During a media briefing at GM’s Brownstown Township, MI battery plant, General Motors Vice Chairman Tom Stephens announced that the lithium ion battery pack for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt would carry a warranty of 8 years or 100,000 miles.
Since the Volt was green-lit for production, it was GM’s intention to develop a battery pack that would last for the life of the vehicle. However, the warranted time period isn’t as much a conscious choice by The General as it is a requirement to comply with government regulation: even though GM considers the Volt an electric vehicle (EV), the on-board range-extending gas engine causes the EPA and California Resources Board to regard the battery as a part of the car’s emissions control system. As such, the Volt is subject to the same regulations as vehicles with a catalytic converter and consequently must have an eight-year warranty.
GM also revealed a few additional specifications of the Volt battery pack. In its production form, 95 percent of the battery’s components were designed and developed in-house by GM. The water-cooled pack has an output of 110 kilowatts, weighs nearly 400 pounds, and contains 288 LG Chem lithium polymer cells. GM will be ramping up production at Brownstown, with full-scale manufacturing to commence this fall.
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