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In July of 2009 General Motors initiated a ‘viral’ marketing campaign with the unexplained and mysterious number “230″ set against a green background.  By no means was the campaign ground-breaking, but it did it’s job by placing Chevrolet into the media spotlight…briefly.  When the campaign concluded on August 11, it was revealed that the 230 would be the official US EPA city rating (miles per gallon) for the all new Chevrolet Volt.  Hazzah.  Ultimately I believe GM executives were hoping to “shock and awe” Americans with this incredible fuel efficiency to show that the US can keep step with Japanese automotive engineering prowess.  And kudos to GM for finally getting their act together and building a car for the future of America.  Though I still need to rap GM for not doing this sooner.  Instead the company grew addicted to building grossly marked-up SUVs for the past two decades.  Shoulda, coulda, woulda’s aside, this car might have made a gigantic media splash if this debut happened when gas prices were over $4/gallon last summer.  But it’s here now and coming to showrooms at the end of 2010.

First myth to dispell: the Chevy Volt is NOT a hybrid.  There are three main components to the Volt’s drivetrain: an electric motor, a stack of lithium-ion batteries, and a small (conventional) gasoline engine (about half the size of the one in a normal car).  A hybrid car has these same components and the power to the wheels comes from both the electric motor and the gasoline engine.  In the Volt, power is only coming from the electric motor.  The Volt’s gasoline engine is dedicated to charging the batteries which supply power to the electric motor.  If you’re thinking about eventually purchasing a Volt, you should be sure to understand this difference in drivetrains for it will stupefy your Chevy showroom sales associate and give you respect when it comes time to negotiate.

Another major point to understand of the Volt is that it can be plugged in.  Chevy engineers designed this car so it can charged in your garage overnight, and then do a 40 mile commute off of the batteries alone.  (After roughly 40 miles the gas engine will kick in to recharge the batteries.)  So if you drive less than 40 miles a day, it could be a long long time between visiting the gas station, resulting in a perceived infinite amount of miles per gallon.  This was the basis of contention when GM sought a ridiculously high fuel efficiency rating from the EPA.  The EPA had to reconsider the way it measures fuel efficiency.  230 mpg is a bit dubious and I can’t help but imagine that higher-ups from GM and the EPA met in a smoke filled room to “agree” on this rating.  Remember, “230″ is the number that GM would base a major advertising campaign around to debut the Volt.  So what’s wrong with a little government/corporate collusion to help out a domestic automaker?  Hmm?

So what is the real deal with the Volt?  It is actually an electric car.  Think of it as if GM took a Tesla Roadster (all electric) then added a gas engine under the hood to charge the batteries on the go.  (And also made it a four-door sedan.)  The Volt will recharge overnight using inexpensive power from a power outlet in your garage.  (Saving you money you would have otherwise spent at the gas pump)  

This car is a well thought out concept and will save commuters money while adorning them with green halos.  But there is one minor thing that I suspect the Volt will have a difficult time dealing with.  Winter.

Batteries do not perform well in the cold.  When it’s cold a battery will not measure the same voltage as it would at a normal temperature.  Inside these modern batteries is a careful arrangement of fluid, metals, and ions.  Colder temperatures will make the whole process lethargic.  To compensate, Volt engineers built a heater into the Volt’s batteries that would keep them at a minimum temperature while the car is plugged in.  If it’s not plugged in, the batteries will need to be heated before they can be put to use and in the meanwhile the electric motor will be in full use.  If you forget to plug in your Volt at night during the winter, you will miss out on a significant portion of those “free” 40 miles (that GM is touting) when you drive to work the next day.  Bummer.

How much for the Volt?  Expect it to cost in the mid $30k’s AFTER a hefty federal tax credit from Uncle You-Know-Who.  

The Volt: quite possibly a cause celebré for US automotive engineering.  I’ll raise a glass and toast to that.  ”May your batteries always be warm.”

Tesla Motors is a small automobile startup company incorporated in 2003 and located in California.  Currently the sole end user product is the Roadster, a two seater all electric sports car with some very impressive performance numbers.  Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently made an appearance on David Letterman’s Late Show to showcase the Model S, a sedan due out in 2011 to compete with luxury/performance sedans (i.g. BMW 5 series).  And because this company is producing only electric cars environmentalists are lining up to give Tesla a hug, including Uncle Sam.  The United States federal government is demonstrating its affection by way of a low-interest $465 million loan distributed by the Advanced Technology Manufacturing Loan Program.  (While Tesla is still a private company, the list of investors is a who’s-who list of technology shakers and movers.)

Tesla’s founders set out to “build [an] electric car with zeros emissions [that] people would love to drive.”  After years of development the Roadster arrived (slightly delayed) in customers hands in March of 2008.  It’s an all electric car with an advertised range of 244 miles.  Forget your Prius or Insight, this is the precursor to the real solution of America’s addiction to foreign oil.

Every American needs to know about Tesla Motors and what exactly they are trying to accomplish.  This is not just about making a quick buck for hedge fund managers in Connecticut.  A company like this is led by charismatic business leaders driven by the impetus of ideology.  Tesla Motors has the potential to be a game changer.  (And not in the technology world sense that a new operating system will make our lives more vivacious.  Aside: I can’t wait for Windows 7… )  The electric motor is coming to personal transportation and I believe Tesla is the harbinger.  In only six years this company has gone through some rough roads of bad decisions but the general trend of the business evolution is solid.  In fact it has been exactly what it has needed to have been.  Here are my three points on what Tesla Motors has done exactly right to best position itself for future automotive innovation and to become the icon of the personal transportation revolution:

One:

The Roadster was the product of ideology and passionate engineering.  (The ideology stemming from environmental concerns and the implications of addiction to foreign oil.)  At some point in the last decade lithium ion batteries (which power the vast majority of laptops) reached a certain critical level of development which made an electric car viable with a huge block of these batteries smartly wired together.  (The anticipated charging times and driving ranges were deemed acceptable for everyday drivers.)  This intersection of ideology and passion for technology was huge, I cannot think of a better way to motivate a product of such importance.

Two:

Developing the Roadster sport car first was paramount.  When developing new technology, test and development needs to happen under the most harsh and demanding conditions.  Normally the automotive industry does this with Formula 1, Nascar, or in northern Sweden and then adopts the proven technology to the consumer car.  Tesla unleashed their engineers to research and develop capabilities for a sports car.  The more moderate models to follow will be a piece of cake to engineer and in all likelihood cost considerably less.  This top down approach to the market also solves the question of volume.  As a new car company, it is smart to exclude yourself to all but the most wealthy of customers.  It is then easy to leverage the demand to sell at premium prices.

Three:

Tesla outsourced a lot of conventional components including the chassis to Lotus Cars of England.  Basically the Tesla Roadster is a Lotus Elise with the conventional engine swapped out for an electric motor.  (The Elise frame is quite light at just over 2000 lbs and contributed towards performance numbers.)  The Elise is a very cool looking frame but not a particularly well known car here in the U.S.  After all the attention Tesla has been receiving the Roadster may have more brand awareness than the Elise and may eventually supplant the Lotus image.

What does the future hold for Tesla?  The Roadster will remain out of financial reach ($101,500) for most consumers but will continue to stand as a solid proof of concept.  The four door Model S is due out in 2011 with an estimated price of ($57,400) and a 300 mile range per charge.  (Expect some generous tax credits for electric cars to bring the sticker shock down a bit.)  Beyond that there is talk of a third model costing around $30,000 as Tesla Motors gradually wades into the market of the average consumer.  Between then and now I am confident that the price of oil will be back into the triple digits, but this time pushed by demand and not a crazed speculation bubble.  It will then be well apparent that this company has had the astute foresight to lead the personal transportation revolution… or let’s change that to the personal transportation metamorphosis because these cars look so damn sexy.

Mom, for Christmas I would like a Tesla Roadster.

Toyota Prius

Years ago the Toyota Prius was the car to have if you were a celebrity concerned with having the public know you were environmentally aware.  But now the Prius is almost an ordinary car in suburban America.  And even SUVs are built with hybrid energy drives.  (I still think this is a contradiction in engineering.)

Car manufacturers have collectively been building up the awareness and cachet of hybrid technology.  They did this mostly by highlighting the “green” and virtuous ability of going further with less gas.  And along the way a lot of people gained a general understanding of how these hybrid energy systems work.  Sounds like a winning combination: having a warm-fuzzy that you’re not hurting the Earth as much as before, and a satisfaction of understanding how your car works…generally.

Here’s my theory: all things being equal I think transportation is environmentally a zero-sum game.  It’s true your Prius will pump less harmful particles into your town’s air than your old car with it’s conventional engine.  But there’s a small city in a remote part of Russia that most likely smelted the nickel that resides in the Prius’s battery.  This town is notorious among environmentalists for being one of the worst in the world and can be blamed directly for a shockingly sizable percentage of global emission of certain hazardous materials.  (Trees barely grow in this town.)  Of course it’s impossible to decide how much is to be blamed on the Prius, and Toyota can endlessly spin the numbers and discredit unfavorable reports.  But put simply, buying the Prius has taken the pollution out of your town and placed it somewhere else.  Then there’s the geographically various assembly points and the energy required to ferry the parts.  Parts of a Prius are most likely better travelled than their owners.  

So how is pollution reduced for real?  Consolidation.  The amount of energy needed to move 20 people and one bus is significantly less than moving 20 people and 20 cars the same distance.  The Prius weighs nearly the same as conventional cars.  Sure the individual owner may recognize fuel savings due to the hybrid energy drive but the Earth might not be able to tell the difference in the larger picture.

By nature us Americans are terribly decadent.  We will never willingly relinquish our own personal space during our daily commute to share it with 20 strangers on a bus and incur the added inconvenience of public transportation.

Now I appeal to today’s celebrity genuinely concerned with your environmental public image.  Go and buy a Honda Fit and be seen driving it.  It’s conventionally powered, it’s smaller and weighs much less than an average car.  Simple as that.  Less car is more savings…globally.