As promised, I've taken possession of a Chevy Volt, a gasoline-and-electric vehicle being marketed as a green or environmentally friendly vehicle. It's parked in my driveway in all its red fire truck glory with the Avnet Express logo splashed on the hood and a side sticker from TE Connectivity. After a brief ride to the Philadelphia airport to drop off the Fuller brothers -- Brian, editorial director for EE Times' EE Life engineering community, and the younger brother who accompanied him on the road trip -- I am eager to take the car on the road for a full workout. (See: Driving Miss Volt.)
Here at Last: The Chevy Volt and the Fuller Brothers
Here's my initial take on the car. First, I am really glad I didn't delete a post by EBN reader Kevin (that's all I know about him) about the Volt that I thought was objectionable because of the acronym WTF. Kevin explained that WTF stands for "Where are the facts?" and not the odious phrase I had in my mind. My apologies to Kevin, and I want to thank him for taking the extra step of spelling out the phrase.
The car started soundlessly. There was no wheezing or purring (even in gasoline mode). It just started, and I had no idea the engine was already running until I got a gentle reminder from Brian Fuller to start rolling. This is going to take some getting used to, but I can handle the silence.
The Volt is comfortable and roomy inside. It seats four comfortably and five with a gentle squeeze. The trunk has enough space for a family traveling with a full suite of luggage, and the car feels, well, like a regular car.
That's the good news. Now back to Kevin's valid point about the Volt. It isn't an all-electric vehicle. Properly described, it's a hybrid, and even that term doesn't fully explain what it is. It runs on electricity for a limited number of miles (about 40). In my opinion, this means the Volt isn't all it's been cranked up to be. We have reported on this exhaustively in the past, and I wanted to see and experience it firsthand before taking the issue further. You'll see in coming blogs a thorough evaluation of the on-road performance, as well as the opportunities for electronics companies.
Before you think I am going to be running a thorough round of negative blogs about the Volt, though, I'd like to disabuse you. My interest in the vehicle lies in the opportunities (current, missed, and future ones) for electronic part vendors, component distributors, system developers, software makers, and contract assemblers when it comes to supporting and servicing the nascent environmentally friendly automotive market. Companies supplying sensors, connectors, batteries, processors, and a swath of other products can gain sales by supplying this market.
Avnet Express, a unit of Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT), is co-sponsoring the Drive for Innovation program with EBN's parent, UBM Electronics. Like many in the industry, Avnet Express is interested in the innovation behind the car and opportunities for future innovation. Avnet says engineers can bring a lot more into the environmentally friendly vehicle market, and it has taken on the task of having UBM reporters interview engineers and designers throughout America about the product and its shortcomings, advantages, and possibilities.
Kevin's point on its nomenclature is well noted. I queried Brian exhaustively about the car, and I can tell you it's more of a gas combustion vehicle than an electric car. But there's also a lot to like about the vehicle. I'll chronicle these soon. However, this vehicle and others like it (hybrid, fully electric, etc.) offer electronics OEMs and component vendors the opportunity to strut their stuff. We've tried to get a complete list of components from the electronics industry in the Volt, but this effort has been like pulling teeth. OEMs typically don't allow component vendors to say much about their design scores, and General Motors is cut from the same cloth.
The battery technology in the Volt imposes major limitations on the potential for market acceptance. It needed a full charge by the time Brian delivered it to me, and this will apparently take about 12 hours on a 110V electric line. So I've taken the Volt for a ride the traditional way –- consuming gasoline like many other vehicles on the road. That was a major letdown. Brian assured me that I would like the car a whole lot more once it's fully charged. I can't wait.
By the way, a teardown of the Volt is scheduled for sometime next spring. UBM Electronics will take the car apart and give us a peek at its innards. Then we can tell everyone whose products are designed into the Chevy Volt and how much they represent breakthroughs and sales opportunities for the industry.
Keep your skepticism -- there's a place for it. But don't write off the Volt. It promises more than it has delivered so far, but a market exists for it, and electronics vendors will help deliver the electricity-based high performance it aims to deliver.
Chevy Volt seems to be the most practical car in terms of usability coz it does not require any gas to power up the motor! It only needs the power of electricity to keep the car running. While most cars are powered with Bosch super plus spark plug the Chevy Volt is powered by its rechargeable battery.
@Ms. Daisy, My concluding blog on the Chevy Volt should be posted within a couple of hours. In answer to your question, I see numerous opportunities for electronics companies in the design and adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles. Software is a major opportunity. The Chevy Volt, for instance, provides digital information on a continuous basis to the vehicle driver. It has taken a lot of the guesswork out of vehicle monitoring and maintenance. Sensors alert the driver to nearby objects while the onboard information system provides data on electricity usage, gasoline consumption, performance efficiencies, safety and overall maintenance.
The Volt, like many new vehicles on the road today, tells drivers in digital form when an oil change is due, monitors tire gauges and has touch sensitive applications for controlling climate conditions inside the car as well as other comfort tools. Many applications you see in current generation smartphones are migrating to vehicles. For semiconductor suppliers there are numerous opportunities to provide chips that help track vehicle performance, execute commands digitally rather than mechanically, operate informatics and help improve safety. More than in the past, today's vehicles contain thousands of electronics.
That's the current situation. I see future opportunities for electronics companies in helping to extend battery longevity, making it smaller, improving power recovery (from the wheels and braking mechanism, for instance) and perhaps developing a new system that recharges the battery or generate electricity for driving simply from the motion of the vehicle itself. So, rather than plug-in charging, a next-generation electric hybrid could recharge itself with the motion of the wheels. And, of course, there is the potential also for automated driving. Many companies, including Google and Volkswagen, are currently testing pilotless navigation using cameras, sensors and computer technology. The next hybrid car five years from now will be completely different from the ones on the road currently.
@Tirlapur, The technology is already available to everyone. In many parts of the world, mass transportation is replacing single-occupant vehicles. Cars are used in Europe, for instance, for quick trips to the local groceries and the Volt can easily handle this. For longer distances, the Volt's electric system is supplemented with gasoline for longer drives. It works. I drove more than 300 miles to New Hampshire and the fuel consumption was lower than for other vehicles I have used in the past.
@Anna Young, The Volt, in electric or gasoline mode, is highly cost-efficient. The cost of a full charge is minimal and even if this lasts only 34 miles, it is still a good deal. In gas mode, the Volt is even more efficient. It offers better mileage per gallon than most vehicles on the road today. The one I drove gave me about 36 miles per gallon; that's a lot better than some of the more fuel efficient vehicles in the market now.
@Wale Bakare, The Volt actually works quite as well as regular gasoline vehicles in all weather conditions. In electric mode it has the power to perform in more or less the same way and because of the information system in place drivers can get tips on maximizing energy use.
@RobertinHouston, thanks for the post. i had lots of questions, some of which are answered in your post. As you rightly said, most people will buy hybrid not to save money but for other important factors. If i think about the resale value then what difference would it make? Also i think that electric battery have a limited lifetime then what is the additional cost.
@ Bolaji, It is sad to see that you have to drive vastly touted EV as a regular gas vehicle. Anyways by now you would be riding it with completely charged up batteries. But what I wonder is why not a company like GM can not bring in a complete EV into the market.
By moving to the core of the industry and offerings services that keep the system humming, a group within the electronics market has rendered irrelevant the question of ownership and control of the supply chain.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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