Martin Eberhard's secret blog entry on the Volt found!

[HoosierRon]

Martin Eberhard was the founder of Tesla Motors. Then the board of directors fired him. Turns out that he blogs. He posted the following entry. Then he got a call from Tesla's current management. The entry was removed... but not before it made it into Google's cache.

GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE

January 14, 2008, 10:39 pm

Filed under: Energy, General

Many people have asked me what I think about the Chevy Volt – both about the vehicle as it is conceived and what I think about GM’s intentions. What I say might surprise you who know me as the vocal advocate of the pure battery electric vehicle (BEV).

Second things first: I saw Who Killed the Electric Car. Man, that image of the Hummer overtaking the EV1 is hard to get out of my head. With this in mind, I assumed that the Volt was pure eyewash – they killed the EV; their hybrid efforts were lame compared to Toyota’s; they have invested a jillion dollars in fuel cell (fool sell) programs. What would make me think the Volt was real?

Just about a year ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Lutz at his palatial office in the GM tower. We spent a good couple of hours talking about battery-electric vehicles, and what it would take to make them happen. This is when he told me that he started the Volt program in direct response to the Tesla Roadster. I thought this would be a story nobody would believe until he said the same thing in the press!

My motivation for talking to him was mostly to try and nudge GM towards change. His motivation seemed to be to learn as much as he could from me. This was okay by me – GM mass-producing EVs is good for the world because of the sheer number of cars they can sell, and good for Tesla Motors because it validates the market in the eyes of the consumers and the press.

I walked away from that meeting deeply impressed by Bob Lutz and willing to believe that the Volt might be a real program. Over the past year, I have come to meet several more people on the Volt program. Hold onto your seats, people: I believe that the Volt program is real, with top GM talent moved onto the program, major bucks behind the program, and support all the way to the top within GM. I think GM is placing a huge bet with this program.

And I think this is an unbelievably good thing. Imagine if GM leapfrogged Toyota and the Prius. Imagine serious competition over who could make the most fuel-efficient car, with GM as one of the players.

Okay, how about the whole concept of a Range-Extended Electric Vehicle (REEV, no apostrophe)?

Like so many of you, I think the future of cars is pure electric. But the REEV concept is a good one for the interim, until nanotech (or whatever) batteries come along and whack the price of batteries down by at least a factor of two and increase the capacity by something like a factor of two.

Here’s why:

The battery pack for a mid-sized electric car with a 200+ mile range, using best-of-breed existing (I mean actually shipping) batteries will cost about $20K, best case. Obviously, you can’t make a $30,000 list price car around a $20K battery pack…

But a small gasoline engine (say 75 hp) plus its various support systems plus a generator and rectifier will cost only about $1,000, more or less. Can this offset a significant portion of the battery pack cost while still making a difference in gasoline consumption?

Think about the cost: a battery pack that goes 50 miles will cost more like $5,000. Add in the generator system, and you are still talking about at least $14,000 saved per car – making a $30,000 (or maybe $35,000) Volt is suddenly possible.

Now consider that 50% of all miles driven by Americans are on trips shorter than 50 miles. The numbers are even better in large urban areas like LA. This is the key: these trips should all be electric.

Many EV owners will argue that 50 miles’ range is actually not that big of a limitation. But I am firmly convinced that the idea of such limitation is the single biggest reason past EVs never sold well. Not the reality of how far people drive, mind you, but the idea of the limitation.

If the Volt can allow for true plug-in electric driving for those short trips, while giving potential buyers confidence that they can take a long trip whenever they want to, this will be a HUGE improvement in gasoline consumption.

It’s an imperfect solution, but the REEV is something that GM could make today. With its forecasted price and driving range, many people will buy them; it will out-green the Prius for sure. And as batteries improve over the years, the range extender will be used less and less until it can go away.

If the Chevy Volt was available on the market today, I would definitely buy one. (But I sure as heck would not lease one. Nobody’s going to take mine back and crush it!)

134 COMMENTS


STEALTH CABBAGE
January 10, 2008, 6:40 pm
Filed under: General, Tesla Motors

This blog entry has been taken down at the strong request of Tesla’s management. By taking it down, I am in no way admitting that anything I wrote was in violation of any agreement I signed with Tesla Motors, and I stand behind the truth of what I wrote.

But it was explained to me that Tesla and its financial backer(s) can spend far more than I can on a lawsuit…

Most of the comments on this blog entry have also be taken down; sorry for the inconvenience.

[AMERICA 123]

Great find HoosierRon !

Very interesting in more ways than one.

Hope we don't have to take it down.

[ronald mcretard]

Good I guess, but he didn't say anything that wasn't already obvious. Of course, maybe his "endorsement" will convince some of the tin-hat anti-GM treehuggers that Lutz and GM are serious about selling the Volt.

[T-Type]

Great find HR. This is good news for GM as this is getting the Volt message to the GM doubters from a trusted source.

The comments are interesting too. Man, there are some people who absolutely despise GM.

[Slack]

Great find. Although it really grates on my nerves when people point to "Who Killed The Electric Car?" as evidence, proof even, that GM is trying to force us to drive big gas hogs.
Everyone seems to forget that Toyota scrapped the RAV EV, and that a Toyota executive (I don't recall who, but I'm sure some of you will) said that Toyota had been targeted for the film as well, but was left out. One would think that the founder of an EV company would know such things.

[zete]

He's exactly right. No one sane is going to buy a car only useful in a metropolitan area. People buy cars because they can go anywhere. The Volt provides that answer.

I could see myself buying a Volt. To be honest, it would take a lot of reasons for me not to buy one. Even at $35k I'd buy one. It's just such a great idea and I tend to be an early adopter. Having the coolest car on the planet wouldn't hurt, either.

[ChevroletRevived]

Wow, great find HoosierRon! Like you other guys have said, this is a very good endorsement from a guy like Eberhard. Will probably get a lot of die hard electric vehicle on board with it. I can't wait for the production Volt, it's such a revolutionary vehicle!

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by ronald mcretard

Good I guess, but he didn't say anything that wasn't already obvious. Of course, maybe his "endorsement" will convince some of the tin-hat anti-GM treehuggers that Lutz and GM are serious about selling the Volt.

The best way to convince people is to actually sell it. I think GM has a chance to dominate the future of the world automotive industry if they lead the way with this technology.

Originally Posted by zete

He's exactly right. No one sane is going to buy a car only useful in a metropolitan area. People buy cars because they can go anywhere. The Volt provides that answer.

I could see myself buying a Volt. To be honest, it would take a lot of reasons for me not to buy one. Even at $35k I'd buy one. It's just such a great idea and I tend to be an early adopter. Having the coolest car on the planet wouldn't hurt, either.

I don't tend to be an early adopter for most things. But the Volt looks to be a no-brainer, with the benefits obvious from day one. Your electrical bill will go up a lot less than the amount you save on fuel.

[ronald mcretard]

Originally Posted by Michael_S

I don't tend to be an early adopter for most things. But the Volt looks to be a no-brainer, with the benefits obvious from day one. Your electrical bill will go up a lot less than the amount you save on fuel.

I hope there a lot more people like you out there... not necessarily in love with technology or the environment, but eager to stop buying gas. I hope there are a million people lined up to buy the first 60,000 Volts in 2011.

[voyager]

Anybody who knows how to contact Martin Eberhard?

[plane]

Originally Posted by voyager

Anybody who knows how to contact Martin Eberhard?

HoosierRon would know.
Mags would know.
Arizona Slim might know.

Contact those GMI members and see what you find out.
They asked the exact same question you did.
Good luck.

[voyager]

Originally Posted by plane

HoosierRon would know.
Mags would know.
Arizona Slim might know.

Contact those GMI members and see what you find out.
They asked the exact same question you did.
Good luck.

Thanx, Plane

Yet no one cared to answer. So I'm no further... Where's the guy working?