GM to invest $1.2B in full-size truck plant

General Motors is investing $1.2 billion in its full-size pickup truck plant in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for upgrades and technology that will improve the plant’s competitiveness in assembling high-quality light- and heavy-duty models.

Construction of the new pre-treat, electro-coat paint operation and sealing facility, expanded body shop, expanded and new material sequencing centers, and upgraded general assembly area is expected to begin in June and take several years to complete. Full-size truck production schedules will be unaffected by the construction.

The investment includes a number of technological and environmental upgrades:

• New pre-treatment facility featuring thin-film paint pretreatment
• E-coat paint customized to each vehicle style, resulting in superior coverage and curability
• GM-patented radiant tube ovens for exceptional paint finish and lower energy use
• New equipment that accommodates the many variations of the truck cab and box being placed on the chassis
• New skillet conveyance systems for instrument panel assembly intended to improve worker ergonomics, leading to better product quality.

Fort Wayne Assembly began building light-duty trucks in 1986. Today, it is a three-shift operation with approximately 3,800 employees who build light- and heavy-duty regular and double cab full-size trucks.

The investments in Fort Wayne are part of the $5.4 billion that GM said on 30 April it would invest in US facilities over the next three years.

VIA Motors Plans To Sell 50,000 Hybrid Trucks A Year By 2018

VIA Motors has just begun delivering its first plug-in hybrid vans to customers this week. Deliveries of its hybrid pickup trucks to fleets will begin in February and to individual customers by the end of this year. But already, Chairman Bob Lutz tells Bloomberg he expects the company to be selling 50,000 plug-in hybrid trucks and vans a year by 2018.

Lutz told Bloomberg that FedEx, Pacific Gas & Electric, Duke Energy, and Verizon have already placed orders. Sun Country Highway — which operates a network of electric-car charging stations along Canadian highways — has also signed up for 1,000 pickups and vans, he says. Prices for the hybridized trucks are $65,000 for the pickup and $79,000 for the van. Since they are essentially the same vehicle under the sheetmetal, there is no explanation given for why the van costs a whopping $14,000 more.

The vehicles VIA offers are based on the standard Chevrolet Silverado full size pickup truck and the Express cargo van. VIA adds its own proprietary hybrid powertrain that allows both vehicles to have a combined fuel economy rating of 100 MPGe.  Electric only range for the pickup truck is 40 miles; for the van it is 35 miles.

That’s assuming drivers actually remember to plug in once in a while. Fleet experience with the Chevy Volt has been dismal, since most fleet drivers can’t be bothered to recharge their vehicles and just continue to drive as long as there is gas in the tank. There is no word if Chairman Lutz is planning to ride along to make sure proper recharging procedures are followed. Unless the vehicles are plugged in, their real world fuel economy will be no different than the donor vehicles, which cost half as much to buy.

Bob Lutz is a legend in the automobile manufacturing business, of course, but will his hybrid trucks actually hit the 50,000 a year target he has set for 2018? Hybrid trucks have found it tough going in the marketplace. The road to hybrid heaven is littered with failures, from Boulder Electric to Echo Automotive. Ford and Chevy have both backed away from this market after playing with prototypes for years.

The reason, of couse, is the high cost of these beasts. It takes a massive battery to move a big, heavy vehicle and batteries are expensive. Some observers suggest that the battery in the Tesla Model S accounts for 40% of its purchase price. With gas prices plummeting, individuals may still want to have a high efficiency car to help save the environment, but the steely eyed accountants at the nation’s major corporations are unlikely to be swayed by such appeals to ecology. It’s the bottom line, baby. That’s all that matters.

If I were Mr. Lutz, I wouldn’t bet my entire personal fortune on the success of this VIA Motors adventure.

GM Prepares Aluminum Pickups For 2018

In a move that surprises no one, GM has signed a deal with a major aluminum supplier to begin transitioning its trucks to mostly-aluminum bodies in 2018. This move will help GM save a lot of weight, while improving fuel economy, showcasing another way the U.S. truck market is shifting in ways once thought impossible.

GM has signed supply contracts with Alcoa Inc., the world’s third-largest supplier of aluminum. the same company that Ford signed to provide aluminum for the 2015 F-150. The Blue Oval’s big announcement has sent automakers the world over scrambling to secure aluminum supply contracts of their own, as it isn’t only pickups that will utilize the lighter metal. Aluminum prices have spiked as a result.

The 5-star safety-rated Tesla Model S, for example, is constructed almost entirely out of aluminum, and the 2015 Ford Mustang utilizes aluminum hood and fenders to help shave off 300 lbs. compared to the 2014 model. Other automakers, like BMW, are turning to carbon fiber in order to shave weight and improve fuel economy, though it’s also even more expensive than aluminum.

Meanwhile, U.S. Steel is investing millions of dollars in developing newer, lighter steel alloys designed to compete with aluminum. 15% of U.S. Steel’s business comes from the auto industry, and this rush on aluminum could put a big dent in profits. That leaves only Chrysler left to make the move to a lighter alloy, and I guarantee talks are already underway.

GM’s aluminum trucks won’t be ready until late 2018 at the soonest though, leaving Ford several years to cut its teeth on this new method of making trucks. This is one of those situations where being first isn’t necessarily for the best though.

Source: Reuters

GM Quietly Drops Hybrid Pickups; Are SUVs Next?

GM's full-size hybrid pickups, the Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid and GMC Sierra Hybrid, for much of the time they've been on sale, have offered the highest gas mileage of any full-size truck on the U.S. market.

Yet these hybrid pickups, which were introduced for the 2009 model year, have been surprisingly slow-selling. Total sales numbers for the GM [NYSE: GM] full-size hybrid trucks added up to just 3,114 last year, from a high of 8,797 across five models in 2009.

And now, we've received official confirmation that they're discontinued.

At a special event last week previewing GM's 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, GM North America President Mark Reuss confirmed to us that this so-called Two-Mode Hybrid system is no longer part of GM's plan for pickups.

New engines, but no more Hybrid

“In this truck we decided to go with thGreen Car Reportse EcoTec3 technology, with the V-6 and the two V-8s, and we think that's the best solution for our customers,” said Reuss. “So with this next generation it will not be a hybrid.”

The information is expected, in light of several reportsin recent months—one from GM Inside News—citing company insiders indicating that the system was to be dropped in some or all of its current models.

Reuss declined to comment on the future of the system in the company's SUVs, but some sources had as recently as a few months ago confirmed that the automaker was still planning to offer the system in a refreshed Cadillac Escalade Hybrid—a vehicle that's served as a green image-booster for celebrities and business leaders.

Possible in the Escalade, too expensive in other models?

Price is a likely factor in these trucks' poor sales performance. Although they offer excellent EPA mileage ratings of 20 mpg city, 23 highway—for a best-in-class 21 mpg Combined—as well as good performance plus respectable towing and hauling ratings, the Chevy starts at $40,885, while the GMC starts at $41,305 for 2013.

For 2013, the mileage-focused Ram 1500 HFE model is the first full-sizer to tie that 21-mpg Combined rating; and it has an MSRP of just $28,250. GM hasn't yet revealed gas mileage ratings for its full-size trucks, which get new technology including direct injection, cylinder deactivation, and variable valve timing for an all-new V-6 engine and two new V-8s. The new V-6 might not quite meet the mileage of the Hybrid, but it would be far more affordable, with sales numbers that would figure significantly into average fuel economy calculations.

The Two-Mode system represents years of engineering and development collaboration between General Motors, BMW, and the company then known as DaimlerChrysler. Yet the once-promising partnership largely dissolved several years ago, leaving GM as the sole proprietor of the system. Outside of these GM pickups, as well as the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, GMC Yukon Hybrid, and Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, the only other new vehicle offering a related system from the cooperation is the 2013 BMW X6 ActiveHybrid.

Source: Green Car Reports

Chevrolet, GMC price bi-fuel pickups $11,000 above suggested base-vehicle price

Chevrolet and GMC extended cab heavy-duty pickup trucks with a bi-fuel option will sell for $11,000 above the suggested base-vehicle price. Fleet and retail customers can place orders for the 2013Ú Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra 2500 HD beginning 19 April.

The pickups, which run on compressed natural gas (CNG) and gasoline, have a Vortec 6.0L V8 engine that seamlessly transitions between the two fuel systems. A single light-weight Type 3 tank in the bed maximizes available payload and bed space, offering more usable space than competitors.

The Silverado HD and Sierra 2500 HD offer customers fueling flexibility with a combined CNG and gasoline range of more than 650 miles—the longest range available in the bi-fuel truck market.

The pickups will be available in standard and long-box, two-or-four-wheel drive in the extended cab models, offering customization for specific needs.

CNG has maintained a significantly lower retail price than either gasoline or diesel. The current average price of CNG is equivalent to $1.89 per gallon of gasoline. Customers could save $5,000 to $10,000 over a three-year period, depending on their driving habits.

—Joyce Mattman, director, GM Commercial Product and Specialty Vehicles

The bi-fuel trucks will be covered by GM’s three-year, 36,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty and five-year, 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty and vehicle emissions warranty, meeting all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) emission certification requirements.

The entire manufacturer-backed gaseous fuel system in the vehicles meets GM’s strict quality, durability, safety testing and is covered under the extensive warranty. The trucks are built in Fort Wayne, Ind., and then sent to the Tier One supplier for installation of the CNG bi-fuel delivery and storage system.



Source: Green Car Congress

The Chevy Volt: Helium or Halo?

When the Prius launched in 1997, a new term was born in the auto industry: the "halo car". Although Toyota lost money on the hybrid in its first few years, the company earned a favorable impression from consumers -- even those who didn't buy a Prius -- for its eco-leadership. Many people think of the upcoming Chevy Volt, GM's first mass production electric vehicle, as its version of a halo car. It's my opinion that GM is more interested in the Volt as a "helium car" than as a halo car.

By helium car, I mean a car whose express purpose is to raise the overall mileage number of a particular carmaker's fleet. GM will be able to sell more low-MPG SUVs and pickup trucks without being in violation of the CAFE regulations, thanks to the helium effect of the Volt. In other words, the Volt's primary purpose in the minds of GM's executives is to subsidize gas guzzlers.

In a recent insightful posting at gm-volt.com (a blog dedicated to covering the development and rollout of the Chevy Volt), GM's vehicle line director for the Volt, Tony Posawatz, revealed that GM is not very serious about making the Volt a popular success. "I think we will always want to keep the Volt in a position where demand for the product is slightly greater than supply...We would not want to see the Volt needing to be discounted for whatever reason." As a result, GM plans to make only a few hundred Volts in 2010, a few thousand in 2011 and about 60,000 in 2012. Those aren't the production numbers needed to make the Chevy Volt a mass-market success. A typical new car launch is measured in the hundreds of thousands of cars produced in the first few years. But for helium purposes, only a few thousand Volts need to be sold, thanks to expectations that its government-certified MPG numbers (which haven't been released yet, but will probably top 100 MPG) will be extremely favorable. For every Volt sold, GM will be able to sell a half-dozen Silverados and Sequoias, while still meeting the new CAFE rule of having an overall fleet MPG rating of 35 MPG. Contrast this to Nissan's ambitious plans to make more than a half-million Leafs in 2012. As part of that strategy, Nissan set the Leaf in the U.S. market at a very low price point: $32,500. Subtract the federal tax credit ($7,500), and the Leaf is comparable in price to the gasoline-powered Nissan Sentra.

How is Nissan able to make an EV that is priced so low? First of all, they've cracked the code for making lithium-ion batteries cheaply. The 24 kWh battery pack for the Leaf is rumored to cost about $9,000 (that's less than $400/kWh). The Volt's smaller battery pack (16 kWh), made by LG Chem, is rumored to cost about $700/kWh.

However, there's another element to Nissan's pricing strategy: It is willing to lower the price of the car in order to boost demand for it.

GM hasn't announced the price at which it will be selling the Volt yet -- it will do so later this summer -- but based on inferences from GM officials, it's clear that it will be priced much higher than the Leaf, and will probably be more comparable to a Cadillac than a Malibu. GM clearly doesn't see the Volt as a revolutionary new way to produce and sell cars. Instead, it sees a niche product and an opportunity to make money off of gullible tree-huggers. All of this is a tremendous shame. GM's 2007 decision to pursue the development of the Volt at great cost and controversy was a bold and courageous move -- indeed, it was GM's best shot at re-engineering the entire company from the car up. Instead, senior management has taken the golden apple presented by the company's engineers -- and what is by all accounts a spectacular car -- and turned it into a way to build more SUVs and con a few thousand eco-conscious buyers out of their money by charging a premium. GM is missing out on the opportunity to build a new company with a competitive flagship brand. Of course, there's still the chance that GM will price the Volt to be competitive with the Leaf (I would suggest that it deserves a slight premium of about $1,000 for the internal combustion range extender). So if GM prices the Volt at $33,500, I'll gladly eat my radiator hose.

Source: GreenTech Media

Introducing EV Power Systems

EV Power Systems Schematic




Here is yet another company willing to convert existing vehicles to dramatically improve fuel economy. Of all the free money issued by the US Government these days, wouldn't a subsidy for this type of conversion be appropriate? If we could convert even one third of our existing light duty truck fleet then there would be a savings of hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil daily. Indeed, VW has estimated that if one third of the US fleet was converted to diesel engines, the savings would be 1.4 million barrels per day. There are so many ways we can reduce our consumption of imported oil yet none of the solutions seems to be taking hold. The technology is here, now but the willingness and support is absent.

From EVPowerSystems.com:

EVPS has developed, tested and is taking orders for our commercial retrofit PHEV designed for pick-up trucks and cargo vans. Unlike other companies, EVPS retrofits/converts existing trucks with an affordable, effective, technology neutral plug-in hybrid-electric drive system that does not require changes to the internal-combustion engine, transmission, vehicle support systems or emissions equipment. See more photos of the light-duty hybrid system. Check out the brochure for more information.

• Retains engine, transmission, emissions equipment
• Retains factory systems -- HVAC, power equipment, etc.
• 25-40% improved mpg (est.) in start/stop driving
• 25+% reduced tailpipe emissions
• On-board charger -- 120V/240V outlets
• Vehicle continues to operate if hybrid system inoperable for some reason
• Hybrid systems transferable to another vehicle
• One-day installation

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