Some Chevy Volts will be self-driving next year
Around this time next year, visitors to the Warren Technical Centre campus of General Motors in Michigan might find themselves being shuttled around the centre in a self-driving 2017 Chevrolet Volt. Apparently the automaker plans to deploy a fleet of Volt extended range electric cars to drive people autonomously within the campus. To use the service, employees would use an app, reserving the vehicle and then selecting a destination. Using autonomous technology under development, the vehicle would then pick them up, take them to the destination, and then park the vehicle. Data gathered during this deployment will be used to further the aims of the company’s autonomous vehicle team.

Originally published on EV Obsession.

GM’s electric vehicle (EV) ambitions seem to be shaping up nicely going on recent comments made at an investor conference. Amongst the interesting comments, one stood out in particular: The company is now claiming that the launch of the Bolt EV will be accompanied by battery cell costs of just $145 kilowatt-hour (kWh) — very low. Impressive numbers if they pan out.

While $145/kWh is already low, GM is projecting they will get down to $100/kWh by 2022, as you can see in the graph above.

Other interesting comments include: the assertion that the Bolt EV will definitely be launched by the end of next year (by the end of 2016); a note about the current Chevy Volt already possessing much of the hardware needed for autonomous driving modes; and the very interesting comment that the profit margin for the 2016 Volt plug-in (PHEV) is $3,500 higher than the profit margin for the first generation Volt. (Thanks to “bro1999” on the GM Volt forums for this.)

On the subject of the future of the company’s interest in the (potential) autonomous car sector, things are apparently starting to heat up. The company will soon be deploying a fleet of autonomous 2017 Chevy Volts at its Warren Technical Center campus. Employees at the facility will be able to book rides from the autonomous Volts through a carsharing app designed by the company. “Basically, you press a button on an app on your smartphone, and the car comes to pick you up,” Anton Wahlman summarizes.

Data gathered during this deployment will be used to further the aims of the company’s autonomous vehicle team.

On that note, GM recently revealed that a “Super Cruise” autonomous feature will be deployed as part of the upcoming 2017 Cadillac CT6.

On this and other topics, GM CEO Mary Barra recently stated: “The convergence of rapidly improving technology and changing consumer preferences is creating an inflection point for the transportation industry not seen in decades. Some might find this massive change to be daunting, but we look at it and see the opportunity to be a disruptor. We believe our decades of leadership in vehicle connectivity is fundamental to our quest to redefine the future of personal mobility.”

Sign up for Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast: I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ... Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps —— grow. So ...