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GM Volts to Top at Auto Show

   US  automaker emerges from bankruptcy to win North American Car of the
   Year

   Rosanne Skirble | Washington, D.C. 12 January 2011
   GM's  Thomas Stephens accepts the North American Car of the Year Award
   for  the  Chevrolet Volt at the North American International Auto Show
   in Detroit, Michigan on Jan. 10, 2011.

Photo: REUTERS/Mark Blinch

   GM's  Thomas Stephens accepts the North American Car of the Year Award
   for  the  Chevrolet Volt at the North American International Auto Show
   in Detroit, Michigan on Jan. 10, 2011.

   [1]General  Motors  is  making  a comeback  in  a  big  way. The U.S.
   automaker  has  emerged from bankruptcy and was star of the 2010 North
   American  Auto  Show  in  Detroit  this  week.  GMâs  plug-in electric
   Chevrolet[2] Volt was named North American Car of the Year.

   The Volt can travel 64 kilometers on its rechargeable batteries before
   a  gasoline  generator  kicks  in to extend its range to more than 450
   kilometers.  GM  thinks  its next generation Volt can go even farther,
   with a superior battery that holds twice as much energy.

   Longer lasting power

   The  company has signed a license agreement to use lithium-ion battery
   technology    developed   at   [3]Argonne   National   Laboratory,   a
   government-funded research facility. General Motors Ventures President
   John  Lauckner  says  the  move  has  great  potential for GMâs entire
   electric-product   line   from   "pure   battery   electric  vehicles,
   extended-range electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles."
   Argonne  National  Laboratory's energy storage researchers investigate
   all  stages  of a battery from its basic chemistry, to engineering, to
   testing for performance and durability.

Argonne National Laboratory

   Argonne  National  Laboratory's energy storage researchers investigate
   all  stages  of a battery from its basic chemistry, to engineering, to
   testing for performance and durability.

   The  new  technology is a composite cathode material, a combination of
   lithium  and  manganese  oxides.  The  battery can store twice as much
   electricity  as  conventional  lithium-ion batteries and would greatly
   extend  vehicle  range  and reduce its cost, making electric cars more
   attractive   to  consumers  looking  for  energy-efficient  transport.
   Lauckner says the cutting-edge technology is very promising. "The idea
   is  that  we  want  to  get  it on the road for the next generation of
   battery  packs  that  come  out in vehicles that General Motors offers
   around the world."

   Equally  hopeful is Mohamed Alamgir, research director for[4] LG Chem,
   GMâs  electric-car  battery  supplier.  LG  Chem,  which  also  signed
   agreements with Argonne, is building a new factory and it expects mass
   production to begin next year.

   Alamgir  says  refinements to the technology are still being made. "We
   are trying to increase the specific energy and the life of the battery
   and lower the cost. We are also doing a lot of work to improve, modify
   and tailor our chemistry to address those concerns and these broad set
   of patents give us the flexibility to carry out that work."

   Closing competitive gap in electric car market

   The  new  composite  cathode  could  give GM a boost in its attempt to
   catch  up  to Asian automakers who currently dominate the electric car
   market.

   [5]Cathy  Zoi,  Acting  under  secretary  of the [6]U.S. Department of
   Energy  says  government  investment  in  research and development and
   applied  commercialization  can  pay  off  in  economic growth and job
   creation.  "DOE  has  [7]invested  about $400 million over more than a
   decade  to  support  electric drive batteries and today weâre seeing a
   lot of return on these investments. In fact, the battery technology in
   almost all of the electric vehicles and hybrids on the road today were
   developed with DOE support."

   In 2008 the U.S. manufactured just two percent of the worldâs advanced
   batteries.  Zoi  expects  that  number  to  skyrocket.  "By 2015 weâll
   produce  up  to  40  percent,  equivalent  to  500,000  electric-drive
   vehicles per year. And thatâs just fantastic."

   Zoi  adds  that  developing  the  electric  car and other clean-energy
   industries  will  also help cut U.S. dependence on foreign oil and put
   the brakes on climate-changing carbon pollution.

References

   1. http://www.gm.com/
   2. http://www.chevrolet.com/volt/
   3. http://www.anl.gov/
   4. http://www.lgchem.com/
   5. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/office_eere/bio_zoi.html
   6. http://www.energy.gov/
   7. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/

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