[Shuto]

Serious question, can the General achieve its rather ambitious price target for the Bolt?

he Chevrolet Bolt features extensive use of lightweight materials, including aluminum, magnesium, carbon fiber and even woven mesh to help keep its undisclosed curb weight down to optimize range. Slight aerodynamic functions such as vented rear fenders also add help its electric range. The little city electric car also retains an airy cabin feel thanks to extensive use of glass, utilized on the roof and on the wraparound rear window.

While great that to me sounds like a far more costly package than $37,500. Unless they're relying on bulk buying scale to help drive the material cost down?

 

[volta]

At this point I think that GM has to make sure that it comes in at $30,000. They may end up not making a ton of profit off of each sale because of it., but I think they have committed themselves because of what they have said to the press. I'm not sure that they will end up producing enough Bolts to make buying the materials in bulk for a cheaper price a possibility

 

[Shuto]

At this point I think that GM has to make sure that it comes in at $30,000. They may end up not making a ton of profit off of each sale because of it., but I think they have committed themselves because of what they have said to the press. I'm not sure that they will end up producing enough Bolts to make buying the materials in bulk for a cheaper price a possibility

you can buy or make carbon fibre in bulk and it doesn't care wheather its used in an EV or a sports car... aside from the batteries and motors nothing on the Bolt is exlusive to EV production...

GM's advantage is they are a MASSIVE company...

Improvements in battery technology, electric motors and the use of lightweight materials have helped slice nearly $10,000 off of the cost of manufacturing the Volt, said Mark Reuss, GM's executive vice president for global product development.

 

[volta]

you can buy or make carbon fibre in bulk and it doesn't care wheather its used in an EV or a sports car... aside from the batteries and motors nothing on the Bolt is exlusive to EV production...

GM's advantage is they are a MASSIVE company...

I see your point. Does GM even use that much carbon fiber throughout their lineup though? It will work out if they actually have a use for all that carbon fiber being bought by GM.

 

[Roth33d]

I think some states have a local tax credit of about $3500, so that would bring pricing down even a bit more.

 

[Shuto]

I see your point. Does GM even use that much carbon fiber throughout their lineup though? It will work out if they actually have a use for all that carbon fiber being bought by GM.

They can begin is what I'm saying. Product planning needs to be cohesive in order to drag smaller projects along on the coat tails of massive volume...

GM is currently working with Teijin on a mass produced CF venture...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...-targets-mass-produced-carbon-fiber-cars.html

http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20130318/NEWS/130319922/higher-volume-cars-get-carbon-fiber

 

[volta]

Very interesting. I think that this story makes more sense when you just think of it as GM integrating CF into its entire lineup instead of it just being used on EVs.

 

[Raymondjram]

GM is presently using aluminum in many of its vehicles, including the present (2011-2015) Chevy Volt, and its future version will use more. Aluminum is lighter than steel, and for now it is cheaper than carbon-fiiber. So the Bolt will be another vehicle with aluminum.

 

[Shuto]

GM is presently using aluminum in many of its vehicles, including the present (2011-2015) Chevy Volt, and its future version will use more. Aluminum is lighter than steel, and for now it is cheaper than carbon-fiiber. So the Bolt will be another vehicle with aluminum.

just wait until their venture with Teijin starts bearing fruit...

 

[volta]

It seems like the time for aluminum is now, but with the rate that CF is developing, I think that the aluminum era will be fairly short. It will continue to be used even when CF comes online better, but it will be yesteryear's thing at that point.

 

[Shuto]

It seems like the time for aluminum is now, but with the rate that CF is developing, I think that the aluminum era will be fairly short. It will continue to be used even when CF comes online better, but it will be yesteryear's thing at that point.

they WILL NOT be making cars completely out of carbon fibre no matter how much the cost comes down. It will always be a secondary material not one of domination, in mainstream cars that is.

Ever see a formula one car involved in an incident, the carbon shatters/disintegrates. You want that as a consequence if you back up into a barrier, your truck has now disintegrated into shards and your milk has been tainted. Fender benders turn into total write off's, carbon fibre effectively turns to dust on impact, dissipating maximum possible energy...which coupled with weight is why its prefered in high speed applications... in a grocery getter...not so ideal characteristics.

Carbon fibre wouldnt normally be first choice as an energy absorbtion material because its too brittle. To make it function effectively as an energy absorber, you need to make it fail in a controlled and progressive manner which is very difficult. Materials like kevlar and glass would be better at absorbing impacts. The reason carbon fibre is used in F1 would be weight. The teams then pay a massive cost in terms of engineering time to make it work properly.

 

[volta]

I know that cars won't completely be made of CF. I think we pretty much agree on that.

 

[Bazinga]

So the battery pack accounts for 23% of the Bolt's base price before incentives. That's $9,375 out of $37,500 and then you take into account all of the other materials and wonder how GM is making money off the Bolt. Guess the zero-emissions credits they get from this will save them money so they won't have to buy them from Tesla anymore.