GM CEO Says Volt Technology Could Be Sold to Others in the Future

By Eric Loveday

Eric Loveday

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Eric Loveday is a car enthusiast with a love for everything automotive. He purchased a 1970 Chevelle at age 16, quickly outgrew its dated engineering... More

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2,359 views Aug 16, 2009

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According to Fritz Henderson, CEO of GM, the company has not ruled out selling certain components and technologies from the upcoming Chevy Volt to other automakers.

As he stated, there is a chance that GM could sell the lithium-ion battery packs as well as additional technologies to be used in the Volt and manufactured at their new plant located south of Detroit in Brownstown Township.

Though the chance of selling such technology does exist, others are quick to point out that due to the Volt's unique T shape design of the battery, finding other makers interested in this battery with it unique shape may indeed be difficult.

Many experts agree that selling off Volt technology could help the company gain a new revenue that would help them emerge from bankruptcy and make them a stronger company, but Henderson disagrees with such statements.

As Henderson said, "I wouldn't rule that out if the opportunity were to arise, but I wouldn't necessarily see that as a large revenue stream."

According to Henderson, the Voltec propulsion system will be used in the Opel Ampera C-car for the European market in 2011, and they are considering a Voltec based version of the Cadillac Converj concept shown at the auto show in Detroit last year.  Additional reports suggested that GM might even use the Voltec in the Chevy Orlando scheduled for its U.S. debut in 2011.

Though using the Voltec system in several vehicles could increase GM's chance of making a profit on the propulsion system, Henderson said, "Our first job is to actually get Voltec into production ourselves.  The cost of Generation I technology is relatively high, so we need to get it down to Generation II. That's our focus today.  I don't rule out anything in that regard (selling electric vehicle technology), but our focus is getting ourselves into production."

The Volt is scheduled for production in late 2010 as a 2011 model.  Its expected to sell for around $40,000.  Its EREV application was recently designated with a 230 mpg city rating by the company using a new proposed EPA standard.

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