chicago Show last, and we were shocked at how bad (like, Bad bad) the interior and build quality was in the cars. The Buicks had stitching in plastic panels that were supposed to look like leather. In fact, the plastic leather looked so fake, I’m not even sure it was plastic. That said, the interior of the tiny Spark (and its not-so-tiny Sonic/Aveo brother) was actually pretty nice.
To wit: the body-color panels were actually body-color (not just “close”), the plastics around the ignition fit together without big gaps or overlap (more than can be said for the bigger Chevys and Buicks at the show), the seats were decently supportive, the info-graphic display was crisp and clear as my iPad, and the shiny plastic lacked the crappy sort of “ZOMG – fingerprints EVERYWHERE!” look of the Volt’s plastic bits.
It felt appropriate for an economy car, but did not seem cheap is what I’m saying. Check it out for yourself.
the Spark is Nicer than the Leaf and MiEV
Nissan may be shouting about the Leaf being the least expensive 4-door EV out there, but I got the distinct impression that my out-the-door price on a 2013 Chevy Spark EV would be a few hundred dollars lower than the recently-reduced Nissan Leaf … and a few thousand dollars less than the little electric Mitsubishi across the hall. As nice passable as the Leaf is, however, the Spark’s interior (for all the reasons listed above) is better.
Again, this is a matter of opinion. For what it’s worth, though, it is not an opinion I expected to walk away with.
We first wandered over to the GM side of things looking for Chevy’s new diesel Cruze, and I didn’t plan on giving the Spark much (any) real attention. What I found was a comfortable little in-town runabout with enough range (80-100 miles) to be really practical, and enough performance (0-60 in less than 8 seconds with a stubby, responsive wheelbase) to be fun. On top of that, the trunk was the same as the gas version parked a few feet away and the Spark EV didn’t look much different than the standard Spark to the outside observer. There was no “punishment” to choose the EV option, in other words. You lost range, sure, but you got instant-on torque and a 0-60 run some 4 seconds quicker than the ICE Spark.
The North American International Auto Show is huge, and there were not enough hours in the day to see everything, talk to everyone, or to cover all the green cars that have come to dominate these shows. That said, we did manage to snap some pictures of some of the cooler green concepts and cars scattered about the show. Consider this our “wrap-up” post, with a return to our regularly-scheduled news stories tomorrow.
The Chevy Spark EV:
This was our first up-close-and-personal look at the Chevy Spark EV, which GM says will cost less than $25,000 after Federal tax incentives. Coupled with 400 ft-lbs of torque and a 0-60 mph time of 8 seconds or less, and the Chevy Spark EV could prove popular for those seeking a budget EV.
But what is really going to matter is the as-yet-unreleased maximum range for the Spark EV. Early estimates put it in the 80+ mile range, but GM is remaining tight-lipped for now.
The Volkswagen CrossBlue Concept:
VW wants to one day rule the world with its cars, and it hopes the new CrossBlue Concept will go a long way towards making that goal attainable. While just a concept, the plug-in diesel-electric hybrid SUV offers perhaps the most-efficient drivetrain of any mid-size SUV, concept or otherwise.
A 2.0 liter TDI engine couples with two electric motors to offer an estimated 89 MPGe in a seven-passenger SUV that looks like something you might soon find on dealership lots. Just don’t hold your breath waiting for it.
The Smart ForStars EV:
Smart car haven’t been selling as well as parent company Daimler hoped, though that may all change if Smart begins to emphasize EVs over conventional cars. Or at least that’s the plan. While the Smart ForStars is merely a concept EV, Smart is in fact hoping to bring the cheapest EV to market with the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive.
The Smart ForTwo ED will reportedly retail for less than $19,000 after tax incentives, though we doubt it will get even half of the cool features or looks of the ForStars concept. Which is a shame, because the world could use an affordable and cool-looking EV right about now.
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel:
This has to be one of the most-watched vehicles leading up to the NAIAS. With a new-for-America 3.0 liter turbodiesel engine making 240 horsepower and a stump-pulling 420 ft-lbs of torque, the Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel is capable of 30 mpg highway and can still tow 7,400 pounds.
With automakers working to meet new fuel economy standards while maintaining the level of performance customers have come to expect, diesel engines are a natural solution. But can Chrysler price this diesel engine where the return-on-investment makes sense for the average buyer? That remains to be seen…but we’re optimistic that there will be lots of diesel Jeeps on the roads in the near future.
Chevy has turned its smallest offering into an electriccar, and while there was some initial debate over whether it was a compliance car, the finished product appears anything but.
At a glance it looks much like any other Spark, but the devil is in the details. Chevrolet has improved the car's aerodynamics, adding over two miles to the EV's range, compared to a standard Spark body. Easiest to spot is the new, Volt-like covered grille, but other subtle changes also help it slip through the air.
Inside, the Spark EV is much like the regular, gasoline-powered car, but two new TFT displays replace the Spark's standard instruments, providing data on the car and access to the EV's wealth of infotainment systems. Chevy is confident it will offer one of the longest ranges in its class, and an optional SAE Combo DC Fast Charger could be an attractive option.
Priced from $32,500 pre-incentives it isn't the cheapest electric car on the market, but Chevy is proud of its baby--now it just needs people to buy them.
The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV, introduced today ahead of the Los Angeles International Auto Show, will be priced under $25,000 with tax incentives.
GM expects the Spark EV to have among the best EV battery range in its segment and be the first electric vehicle to offer SAE Combo DC Fast Charging capability, when it goes on sale next summer.
Spark EV also will feature Chevrolet’s exclusive MyLink radio that brings smartphone-based infotainment—including apps for BringGo full-function navigation, TuneIn global internet radio, Pandora and Stitcher—into the vehicle. Apple’s Siri will be available for customers with compatible (4S and newer) iPhones.
In addition to previously announced markets including California and South Korea, Spark EV will also go on sale in participating dealerships throughout Oregon, Canada and other global markets. Spark EV will be eligible for high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in California.
General Motors representatives handed out a lot of press releases in Sausalito, CA this week as part of GM's Electrification Experience. There was one about the company's plans to sell 500,000 vehicles with "electrification" by 2017. There was one about GM's work with ABB on reusing advanced vehicle batteries in grid storage applications (see also this). There was one about the motor in the Chevrolet Spark EV. And another about the battery. We'll talk about some of this information, but you can read them at the end of this post. What was much more interesting were two things that can't fit onto pieces of paper*: the GM's new fullthroated embrace of vehicles with plugs (whither hydrogen, whither biofuels?) and some lightly camo'ed electric Spark prototypes with the keys in them.
The message of the Electrification Experience was very obviously how GM's success with the Chevrolet Volt is guiding the company's fuel economy efforts. One can quibble about missed sales targets or too-high prices, but the fact remains that the Volt is the best-selling plug-in vehicle in the U.S. right now, and it has given GM a strong position from which to move forward in the fast-changing automotive landscape. As they wrap up their second year of sales, plug-in vehicles are far ahead of where regular hybrids were after their second year a decade ago. And, as Mark Duvall of the Electric Power Research Institute pointed out, 12 percent of all plug-in vehicles in the US were sold in October. The Volt stood at the top of that list.
The phrase "learnings from the Volt were 'sprinkled liberally'" was repeated a lot, referring to how the lessons from that project are being used withing GM. As we said earlier, Mary Barra, GM's senior vice president of global product development, said during the event that GM's future "focus" will be on plug-in technology, and at the EE, GM certainly presented its future as something other than "more car than electric." It's always been clear that this anti-EV message, the way GM first advertised the Volt, would prove inconvenient at some point. The surprise is how soon that day has come for GM.
GM's Electrification Efforts
The all-electric Spark EV is due in the summer of 2013, but in San Francisco, GM presented a wideranging look at how electrification efforts are already being integrated into the company's plans. For example, the way GM's new OnStar apps that let you interact with your plug-in vehicle (available now for the Volt, available later for the Spark), the Pecan Street project (see here and here) where the utility can track around 1,500 data points every 15 minutes from a house involved in the smart grid/plug-in car program or the work GM is doing with ABB to use old Volt batteries to assist the electric grid (where the batteries live for 10 years in a car and then 10 more years connected to the grid). The suite of electric vehicle apps is growing, too, with a Park-Tap-Charge prototype app that uses near-field-communication to send a signal from your smartphone to a Wattstation charging station to pay for and manage charging. The gamification of our world is coming online, too, with a driver challenge app that pits you and your eco driving skills against other Volt drivers, earning achievements for your green performance.
The point of all this? GM is serious about plug-in cars, making and selling more of them. The problem? Well...
"Driving" the Spark EV Prototype
The main problem with our time in the electric Spark prototype was that the loop we could drive on was around a half-mile long. Even though we could go around multiple times, there's only so much you can learn about a car in ten minutes. But we paid close attention, packing in as much as we could. For example:
When you push the start button, the Spark performs 1,300 diagnostic checks in about two seconds.
Underway, like most modern EVs, the Spark is smooth and quiet. Also, that battery pack gives it a solid feel around corners.
There's no CD player.
The Spark has Bluetooth apps (Pandora, Sticher, TuneIn) that talk to the same apps on your smartphone, displaying the info on the car's screen.
There is creep.
With a 0-60 time of around eight seconds, the Spark has got more-than-acceptable oomph when you get going. 45 miles per hour (as fast as we could get going) feels quite fast since you get there so quickly.
From the driver's seat, the Spark EV made us think of a mini Volt, for example with the same green battery stack graphic on the dash. The OnStar apps that talk to a Volt all work (or, better said, will work) with the Spark EV. Since there is no gas generator back-up in the Spark, there are some differences, too, including a new EV range display. Oh, and, thankfully, the center stack buttons are not touch sensitive.
On the left side of the dash screen, there are three numbers that show how much range you have left: a white number in a blue ball and then two numbers in smaller font, one above and one below. These are all calculated on the fly: the smaller numbers are the maximum and minimum range the car thinks you have left, based on the last five minutes of driving. The bigger, central number is how many miles you most likely have left, based on the last 30-50 miles of driving. So, the easist number to see is how far you can probably go, but the system also constantly updates you with information about how changing your driving style will affect your range.
The Spark is the first EV with "priority charging."
The Spark is also the first EV with "priority charging." I've asked automaker representatives for years if their all-electric vehicles had the ability to, when programmed to delay charging until nighttime when rates are lower, fill up the battery pack to a preset level (say, at least the number of miles to the nearest hospital, just in case). The answer has always been, "No." GM's response was "stay tuned," which implies that more information will be coming when the car debuts in LA. But, a bit of fiddling with the infotainment screen in the prototypes revealed the priority charging option, which performs exactly this function if you turn it on. The only difference is that GM has decided that the preset level is a battery pack that is 40 percent full. You don't get to choose. Still, this is a bit of customer convenience that we think should be widespread.
You can choose a few different ways to drive the Spark. The normal "D" mode allows for light regen, but we liked "L" which tightens that up and lets you drive (mostly) with one foot. There's also a sport mode, but all this does is adjust the throttle progression. There is no change to suspension, peak power or peak torque, just how the car reacts to pedal presses.
Stepping out to look at the car, we see an upper "grill" that is totally closed, and the only air that enters the engine compartment (aside from small leaks) comes through the lower grill (the black part in the picture below), which has an active shutter so it can be closed off to send oncoming air up and over the car when it's most efficient to do so. The Spark's underside is also covered by full underbody panels.
The front ends of the electric Sparks we got to drive still had camo on them because the official reveal isn't happening until the Los Angeles Auto Show at the end of the moth, but you can see it right now below (larger version here).
The "mini-Volt" story can also be seen in the parts that are shared between the two cars: the oil pump that cools the motor. The motor control software. The power inverter module (with one stage removed since the Spark EV has one motor and the Volt has two). The high voltage cabin heater. The 3.3-kW onboard charger.
Let's Talk Battery
GM says it will launch the car "on schedule" and "has not been impacted by A123's bankruptcy."
There are differences, too, perhaps most importantly in the battery. It's bigger than the Volt's (GM isn't saying exactly how big, just that it's "around" 20 kWh compared to 16.5 kWh in the current-gen Volt). The shapes are different, too. Rectangular in the Spark, T-shaped in the Volt. Both are lithium-ion but the Spark uses lithium-iron phosphate, as opposed to the lithium manganese spinel cells from LG Chem in the Volt. The Spark batteries come from A123 Systems, but Jon Lauckner, GM's chief technology officer, said there is no worry inside GM that A123 will not be able to provide the cells, despite that company's bankruptcy. The production process will see A123 making the cells and assembling the packs in Livonia, MI, then shipping the packs to Korea where the car is put together and then shipping it out for sale. GM says it will launch the car "on schedule" and "has not been impacted by those activities," said Bill Wallace, GM's director of global battery systems.
GM says there are no limitations on how often you can DC fast charge. None.
The Spark will likely be the first vehicle to have the SAE Combo Charger plug installed (it'll be an option. Price not disclosed). And this brings us to the most interesting "news" about the how Spark's battery performs – and something that might be contributing to GM's big new confidence in electric vehicles – which is that GM says there are no limitations on how often you can DC fast charge (i.e., get an 80-percent charge in 20 minutes). None. A presentation slide said, "A123's chemistry tolerates fast charging with modest effects on battery life." This is due, in part, to the low electrical resistance of the A123 cells, which generate less heat and provide longer life. Liquid cooling also helps keeps the battery happy. Put another way, Chris Twarog, a GM energy and battery integration engineer, called the battery chemistry "a beast."
If you're not fast charging, then it takes a little less than seven hours using a Level 2 charger and don't ask about using a standard outlet (probably 20+ hours). GM isn't announcing the range just yet, so it's unclear how often you'll need to charge, but, based on in-car display screens and the 20-kWh pack, we suspect the number will be around 70 miles. Or higher. Or lower. Whatever. This is a commuter EV, and we'll know the details soon enough.
Whatever the range ends up being, GM is preparing something called "waypoint routing" to get your Spark EV wherever it needs to go. Part of the RemoteLink app, the new Spark EV Waypoint tab allows you to input your destination and the app figures out a.) if you can make it with the energy in your pack and b.) if you can't, where to charge up along the way. It will also let you know if there is no waypoint route is available and the destination is outside of your range. The range estimates are based on your personal driving history as well as GM's data; the charging stations come from NREL. The app doesn't take anything at the final destination – how much range you'll have left, charging station availability, etc. – into account.
Aside from the powertrain, there are some differences between the gas- and electric-powered Sparks. Because of the battery, the weight balance is different (and unspecified) in the two cars. Because of the regenerative braking power, the front wheels have disc brakes and the rears have drum brakes on the ICE, whereas all four wheels have disc brakes on the EV. The EV is also heavier, by about 600 pounds, thanks to the 560-pound battery. It's easy to spot the EV badging and charge port, but it's almost impossible to tell that the EV has a slightly larger bump running on the back above the rear license plate. It's there, though.
"It's kind of impossible to keep the wheels straight with all that launch character."
Speaking of power, the Spark EV gets to peak power at 40 mph, which, combined with the car's 0-60 time of around eight seconds, means the Spark EV feels way quicker than other cars in its segment. The problem is that GM hasn't quite tamed this electric beast. With a 134-horsepower motor that puts out 400 pound-feet of torque and A123's high-power battery, the Spark EV does suffer from some torque steer. We never got to go very fast – the roughly half-mile loop route only had one straighaway where we could get up to around 45 mph – but on one acceleration, the handling felt wobbly, like we were hit by a stiff side wind. The second time – on the same stretch of road, using the same pedal application – everything felt straight and solid. Other journalists felt the same wobble, though, and Chris Kinser, electric vehicle controls manager, told AutoblogGreen that this is something the engineers noticed, too. The problem is that it's the result of using an ICE vehicle platform. They've tried to minimize it, and are still tweaking things, but it's going to be present in the finished vehicle. He said the chief pounded his fist a few times, asking them to get it right, but they just can't totally get rid of it:
It's real. We don't consider it a problem. Some people call it torque steer. The geometry of the suspension makes it so with all that torque, it's kind of impossible to keep the wheels straight with all that launch character. This car will probably maintain that character as we launch. There are a couple things we can try, but there's not a whole lot left we can do. In trying to share this platform with the internal combustion program to keep the car's costs down, we can't change that front suspension geometry. We would have liked to. It would have helped with little things like that. But it's just fundamental to how that's designed. We've done some things with the toe, and how we can align the vehicle to minimize it. We might have a little more we can do, because the tires aren't final, but it's going to have a little bit of that character.
The fact remains that these are still prototype vehicles, and GM has roughly six months to get them ready for the public. Also, there are a lot of important facts – how much the Spark will cost, where it will be sold, etc. – that GM is still keeping close to the vest, so it's hard to know how this vehicle will be received. Given the huge emphasis GM is now putting on electric vehicles, though, we imagine it will be quite the story if the Spark doesn't make a big splash.
*Yes, even though GM called the event the Electrification Experience, the idea of only-digital releases was eschewed. Go figure.
That's what some electric-vehicle proponents may say after General Motors announced the upcoming public debut of an all-electric Chevrolet Spark. In South Korea.
GM Korea, which is 77 percent owned by the US automaker (the rest is owned by Korea Development Bank and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.), will start making and selling the all-electric Spark in 2013, according to the Wall Street Journal.
GM, which says it's investing more than $900 million annually to further development of electric-drive vehicles, will also eventually "export" the Spark EV here to the US, though fewer details were disclosed about that process. Most likely, the Spark EV will be a California "compliance car." In March, GM started testing Spark EVs in California, and estimated that the car had a single-charge range of about 100 miles.
South Korea accounts for about 25 percent of all Chevrolets sold globally. Pictured above is a gas-powered Spark.
As GM continues to manage public relations implications from a federal battery investigation, its executives say that while the Volt’s battery is safe already, minor redesign may be necessary and more thorough post-crash protocols are being formulated.
“We want to assure the safety of our customers, of our buyers, and so we’re just going to take a time out, if you will, in terms of redesigning the battery possibly,” said GM Chainman and CEO Dan Akerson to Reuters.
Akerson also said GM would hold off on delivering Opel Amperas in Europe until safety regulators and engineers have finalized how to handle the Volt/Ampera’s battery after a crash.
As previously reported, GM has gone above the call of duty to offer loaner cars to customers if they want them, while the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration works on issues surrounding the Volt and other electric vehicles’ batteries.
Regarding this, GM has clarified reports by saying there are no specific plans to “buy back” Volts from concerned owners. What was meant, it has since explained, is if a customer complaint escalated up the ladder, it would consider buy backs on a case by case basis.
All this said, it should be understood that no Volts have caught fire in any accidents. The perception in the public’s eye has been driven by extensive reporting of the Volt’s new technology which when put through extreme testing has been shown it can ignite.
Since the Volt’s battery pack is an energy source, GM has long said post-crash Volts need to be “depowered.” NHTSA has crashed stand-alone batteries then left them charged, even rotating one, to see what would happen.
To help balance the perspective, consider that conventional cars also represent a fire hazard, and 215,500 in the U.S. were involved in fires last year. Because thousands of ordinary cars catch fire and never get the level of media attention the Volt received due to lab tests, it’s believed that excessive scrutiny is driven by concerns for the relatively unknown.
NHTSA and GM both have qualified recent events by saying the Volt continues to be viable transportation, but it has not prevented GM’s top brass from hopping in response to put out public relations fires, even if no Volt fires have ever happened for any drivers.
On Friday, Mary Barra GM’s global product development chief, followed up on statements by Akerson that the company would consider tweaking the Volt’s battery.
“We are looking to say, ‘Are there some design changes we can make, something even more robust in this location or that location or with this component,’” Barra said at an Automotive Press Association event. “If we have to do something, we will.
“The one thing you don’t want to do is jump to conclusions,” she added.
The way GM Spokesman Rob Peterson characterized it is GM is an engineering company, and the Volt is an engineered solution. If you give engineers a task to fulfill, they will. But whether this will be required has yet to be determined.
Barra said there are a “few avenues that we think could increase the robustness for this specific condition,” but added NHTSA’s probe was still in early stages, while declining to say how long she thought it would go.
Notwithstanding new hoops GM is being made to jump through, preparing emergency service personnel to tackle the Volt is not unfamiliar territory as evidenced by this January 19 photo. This crash-tested Volt was used to train 400 Detroit-area first responders in how to deal with emergency situations involving electric vehicles. The training was part of a joint program sponsored by Chevrolet, OnStar and the National Fire Protection Association. Detroit was the final stop on a nationwide tour where more than 1,600 fire and emergency service leaders had been trained.
GM has said issues experienced are not the fault of the LG Chem battery cells in the Volt’s 400-pound T-shaped battery pack.
Barra assured those present that what ever might be done will not compromise the Volt’s present efficiency.
“We understand one of the very important premises of the Volt is the EV (driving) range and we plan to protect that,” she said.
She also said NHTSA’s investigation has not affected the planned roll out of any electrified vehicles GM has announced, particularly the Spark EV and Voltec-based Cadillac ELR.
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