Beyond Volt, Insiders Reveal More GM Plug-in Cars on the Way

The much-anticipated Chevy Volt made its debut on Tuesday, but, after a little squeezing, General Motors engineers and independent analysts opened up about expanding the cars technology for future versions of an electrified Chevy Malibu, Pontiac, Cadillac and more.

DETROIT — Even as General Motors executives used the company’s boisterous 100th birthday bash today to pull the wraps off the production Chevrolet Volt, GM designers and engineers are quietly laying the foundation for what could become a full range of plug-in cars that the company refers to as Extended-Range Electric Vehicles, or E-REVs.

Scheduled to head for production in November 2010, the eagerly-awaited Volt is a cross between a pure electric vehicle and more conventional hybrids, such as the popular Toyota Prius. And like the Prius, Chevy’s new entry features a distinctive body. But under the skin, Volt shares much of its platform with GM’s global compact architecture, known as Delta. That means it has a lot in common with upcoming products like the new Chevy Cruze.

"The reason it’s on a global architecture is to make it possible to do other variants," said Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman and product chief.

Like other GM officials, Lutz declined to discuss specific plans for the Volt’s underlying eFlex system. But it was hard for company insiders to constrain their enthusiasm for the technology and conceal its likely expanded role in the automaker’s product portfolio.

What’s particularly significant is the flexibility of the eFlex system, said Volt Program Director Greg Cesiel. "We know we can scale this up at least one size larger and one size smaller in terms of vehicle platforms," he told PM.

Indeed, much of the initial testing of Volt’s prototype powertrain has been performed using a larger Chevy Malibu "mule." car. A GM source acknowledged that it would be relatively easy to integrate an eFlex drive system into the Malibu in years to come.

"I would think they’d want to do some kind of crossover and larger passenger car to help them meet the upcoming, 35-mpg fuel economy standards," said independent auto analyst Joe Phillippi.

And, as PM recently reported, one of the next Volt variants could become a Pontiac or Cadillac as soon as 2011.

There are several reasons the Volt will look different than its Cruze cousin. There’s the PR punch from having such a distinctive-looking model, but there’s also a technical advantage of optimizing the aerodynamics on the Volt’s body. Aero styling changes made to the original Volt prototype helped increase battery-only range by about 20 percent, according to project insiders.

Conventional E-REVs could benefit from projected improvements in battery technology, said Frank Weber, Volt’s global vehicle line executive. Industry engineers believe there will be significant improvements in battery power density—meaning smaller, lighter and cheaper cells. So it should be possible to stuff enough cells into a mainstream product, in the near future, to meet the Volt’s 40-mile battery range.