Posted on

GM will build Chevy Bolt in Michigan in late 2016

General Motors Co plans to begin building its new Chevrolet Bolt electric car in October 2016 at an underused small-car plant north of Detroit, two supplier sources said.

Despite the hype surrounding the car's unveiling last month at the Detroit auto show, the sources said, GM's production target for the Bolt is relatively modest, at about 25,000-30,000 cars a year.

Last year, GM sold 18,800 Chevrolet Volt hybrid electric cars. The Volt, priced from around $35,000, uses a small gasoline engine to increase range.

GM has said the Bolt's target price was $30,000. A GM source familiar with Chevrolet's plans said the price would actually be "in the mid-$30,000s" but federal and state incentives to purchase "green cars" would reduce the consumer's final cost to $30,000.

The Bolt is expected to go on sale in early 2017 and will have a range between charges of more than 200 miles.

The Bolt will compete with Tesla Motors Inc's similarly priced Model 3, planned to debut in calendar 2017, as well as the Nissan Leaf, which sold just over 30,000 last year.

The supplier sources said the Bolt and a companion model for GM's Opel subsidiary in Europe will be assembled at GM's plant in Orion Township. The GM source said the company has not yet reached a final decision on whether the Opel model will be assembled in Orion Township.

The factory now makes the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano and has been operating at well below capacity as small-car sales have suffered from falling gasoline prices.

The Bolt is being developed on GM's Gamma global small-car platform, according to the supplier sources. The same basic set of components will provide the base for the next-generation Sonic, also due in late 2016, they said.

The GM source asked not to be named and an official company spokesman declined to comment.

Posted on

Nissan GT-R LMP1 NISMO unveiled [VIDEO]

This is the Nissan NISMO entry to the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hour race, the GT-R LM NISMO.

The GT-R LM NISMO is a front-engined, front wheel drive car that is powered by a V6 3-litre twin turbo petrol engine and a kinetic energy recovery system- It is the ultimate GT-R.

Some info on the Nissan LMP1:

  • 3.0ltr Twin Turbo charged V6 based on GTR engine.
  • Front wheel drive which is driven by GTR engine.
  • 8 megajoule energy storage.
  • Narrower rear tires than the front.
  • Front torque vectoring system which controls the front wheel drive system controlling how much power can go to each wheel.

    Nissan has yet to announce how retrieved energy is stored, but it is understood that it is a flywheel system.

    • Posted on

    Kia Soul e-AWD concept to be unveiled in Chicago

    Kia Motors America will unveil an advanced and capable electric all-wheel drive (e-AWD) concept vehicle at the upcoming Chicago Auto Show.

    The off-roader was conceived by Kia's California design studio and built for city dwellers seeking the ultimate urban escape. Intended to enable a wide array of outdoor activities from skiing and snowboarding, to camping, hiking and mountain biking, this rugged runabout captures the essence of adventuring at higher elevations with the promise of surefootedness in the wild.
    Posted on

    Tesla Model X Caught Testing [VIDEO]

    Youtuber Juan del Real shot this video of a Tesla Model X being tested at the former naval air station in Alameda California about 30 miles north of Tesla's factory in Fremont.

    Based on the size of the Model S in the background, Jalopnik think the camouflaged prototype looks too small to be a Model X and believe this may in fact be the first sighting of a Model 3.

    Posted on

    Toyota to Trial New SiC Power Semiconductor Technology [VIDEO]

    Using a "Camry" hybrid prototype and a fuel cell bus, Toyota Motor Corporation will bring a brand new technology to the streets of Japan for testing this year. The tests will evaluate the performance of silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors, which could lead to significant efficiency improvements in hybrids and other vehicles with electric powertrains.

    Technology

    Power semiconductors are found in power control units (PCUs), which are used to control motor drive power in hybrids and other vehicles with electric powertrains. PCUs play a crucial role in the use of electricity, supplying battery power to the motors during operation and recharging the battery using energy recovered during deceleration.

    At present, power semiconductors account for approximately 20 percent of a vehicle's total electrical losses, meaning that raising the efficiency of the power semiconductors is a promising way to increase powertrain efficiency.

    By comparison with existing silicon power semiconductors, the newly developed high quality silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors create less resistance when electricity flows through them. The technologies behind these SiC power semiconductors were developed jointly by Toyota, Denso Corporation, and Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. as part of the results of a broader R&D project* in Japan.

    Test vehicles and period

    In the Camry hybrid prototype, Toyota is installing SiC power semiconductors (transistors and diodes) in the PCU's internal voltage step-up converter and the inverter that controls the motor. Data gathered will include PCU voltage and current as well as driving speeds, driving patterns, and conditions such as outside temperature. By comparing this information with data from silicon semiconductors currently in use, Toyota will assess the improvement to efficiency achieved by the new SiC power semiconductors. Road testing of the Camry prototype will begin (primarily in Toyota City) in early February 2015, and will continue for about one year.

    Similarly, on January 9, 2015, Toyota began collecting operating data from a fuel cell bus currently in regular commercial operation in Toyota City. The bus features SiC diodes in the fuel cell voltage step-up converter, which is used to control the voltage of electricity from the fuel cell stack.

    Data from testing will be reflected in development, with the goal of putting the new SiC power semiconductors into practical use as soon as possible.

    Posted on

    Supercharger Wars are Go: Nissan to have 1700 CHAdeMO chargers in US by 2016

    Following closely on the heals of BMW and Volkswagen announcing a 100 station CCS fast charger network last week, Nissan have plans to install up to 1,700 CHAdeMO fast chargers in the US by 2016.

    Since the launch of the Nissan LEAF in late 2010, Nissan has reinforced its commitment to zero emission mobility with investments in EV charging infrastructure to serve the needs of LEAF drivers in markets across the U.S.

    Nissan has a multi-pronged strategy to invest with charging partners to install quick charging for owners in the communities where they live and work, as well as at corporate workplaces and Nissan dealerships.

    Timeline of (CHAdeMO) quick charging rollout:

  • January 2013: Approximately 160 CHAdeMO chargers chargers installed nationwide.
  • January 2015: More than 800 total U.S. quick chargers installed and active.
  • April 1, 2015: 1,100 quick chargers expected nationwide.
  • April 1, 2016: 1,700 quick chargers projected.

    "Access to quick chargers that can provide about 80 percent charge to a Nissan LEAF battery in less than 30 minutes has proved to increase our owner satisfaction and get more buyers to consider the benefits of an all-electric car," said Brendan Jones, Nissan's director of Electric Vehicle Sales and Infrastructure Deployment. "Nissan continues to invest heavily with our charging partners to ensure that LEAF owners have easy access to convenient public charging as they seek to maximize the benefits of their cars."

    For reference there are currently 140 Tesla Supercharger locations in the USA.

    • Posted on

    GM developing a high-performance electric AWD system for next-gen Cadillacs

    According to Edmunds, General Motors is developing a high performance electric all-wheel drive system for next-gen V-Series Cadillac models and maybe their crossovers. This system could make its way into other GM Alpha-platform-based vehicles such as the Cadillac ATS and Chevrolet Camaro, and possibly a Corvette derivative.

    All-wheel drive has become a must-have for high-performance luxury car buyers, and Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are ahead of the game with their AWD-equipped vehicles. Cadillac, however, lags behind this trend, having just introduced the 455-horsepower ATS-V and 640-hp CTS-V, both rear-wheel-drive sedans. Cadillac is also lagging in its offering of electrified fuel-efficient models.

    An electric all-wheel-drive system, known in the industry by the acronym e-AWD, can potentially boost fuel economy in many future vehicles and help expand their plug-in hybrid offerings, however, the system GM desires is many years in the future.

    Joe Slenvak, director of powertrain electrification for North America at Robert Bosch, told Edmunds that adding electric all-wheel drive to the front wheels of a rear-drive car has challenges.

    "When you put the electric axle drive in the front, you have a lot of crossmembers and things that are in the cradle that you have to work around. It would be a little bit hard to do (but) I think you could do it," Slenvak said.

    Sounds like an application perfectly suited to in-wheel motors.

    Slenvak said a vehicle could be retrofitted to add that system. He would not say if Bosch is developing an electric all-wheel-drive system for GM's rear-drive cars.

    Source: Edmunds