Shanghai : US car manufacturer General Motors has a vision. To tackle congestion and pollution in mega cities around the world, a new concept of urban mobility is currently on the drawing board at the auto giant's headquarters in Detroit.
General Motors, which has just recovered from its worst crisis since its inception in 1908, now takes alternative engine systems far more seriously than it did before.
"There is an immense challenge before us," said Chris Borroni-Bird, Director of Advanced Technology Vehicles at GM, during a presentation of the company's new mobility concepts at a venue near the city of Pinghu in China's Zhejiang province.
Pinghu is in a remote location, a three-hour drive from Shanghai with its nearly 20 million inhabitants.
"Around 2030, 60 per cent of the world population will live in urban areas. And 80 per cent of the world's wealth will be concentrated in cities," Borroni-Bird said, emphasising that "we need to tackle these urban issues as congestion is not going to get better."
Borroni-Bird is one of the people at GM looking for solutions to traffic congestion. "This problem has to be solved, otherwise mobility as such is at risk," he said.
GM has therefore introduced its vision of sustainable urban transportation in 2030 at the World Expo in Shanghai, where the carmaker was busy presenting its ideas for solutions to a big audience.
GM and its Chinese partner, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), say they believe that their vision of the future can become a reality through the development of advanced technologies such as autonomous driving, connectivity and electrification, while paying "full attention to product excellence and creative design".
The carmaker said the new concepts it was working on were based on three pillars: the newly introduced hybrid-electric passenger car, the Volt; the fuel-cell SUV Equinox; and — the most challenging new concept — the two-wheeler EN-V, which is a small battery-electric powered vehicle developed with Segway, the company which invented the first self-balanced electric vehicle.
Phased makeover
GM said its move to being an environmental and innovative manufacturer would come in stages. First, it said the hybrid-electric Chevrolet Volt would hit the markets. The car, which is powered by an electric engine and is equipped with a combustion engine used as a generator for the batteries, would be introduced in November in the US, the company said.
"The battery is the heart of the Volt, as it's meant as a gasoline-free driving solution," said Steve Clarke, Vice-President, Engineering, at General Motors International Operations (GMIO).
The car has been developed over three years together with South Korean LG Chem, which is providing the batteries, at GM's research laboratories in Detroit. The car can be run gas-free for up to 80km, and up to 490km in the so-called extended range mode, when the combustion engine is running to recharge the batteries while driving. The petrol engine of the Volt has no direct connection with the drive train, Clarke said.
GM said its annual sales target for the Volt was "up to" 60,000 units, and to push this, GM has announced that it will introduce the Volt in November 2011 in China and Europe. Its price in the US will be $42,000 (Dh154,227), and the US government has said it would grant a $7,000 incentive to Volt buyers.
The next step in the petrol-avoiding portfolio of GM is the fuel cell, implemented in the SUV Chevrolet Equinox.
However, the fuel cell car is still in the early stages of commercialisation as sales would not start before 2015, said George Hansen, Director Fuel Cell Commercialisation at GMIO.
The company said a total of 119 vehicles had been passed on to customers in Europe, Asia and the US, Hansen said. One of its major roles was to act as a shuttle vehicle at the Shanghai World Expo, a major test run for the new concept.
However, the fuel cell car still has some disadvantages, one of which is the price of building the engine. "We are continuing to develop the technology," Hansen said. One major point is the amount of platinum the company has been using to build the fuel cell. Currently, GM is using 80g of platinum per vehicle, which it wants to cut to 30g in 2015 and to less than 10g by 2020. "At that point, we will have reached the same cost level as building a combustion engine," Hansen said.
The further development and commercialisation will take place together with other car majors, as GM has signed a letter of understanding with Daimler, Ford, Honda, Toyota, Renault-Nissan and Kia. Furthermore, the infrastructure needed to come first, as well as government incentives for fuel cell car buyers and other tax relief, Hansen said.
However, one sign that the deployment of alternative engine cars was not easy under the current practical circumstances was shown by the Shanghai traffic authorities which decided to take more than 300 hybrid World Expo shuttles off the streets because of their high costs and higher maintenance fees, as the Shanghai Daily reported on Tuesday. The authorities said that 350 Buick LaCrosse hybrids, built by GM, would be removed.
GM's latest step to build its vision of a new mobility system for megacities comes with the EN-V concept. This vehicle has been showcased at the World Expo and had been designed to "completely redefine the idea of urban mobility" GM said.
EN-V, which is short for Electric Networked-Vehicle, maintains the core principle of personal mobility — freedom — while helping remove the motor vehicle from the environmental debate. The EN-V is a two-seat electric vehicle that was designed to alleviate concerns surrounding traffic congestion, parking availability, air quality and affordability for tomorrow's cities.
"The vehicle needs to be tailored for urban applications," Borroni-Bird said. "The main thing is connection, meaning that the vehicle operates in a network together with others to reduce congestion and accidents and to make parking easier."
EN-V can find fastest route
GM's future concept vehicle EN-V is propelled by electric motors in each of its two driving-mode wheels. Dynamic stabilisation technology empowers the EN-V, giving it the ability to carry two passengers and light cargo with an environmental footprint that's about a third that of a traditional vehicle, according to GM's EN-V fact sheet. It can be driven both manually and autonomously. Its autonomous operating capability, directed by GPS, offers the promise of cutting traffic congestion by allowing the EN-V to automatically select the fastest route based on real-time traffic information. It weighs less than 500kg and is about 1.5 metres in length, which could help save a lot of space in cities both for transport and parking. Power for the motors is provided by lithium-ion batteries that produce zero emissions. Recharging can occur from a conventional wall outlet using standard household power, allowing the EN-V to travel at least 40km on a single charge.
Have your say
Where do you think the future of automobiles lies? Will you be switching to an electric car in the future? How long do you think it will be before petrol becomes obsolete? Tell us at readers@gulfnews.com
