Conceptualize this: GM Unveils Yet Another Concept Car
by Andrew Posner, Rhode Island, USA on 01.12.08
Believe it or not, the above vehicle with a solar panel built into its roof wasn't designed by an ambitious startup like Tesla or Aptera; no, the above vehicle was designed by the friendly folks over at General Motors as part of their "From Gas Friendly to Gas Free" ad campaign. Granted, most of GM's cars aren't even gas friendly, let alone gas free, but if their concept cars are any indication, GM is certainly looking in the right direction for the future. After all, GM has already generated a lot of buzz surrounding its Chevy Volt, a unique, all electric-gasoline hybrid concept car that may or may not be released in 2010. GM is also currently testing its Equinox Fuel Cell crossover in real-world conditions. And now, at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, they announced their new Cadillac Provoq Fuel Cell E-flex concept car.
Read more and see a short video about the car after the jump
What's unique about the Provoq is that it takes the "E-flex" propulsion system that will power the Volt, and marries it to GM's 5th generation fuel cell stack. In other words, whereas the Volt gets its electricity either from plugging into the wall, or from an on-board gasoline generator (the engine can be modified to use diesel or biofuels, too), the Provoq gets its juice from the wall or compressed hydrogen that is fed into a fuel cell stack. The result is a vehicle with a range of 300 miles per 3 kg fill of hydrogen, and 20 miles on the lithium-ion battery; 0-60 in 8.5 seconds (thanks to "three electric motors--one mounted between the front wheels, in-wheel motors in each of the rear wheels"); and a top speed of 100 MPH.
The concept car is also, not surprisingly, full of some other interesting concepts, including the aforementioned solar cell in the roof "to assist with powering onboard electronics; an "active" front grille, with grille louvers that open when the fuel cell requires cooling and close at high speed to reduce drag; and shift- and brake-by-wire system."
But before we get too green and giggly about this and other concept cars, we should remember that, well, its just a concept car. Whether or not it ever gets built will depend on how serious GM is about becoming a leader in green vehicle design; future climate legislation (namely, the price we put on carbon); hydrogen infrastructure, and how that hydrogen is made; the cost of fuel cells; and the cost of batteries. Indeed, both the Volt and the Provoq depend on "advances in lithium-ion battery technology to become a reality," something that GM CEO Rick Wagoner "acknowledged as being 'key' to the advance of electric vehicles."
Unlike the Volt, there is no word on when or if the Provoq will get built. So for now, those of us interested in dramatic increases in vehicular efficiency will have to play a bit of a waiting game: in the next few years, we should see the Tesla Roadster, Aptera Typ-1, and Chevy Volt hit the road, to name a few. And while Honda is leasing its FCX Clarity Fuel Cell sedan to select customers in California, for now, plug-in hybrids show far and away the most promise for achieving new levels of efficiency.
Via: ::cnet, ::AutoBlogGreen and ::GM-Volt.com
See Also: ::Toyota's Fine-N Hybrid/Fuel Cell Concept Car, ::Alternet on the Hydrogen Economy, ::Garbage to Hydrogen, Just Add Sun, ::GM Delivers Hydrogen Powered "Sequel" to Camp Pendleton, ::GM Promises 40% Less Manufacturing Emissions, ::GM Serious About Ethanol and Flex-Fuel Vehicles?, ::GM Keeps Its Greener Cars Out of North America, ::GM Responds to SUV Ad Controversy, ::GM to Release Hybrids in China by 2008 (and maybe a hydrogen car), ::E-Drive Systems Delivers Plug-in Prius to California, and ::GM Shows Fake Hybrid Concept SUV to Journalists?
This will be a perfect complement to my desktop fusion unit.
Imagine that ... a Caddy as a gas saver!!
vsk
I can't believe he just blamed disagreements and indecisiveness among legislators as the reason for GM not producing cars with higher MPG ratings and non-petroleum based engine technologies.
Yawn..............
Just another concept. Won't believe it until it's out in the market. They're just trying to jump on the "green bandwagon," I still think American cars are rubbish, but the new 08 Cadillacs (CTS and Escalade) are pretty nice. I would actually consider buying one (for once) if they were more eco-friendly. Guess my money will stay with Lexus hybrids.
Last time I checked, Lexus hybrids get 25 mpg.
If gm truly puts a lot of effort into making green cars, then they can do a lot of good. But they don't seem deserving of the benefit of a doubt, or even survival, after all that they've done.
And until they completely drop their ridiculous product line of hummers and big trucks (trucks that only a handful of people actually use for work), and stop making commercials that make fun of "small hybrids", saying that their SUV hybrid is much bigger and better (SO stupid to put a hybrid system in an suv, completely misses the point), then all of their "efforts" stays as nothing more than greenwashing.
On a sidenote, they send PR reps into facebook groups like "Americans for Alternative Energy" to let everyone know how green gm is and how many green cars they're developing. shameful. absolutely shameful. not only because they have no right to claim themselves to be green, given their history of raping the environment, but comon... to send a lackey into a FACEBOOK GROUP??? pathetic...
Also, as rolex replica has pointed out, that solar panel is way too small to serve any useful purpose...That's when you know they're just trying to appear green... tacking on a useless piece of equipment that has a good reputation... be more subtle please....
if if if..... not a single eco car for sale yet ...and some how they got every body talking about how "potentially green GM could be" action speaks louder than concepts dont believe the hype until u can sit in it and drive away..
thespyofcharles - Be fair, Aptera's panel is no bigger (in fact probably smaller) and they're using it to power the climate control. But calling it innovative?
But yes, generally this car still seems like far too small a step in the right direction. If only GM would make a lightweight, efficient, all electric car. Oh wait, they already did.
The 'unique' Chevy Volt? What's unique about a gas/electric hybrid these days?
GM gets a lot of bashing on this site, not terribly surprisingly, and it's nice to see them at least floating some concepts. I just wonder if they're going to get their act together fast enough to avoid getting thrashed by the Asian marque's. Part of me thinks they must have something hiding in the wings. Most of me just doesn't care. I'll buy the best car that's made available, and at the moment i'd put my name down for an Aptera. Probably. Though I haven't done enough research to happily shell out $30kUSD
I don't know how you can call the folks at GM friendly , producers of the most gas guzzling turds on the road , and lets not forget there joint efforts with all the great war machine from AM General , and the company responsible for the demise of rail in this country . In my opinion and from there record looks like more "green washing" from the not so friendly folks at GM .
Begging to differ here on usefulness of the rooftop SPV panel which is body-integrated.
There are at least two research prototypes underway which attempt to make paint a low cost solar power generating alternative. Think long range...stretch our minds out to "where the puck is going" not back to where its' been. This applies to everyone, GM included.
This car might well be parked outdoors for 4 to 8 hours per day, during which time the power from the roof panels would perform a very useful batter recharge and cabin ventilation function. Do not underestimate the importance of the battery recharge functionality.
As cars become increasingly electronics based (drive by wire) they become more like computers on wheels instead of wheels with a few bolt on computer functions. Add the ever increased power demands of plug in consumer electronics and you might otherwise end up with a hundred pounds of batteries to lug around, which drags down the mileage of course. From the designers' standpoint, having this constant source of recharge power during the work day offers an opportunity to downsize and lightweight the battery bank.
another concept that will never go any where, any time soon. most agree, a hydrogen economy is 40-50 years away & not in 2-5 years. decades are needed to bring down costs, mass produce & build infrastructures. it takes as much energy from petro based fuels to produce hydrogen, so where's the benifit?
desel hybrids make more sense. all electric vehicles will only tax an over taxed electrical grid system. imagine 20-40 million electric vehicles charging at once. this is not the answer, but may buy us time till a hydrogen economy ever materializes.
Like everyone else is says, "just another concept." I don't pay any attention to concept cars these days. Most of the "greener" cars you'll see at the auto shows will never make it to production. All it says is, "look what we CAN do even though we really won't."
And GM being green? Didn't they help kill the electric car?!
"The 'unique' Chevy Volt? What's unique about a gas/electric hybrid these days?"
What's so unique about a gas electric hybrid beyond, oh say 1910 or so? :)
Odd question, what is so great about "in wheel motors?"
Please, make the sprung weight higher so it will ride worse, and then the motors are designed for a specific vehicle weight/speed range instead of a motor design that can be used on multiple vehicles with slight changes to differential rations and gear reductions.
"...solar cell in the roof "to assist with powering onboard electronics..."
a solar cell. One fricking solar cell on the roof to maybe power the DVD player?
This is so typical of Detroit. We won't give you vehicle that'll considerably cut the cord from using oil from driving our cars, but will stick a pointless solar cell on the car to shut you up.
"One fricking solar cell." - Ditto.
It's greenwashing.
Get a bike.
GM used to be my preferred brand. Not for the last couple years, though. And, I am not holding my breath for any of the reasonably priced EV's to come to market outside of California, or other "select" markets. The only relief I see in sight is a conversion from ICE (internal combustion engine) power to BEV (battery electric vehicle).
Man, the villagers are out, pitchforks and torches in hand. GM is no different than any other manufacturer. The corporation exists for the purpose of making profit. It is not an eco-charity. They will manufacture anything that buyers are willing to buy in sufficient volume and at a high enough price that they can make a profit.
The lack of desire for efficient vehicles in the US market over the last 20 years has depressed the market price of efficient cars, but the cost to manufacture a vehicle does not vary nearly as much by its size, so the larger the vehicle, the higher the price, the larger the profit.
The cost to manufacture vehicles is higher overall for domestic manufacturers due to US regulations and union requirements. Consequently, small domestic cars in the US are often sold at a loss subsidized by the sale of the larger vehicles.
For all of the talk of SUV and large truck sales declining, they still account for the bulk of the profit in the market. If they didn't why do all of the foreign manufacturers keep building more and larger SUV's and trucks?
GM actually build some very efficent vehicles when compared to similar vehicles by class, especially in the midsize categories. Even their full-sized pickups are MORE efficient than Toyotas truck.
But this villification of GM just makes the problem worse, turning efficiency conscious buyers away from their more efficient products, making the business case for them more difficult and making GM that much more dependent on the sales of their larger vehicles.
I hate to be a pessimist but I'll believe it when I see it. I am sure the powers that be will kill it dead in it's tracks just like they did to the electric car in California.
Greenwashing, with bad tech at that.
Hydrogen is just an inefficient, expensive, complicated battery
"Hydrogen can never compete with its own energy source."
http://www.efcf.com/reports/E13.pdf