GM says problems designing accessories like windshield wipers and an audio system that won't drain the Volt's batteries have forced its engineers to design expensive "redundant systems" that are driving up costs.
"It's starting to look like it's going to be closer to $35,000," GM spokesman Dee Allen told us, confirming a report by Canwest News. "We had set a target of $30,000, but if it comes in closer to $35,000 and it means meeting the 2010 deadline, that's the direction we're going to go."
GM product boss Bob Lutz told us last month that the Volt would probably cost more than the $30,000 GM had targeted and said the accessory systems are one of the biggest challenges. So what's the problem? And have you seen that bizarre TV ad for the Volt?
GM says the Volt's lithium-ion batteries will provide a range of 40 miles and a one-liter engine will power a generator that will keep the vehicle going beyond that. In most cars, accessories like windshield wipers, air conditioning and the stereo are powered by the battery, which is recharged by the engine through the alternator, or directly by the engine. But the Volt doesn't have an alternator, and it has something draining the batteries other cars don't - the wheels. They need all the juice they can get.
"You really start taking away from the range when you're using 10-speaker audio systems, wipers," Allen says. "These systems need to be redone, and they are being redone."
GM has no doubt it will solve the problem, but not in time to meet the 2010 deadline. The first-generation Volts will have workarounds GM called "redundant systems." Allen couldn't tell us anything more about that, but said second-generation Volts will be "more refined."
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