Tech To The Front At Detroit

For the first time in many years, a U.S. manufacturer dominated Detroit’s huge auto show with a concept car based on advanced technology. Obvious, you’d think, right?

Well, no. Tech is all over Tokyo and Frankfurt, the two other major dates on the global auto-show circuit. The Germans have diesels and the Japanese have pretty much anything you could imagine and a lot more you couldn’t. Even the South Americans have flex fuels.

But Detroit’s showstoppers have traditionally been muscle cars, SUVs and pickup trucks–with bread-and-butter family sedans sitting far to the rear. Technology was usually reduced to a mention in the 38th paragraph of mind-numbingly tedious press releases.

This year, that changed abruptly. A resurgent GM unveiled a concept that leapfrogged hybrids like Toyota’s Prius, which are gasoline-driven cars with a bit of electric assist. In a nutshell, the Chevrolet Volt is an electric car, with up to 40 miles of range on pure battery power. But it also carries a “range extender” in the form of a tiny 1.0-liter turbocharged engine. That engine cannot drive the car; its purpose is solely to run a generator that recharges the batteries. With a 12-gallon tank, it’ll do up to 650 miles in combined electric-gasoline mode.

New types of batteries will be the key. Lithium-ion, the kind in your mobile phone, hold the most energy of any battery chemistry–but they’re not yet built in automotive sizes. Battery makers all over the world are working furiously to develop and test cells and packs large and durable enough to power something that weighs a ton or more for 10 years and through 4,000 deep-discharge cycles. The U.S. is behind in that regard, as most of the globe’s lithium-ion batteries are made in Asia.

Other Volt features included a Lexan roof and doors with Lexan uppers, greatly increasing natural light in the cabin. While Honda and Toyota have used vertical glass panels in tailgates, Chevy’s transparent upper door skins gave the Volt an instantly recognizable look all its own.

Somewhat lost in the oohs and aahs over styling and electric drive was GM’s announcement that the Volt is based on elements of what it calls “E-Flex architecture”. Translation: They’re already designing platforms for actual production cars that incorporate electric-drive components. Insiders say the next Opel/Vauxhall Astra, due for the 2010 model year, will be the first built around E-Flex.

So the Chevy Volt concept rocked Detroit. It was THE car. After all, it’s been a long, long time since GM got spontaneous applause at a press conference for a commitment to lessening petroleum dependence. In fact, that may have been a world first all by itself.

Throughout three days of media previews, anxious GM suits asked journos, “Did you see it? Did you like it? What do you think of it?” Answers: Yes, yes, and, good effort, chaps.

But, remember, guys, you have about one year to announce production dates. Otherwise, the green cred you’ve gained–at a show where Toyota launched the largest, heaviest pickup truck it’s ever built–will vanish. After all, we wouldn’t want a film called, “Who Killed the E-Flex Auto?”, now, would we?

Contributed by John Voelcker. John writes about cars for Wired, Popular Science, IEEE Spectrum and other outlets on the web and in print. He provides commentary to NPR’s “Living on Earth” radio show, and his podcasts can be found at www.spectrum.ieee.org.