Speaking at the 2013 IHS CERAWeek energy conference, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson said that the automaker is working on an electric car that has a range of as much as 200 miles (or 322 kilometers).
“There will be breakthroughs in battery technology, they’re on the horizon,” said Akerson.
The General’s Chief executive reiterated the automaker’s goal to have roughly 500,000 electrified vehicles on the road by 2017 while touching on the company’s work in diesel and compressed-natural gas propulsion. Just last month, GM unveiled its first diesel-powered passenger car in nearly 30 years — the Chevrolet Cruze TD, which is expected to have a highway fuel economy of 42 MPG; General Motors has been offering CNG-powered pickup trucks.
Mr. Akerson also mentioned that GM is looking to reduce curb weight of their vehicles by 10 percent, which should result in a reduction of fuel consumption of 6.5 percent.
“Our target is to reduce weight by up to 15 percent”, he said.
Far from empty promises, General Motors will launch an all-electric version of the Chevrolet Spark city car this year that is expected to deliver an electric range of 60-70 miles; meanwhile, it’s building weight saving technology into its such vehicles as the Cadillac ATS. The automaker’s U.S. market share fell to an 88-year-low in 2012, a circumstance General Motors is looking to reverse this year as it launches an onslaught of new products.
Comments
Interesting. Might as well be the next gen Volt, though. No need to make a car that simply one ups it’s older sibling.
The Volt does not play to the same demographic as a fully battery electric vehicle. Most Volt owners use the car mainly for commuting, which it excels at. Having a 200 mile range in the Volt would be a waste, because it’s cheaper to run the gas engine on the rare occasion that you exceed the battery range than it is to carry around and extra 30kWh of battery that you’re NOT using MOST of the time. Even with 200 mile range, this “future” car could not be my ONLY car, but the Volt can.
Also, GM is testing Peugeot’s new hybrid air system:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323628804578344230184014010.html
Excellent! Less weight, bring it in all GM vehicles!!!
This ” last month, GM unveiled its first diesel-powered passenger car in nearly 30 years” needs a qualification: IN THE USofA.
Opel cars and those Chevrolets from the former GM Daewoo Auto & Technology company in Korea do use Diesel engines for many many years. They were just not sold in the USA.