It was all about the battery, they will say, while viewing the Chevrolet Volt on its prominent display stand — diagonally across from the Edsel in some car museum of the future.

Obama Motors (OM), formally known as General Motors (GM) has reiterated its commitment to deliver the green Chevrolet Volt, plug-in electric car to showrooms in November 2010 as planned. This despite the fact that President Obama’s own task force concluded that the Volt would be too expensive to be commercially viable. Industry analysts estimate the cost of the Volt will be around $40,000. As a comparison, the price of proven green fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Prius ranges from $22,000 to $24,270 for the base model and the recently introduced, Honda Motor Co.’s Insight hybrid, $19,800 to $23,100.

Obama’s task force also concluded that Obama Motors (OM) is a generation behind Toyota in advanced “green” power-train development. Back to the drawing board would be the logical next step or alternately a joint venture with a company that actually knows how to make a green fuel-efficient car.

For example, Toyota is readying a limited run of a plug-in Prius with its proven power-train, which can average 100 miles per gallon. The regular Prius relies more on its gas engine, switching to use of the electric motor in slow traffic, to maintain cruising speed, or when idling or backing up. The regular Prius doesn’t have to be plugged in because its battery stays charged by the gas motor and by the motion of the wheels and brakes. The new plug-in version will primarily use its electric motor, allowing commuters to go to and from work every day on the electric charge, saving the gas engine for longer trips that exceed the distance the car can go on electricity alone.

But why let reality get in the way? Obama Motors has made a commitment to an all-electric plug-in green vehicle and no amount of common sense could possibly dissuade them. Obama Motors plans to produce 60,000 vehicles annually presumably hoping that government will purchase these overpriced vehicles for its own fleet. The Volt is not the jolt of business electricity that is going to turn Obama Motors green technology into “green” cash.

The rationale most often heard is that Volt would be a learning experience that can be used for future commercially viable plug-in electric vehicles. Since the taxpayers have already forked-over $13.4 billion in loans to the former GM, one wonders how much additional money taxpayers will be willing to donate for the opportunity to learn how to make an uneconomical green car. Some day a car company will have the battery technology to make an economically viable all electric plug-in but not today and certainly not a government run company such as Obama Motors. But, it is instructive to analyze what a $40,000 purchase from Obama Motors will get you as opposed to a less expensive proven plug-in Prius.

Unlike the classic Toyota Prius where the electric motor is essentially a back-up engine to the main gasoline engine, the Volt, is designed to go 40 miles solely on electric power. After the Volt’s battery is exhausted, a small gasoline engine on board recharges the battery to power the wheels. Because 80 percent of U.S. motorists travel less than 40 miles on an average day, they should rarely have to start up their gas engines. The battery is charged at an ordinary household outlet, hence, plug-in. Voila, zero emissions from the Volt.

One little fly in the ointment – Coal-fired plants produce approximately 50% of the electricity in the United States and 82% of power generated carbon dioxide emissions.  If electric vehicles are charged exclusively by coal-fired electricity they produce more greenhouse gases than a traditional gasoline-powered combustion engine car.

As noted previously, the technologically less ambitious but eminently more practical 100 mile per gallon plug-in Prius will allow the vehicle to operate solely on its electric motor for ranges of up to 40 miles on a single charge. The gasoline engine then becomes the supplemental one for when the car needs to travel farther. This is the reverse of the original 50-mile per gallon Prius that relied primarily on the gasoline engine. The plug-in Prius differs from the Volt in two important ways, the Lithium ion battery is smaller and less is demanded of it and the gasoline engine powers the car when needed, it is not just a supplemental engine to generate electricity for the battery.

A single component will make or break the Chevrolet Volt “extended-range electric vehicle“-and with it, the fate of America’s national car company, Obama Motors: its battery. Lithium-cobalt oxide batteries power most consumer products but would not be safe for use in an automotive application. Obama Motors has chosen the LG Chem, Ltd. battery cells to power the Chevrolet Volt.

LG Chem claims to offer safer chemistry, specifically a manganese-based cathode chemistry with additives to improve its lifespan under high-temperature conditions. Secondly, it asserts that it has Proprietary Safety Reinforced Separator (SRSTM) coated with ceramics – the semi-permeable insulating membranes separating the electrodes in the cells. They are mechanically and thermally far superior to commonly used separators in lithium-ion cells thanks to the ceramic coatings. This unique technology further enhances the significant abuse tolerance capability already provided by the manganese base used in LG Chem cells. LG Chem is the only lithium-ion battery manufacturer to provide this dual protection against thermal runaways that can result from abuse conditions such as internal shorts, extreme overcharge, etc.

Additionally LG claims that they have a thermally efficient and safer laminated package – designed to be more forgiving than a metal cylinder under abuse conditions and not lead to explosions. The thermal efficiency of this package helps reduce the cost and complexity of the battery cooling system.

This all goes to prove that the battery operates well in “laboratory conditions.” But how will it operate year after year in the cold Minnesota winter and the hot Arizona summer? Obviously, no one can answer that question with any degree of certainty. Having spent a lifetime in research the only thing I can say with certainty is that the “laboratory” never mirrors the real world. Based on this “laboratory” data, Obama Motors “believes” that this new $10,000-plus Lithium ion battery will have a 10-year or 150,000 mile lifespan. I guess those of us with a more scientific and less messianic view of the world have our doubts that a lithium ion battery is going to propel a passenger car 40 miles on a charge, and do so over a 10-year lifespan under real world conditions.

The ultimate choice will be up to the American consumer. You can pay $40,000 for an unproven Chevrolet Volt or you can pay less for a 100 mile per gallon plug-in Prius with a dozen years of practical on road experience under its “hood”. If I were making an investment decision, I would go with Toyota Motors over Obama Motors.

———————————–

Cincinnatus’ analysis is salient.  What drives me mad is that ultimately my tax dollars bail out Obama Motors – for their bad management decisions.

To be fair – I think that Obama voters should be mandated by law to buy the Volt.