The Chevrolet Volt with Jason Baker

After testing driving the Chevy Volt we made this short 60 second video to highlight the most important features:

• Full electric up to 64km
• Gasoline engine kicks in after 64km
• Chargeable on a standard outlet
• A full charge takes 3-8 hours
• Sport mode

The journey of the Chevrolet Volt has been long and arduous. I remember hearing whispers of its development about 5 years ago. It was a near mythical vehicle (left). Now the real deal (right) is en route and this November you can have one. You can own a piece of the future. I am not kidding. The fact that it can go 64km, the average daily commute of 75% Americans, on a single charge using absolutely no gasoline says more than anything else. To see all the rest of the amazing stats you can skip to the end where the wikipedia reference does the job. Driving it was pretty similar to driving a very nice new virtually noise free electric vehicle. So, like nothing any consumer has had the luxury to enjoy yet. Please enjoy this guest post from Jason Baker on the Volt.

GUEST POST - JASON BAKER
With having been given the chance to drive the amazingly quiet Chevrolet Volt yesterday, I look forward to the future of electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell technology. I don’t consider myself to be a car enthusiast by any means, but as a citizen of Surrey where we heavily rely on cars to get around, I look forward to the anticipation of one day owning a Chevrolet Volt or at least an electric car. For a vehicle that has been the buzz of the automobile industry as the ‘car of the future’, it truly does deliver as a point A to point B car. At least for me it beats the low riding vibration 20-year-old Mazda stick-shift truck that I drive around with a large turning radius.

As much as I enjoyed the unbelievably smooth and quiet ride that the Chevrolet Volt comes with, I can’t help but think about our future as a society with electric cars. Although GM has spent years on sustainable technology that many residents of Vancouver would endorse, our public infrastructure is years away from supporting such a paradigm shift in the automobile. The Chevrolet Volt is a garage only vehicle with the need to continually plug in to either a 240V or 120V battery. I say continually because most people like myself, continually plug-in laptops instead of draining them out.

In general, society has focused more on the economical and sustainable benefits that vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt bring, but what about the things we haven’t thought about. For instance how do we take long road trips with the use of the electric battery? Have we thought about where we can plug-in at a hotel? How do we ensure that thief’s don’t walk off with a charging unit that costs $200-$500? Below is a short list of community infrastructure problems related to the innovation of electric cars:

• A shortage of public charging stations
• Building public charging stations into existing infrastructure
• The debate of who is financially responsible for charging stations on private property
• The security of your charging unit when left in an underground or outdoor parking lot
• Street parking and secure in ground charging units
• Developing rural areas at the same pace as urban areas to support the electric car

The majority of these issues are currently in debate amongst experts, companies, and governments around the world. However, they are not a major topic of discussion because the electric car is not here yet. It’s our nature that we react to what is needed. In BC, our infrastructure has never been “plan for what we will need.”

The Chevrolet Volt is an innovative vehicle and the new standard for electric cars. But its benefits develop the problems for infrastructure and safety. In addition to the charging stations, the vehicle is so quiet that pedestrians can’t tell a car is coming. In fact, when we pressed the ignition button, no one knew that the vehicle’s engine had started up. It was that quiet!

As a marketing professional, the current theme of “reset” with regards to changing our industry standards and habits also applies to society as a whole. We are in a complete reset, and this includes changing our infrastructure from catching up with old technology to planning with new technology for new sustainable infrastructure. This is why the automobile industry needs to put more pressure on governments because this is going to be the future, and we need to plan for it.

So as we listen to the build up hype of the Chevrolet Volt and future electric cars, just be cognoscente of the infrastructure issues that make this car feasible for the average consumer. This car should be more than a Point A to Point B vehicle, but it won’t be unless the infrastructure is built at hotels or other public parking spaces. But I am all for sustainable cars, just plan for it and don’t wait until the market is already here.

And we'll finish off with some information from wikipedia and the standard test drive & car show videos.

The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle to be produced by the ChevroletGeneral Motors and expected to be launched in November 2010 as a 2011 model. Its retail price has yet to be announced by General Motors, but is estimated to be near $40,000 USD.^[4] which would give a net price of about $32,500 after the $7,500 US Federal tax credit. The automaker has kept the Volt on or ahead of schedule, despite GM's Chapter 11 reorganization.^[5] The Volt's propulsion system will be based on GM's new Voltec (formerly known as E-Flex) electric automobile platform, which differs significantly from GM's earlier BAS Hybrid and Two-Mode Hybrid systems. The first pre-production test car based on the full Volt design was built in June 2009 in Warren, Michigan^[6] and by October 2009, 80 Volts had been built and are being tested under various conditions.^[7]

For up to the first 40 miles (64 km), the Volt is powered by electrical energy stored in its on-boardlithium-ion batteries which are charged by connection to an electrical power outlet. The Volt's 16 kWh (8.0 kWh usable) lithium-ion battery pack can be fully chargedSAE J1772^[8] compliant charging cord. Charge by plugging the car into a 120-240VAC residential electrical outlet using the provided harging station will be required.^[9] Unlike most current commercially available hybrid electric vehicles, the actual propulsion of the Volt is accomplished exclusively by the electric motor.

Right side: the gasoline-powered engine used as generator to recharge the batteries. Left side: the electric-powered engine used for traction.

-Thanks Wikipedia.






A typical test drive video


The classic car television show talks about the volt.

Athletes experience Social Media confusion at The 'Twitter' Olympics #TNMH

I recently read an article in Wired on athlete confusion around social media publishing policies. One skier told he 35,000 Twitter followers that "because of the Olympic rules (blackout period). I will not be able to post any updates from now until March 3rd. Sorry, it bums me out too!" The update was also posted to her Facebook, showing some savvy, nice one.

Apparently, the move was made based on a faulty understanding of the International Olympic Committee’s rules on blogging and social networking. There is no Olympic rule that sets up a blackout period for athletes according to Bob Condron, the Director of Media Services for the United States Olympic Committee. “Athletes are free to blog during the Games. Twitter is just a blog that’s written 140 characters at a time. You can’t act as a journalist if you aren’t,” says Condron. “You need to do things in a first person way.”

Speedskater Nick Pearson posted on Twitter, “Due to Olympic regulations I can no longer post pics on Twitter through the Olympics.” On the left is a photo he took from his room in the athlete's village. IOC guidelines state that athletes may post photos of themselves as long as they don’t show any of the actual sporting action during the Games. On the right is a picture of the Olympic speed skating oval he took Feb 4th accompianed by this twitter post, "After all has been cleared up, pictures are a go!!!! Just nothing from the competitions or the opening ceromies." Both of the photos are linked to the originals so if one disappears we can guess what may have happened.

The IOC's concerns are about the very expensive exclusive advertising and broadcast sponsorship deals. Many of these athletes are sponsored by companies other than Olympic sponsors and photos of them in the Olympic venues or spirit may be considered 'offside'. For athletes with no major outside sponsor obligations these worries around twitter pictures and Facebook posts seem like a bit of joke for good reason, they are. No one can stop the wave of social media and this Olympics will confirm it.

Expect heavy social media activity among athletes in Vancouver. These are going to be the Twitter Olympics. On The Georgia Straight's website I found this list of about 50 Canadian athletes who tweet which stands in contrast to the situation with described in Wired. At least their article forced the US Olympic committee to clarify the situation for the athletes. The US Olympic Twitter page's recent tweets are a great example of dealing with the problem and some of the limitations of Twitter to serve customers.

Streets of Plenty: The Vancouver Story of Addiction

This documentary is something everyone should see. Not for the faint of heart.

Social Media for Entrepreneurs