The year 2017 was a productive and progressive for Chevrolet as a brand. We saw a full year of Chevy Volt sales and the staggered national rollout of the All-Electric Chevy BoltEV. We also heard many hints to what is in our near future. This blog will touch on what has been announced for Chevrolet and what I hope/wish to see come to fruition in the coming months and years.
Many of you already know that I am a Chevrolet Certified Electric Vehicles Specialists which has afforded me the ability to hone in my skills and knowledge to this specific topic area. What you may not yet realize is that my expansion of knowledge also includes the development of autonomous safety features in vehicles. These two areas of focus, I call it EAV (Electric Autonomous Vehicle) development, while General Motors and Chevrolet have dubbed EV and AV separately. I firmly believe that EAV's will take over the automotive market in the United States in the next five years, which is half the time that many analysts are betting on.
One reason that I foresee a faster "go to market" plan for Chevrolet (as well as General Motors) is that there are many benefits of utilizing these types of vehicles in the short term as well as far into the future. General Motors has announced new 20 All Electric Vehicle Models by 2023. We currently offer autonomous safety features on over 20 GM models. Here is why I think we will move faster than what is being projected or discussed:
- Gas Prices: The fact is that gas prices has been stable for quite some time at historically low prices, averaging around $2.50 per gallon nationwide. As a 40-year old consumer, I would not bet on these low fuel prices continuing. Right now, buying a Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) is a fantastic choice because you can take advantage of the low gas prices while running the onboard generator (42 mpg) and you benefit from having the availability to plug in to get some even cheaper miles.
- Emerging Safety based Autonomous Features: We are seeing more and more autonomous features being used for their increased safety benefits in all types of vehicles. We already have vehicles that avoid crashes, automatically brake for pedestrians, steer you into your lane and automatically parallel park. Cadillac has vehicles on the road that can navigate freeways without the assistance of the driver as well as vehicles that can communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure. This is the the path to a future with zero road fatalities that GM has in it's sights.
- Shop Local: Another benefit of moving to Electric Vehicles now is that it gives us energy independence in a few different ways. First, we become less dependant on oil products from overseas when our demand for gas goes down. Second we use more and more clean renewable energy sources for electricity in the United States. The third benefit is that money that we spend on Electricity, particularly in Minnesota, stays local because we have coops and other local companies for our electric companies.
- Public charging infrastructure is building out faster than originally projected. I saw one figure that indicated that the number of publicly available vehicle chargers grew by 1800% in 2017 and that "Fast Charging" networks grew by 1200%. There are holes to fill in with charging capability, but we are getting them fired up.
One of the larger obstacles of rolling out a fully EAV fleet across the General Motors brand involves many moving parts. Let's examine a few of the barriers to a fully electric autonomous fleet of vehicles and how we can quickly resolve those:
- Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. Currently there are a lot of areas of the United States where interstate travel is difficult for a 100% Electric Vehicle due to lack of charging infrastructure. Many cities have programs to expand this network and there are nonprofit organizations all across the country committed to expanding the network. Funds from the VW settlement as well as grants from the US Dept of Energy and other government agencies are fueling the expansion of the EV friendly travel zones.
- By educating the private sector and supporting the public sector in expanding charging capacity nationwide, General Motors could lead the charge. Here's my thoughts to rapidly expand the national charging infrastructure within a short period of time:
- Incentivize GM's ~5,000 dealerships (estimated and not confirmed) to install 50-150 kW chargers within certain areas of coverage. IE: Dealers no further than 50 or 100 miles apart get rewarded for installing charging capability that is made available to the public. If multiple dealers are located within the mileage range, it will encourage them to apply for and install these chargers faster to acquire the incentives.
- An example of a dealer based incentive: 100% equipment cost recovered over 3 years, 100% of installation (with expansion capability requirement) recovered over 5 years and 50% Energy Consumption (charging units track this) recovered with the ability to recover 100% of the electric bill as a sales and service incentive (train your staff and get more back) with the knowledge that some of the dealers will also qualify for local, state, federal and utility based rebate programs as well, so they may actually profit from this.
- Make arrangement with local and national lodging partners, fuel providers and retailers to encourage them to offer charging options. Work out group purchase programs for charging units, assist to negotiate with national electrical contractors to cut costs and require new contracts with GM to include provisions to expand the infrastructure.
- Offer grants, expertise and resources to governmental and nonprofit organizations to assist them to expand the charging networks in targeted areas.
- EV Charge Times need to be decreased. Most of the "Fast Chargers" across the country are pushing 50 kW of power while many EVs in our immediate future can take 150 kW of power. Unfortunately, some areas have difficulty handling that much power for multiple chargers at a particular location. Private industry incurs a significant expense to add the higher powered chargers for their customers or employees.
- Utilize additional resources such as renewable energy from solar and wind to get the power where it is needed.
- Put a focus on "Immediate Gratification" charging. Even if the vehicle only charged up to 100 miles, if it took under five minutes, folks would be excited!
- Autonomous Vehicle laws and regulations are not currently set up in most states. Many states will need to review current laws with regard to autonomous vehicle operation. Can a person sleep and let the car drive? Can I read a book? Can my car travel by itself? Can a person consume alcoholic beverages while in the vehicle? Who is responsible for driverless vehicles?
- Set up a grassroots organization including local, regional and national individuals, nonprofits and other organizations to work on getting things set up nationwide.
- Work with other manufacturers on a national level to acquire the regulations that may become an issue later. Proactively create responsible rules to create safe roadways.
- Intercontinental AV communication systems are behind in-vehicle technology. What I am referring to here is the ability for the vehicle to communicate with the roadway system to learn that traffic is backed up along my route, that ice or snow is accumulating on bridge decks, is there an obstruction ahead? Communication between vehicles is also important and currently lacking. Will all manufacturers join a single vehicle communications network or will each automaker have their own system that must interface with the others?
- Put a team together that will focus on developing communication systems with a focus on centralized access and interconnectivity.
- Work closely with competitive brands to normalize these systems including security of access for every vehicle.
- Public Education is possibly the largest barrier that we face. Simply stated; Folks are scared and extremely reluctant to give up their control of a vehicle to a computer. Some people love to drive. The main focus on educating the public must be to let them know that they can retain control while still enjoying the safety of these systems when a crisis or dangerous event is unfolding.
- Ease into it. You don't have to jump into a fully autonomous vehicle right away. First, let's give a few autonomous features a try such as automatic pedestrian braking and steering you back into your lane if you drift off a bit. Next, lets try the collision avoidance system. Once these systems save a few lives and folks are talking about their experiences, the drivers will be ready for the next step; Automatic Parking.
So what is available from GM today? What is coming in 2018? What is coming in 2019?
Currently, you can get at least partial electric miles in many models including the Malibu Hybrid, Spark EV, Volt, CT6 and BoltEV. The only GM vehicle currently in mass production that is Fully Electric and available in the USA is the BoltEV.
Active and Passive Autonomous Vehicle Safety Feature Description and Availability:
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- Warns if object is approaching from right or left while in reverse
- Available on many models.
- Blind Zone Alert
- Indicator on exterior mirror if object is in blind zone
- Available on most models.
- Lane Change Alert
- Camera mounted in windshield warns if you leave your lane without a signal
- Available on most models.
- Lane Keep Assist
- Camera mounted in windshield helps steer you into your lane if you vear out of it
- Available on most models.
- Low Speed Automatic Pedestrian Braking
- Using Sensors, Vehicle Applies brakes if object is detected crossing in front of vehicle at low speeds
- Available on many models.
- Mid/High Speed Collision Avoidance Warning
- Using sensors and/or radar, monitors traffic in front of you, their speed and your approach speed. Warns if collision is probable without action
- Available on many models.
- Mid/High Speed Collision Avoidance Braking
- Using sensors and/or radar, applies brakes to avoid imminent collision.
- Available on many models.
- Freeway Hands Free Driving aka Super Cruise
- Using data regarding freeway system along with sensors and cameras, vehicle is able to maneuver limited access freeways including lane changes, speed adjustments and obstruction avoidance. Driver must pay attention and retain controls as a camera is mounted in dash to observe your eye movements.
- Available on Cadillac CT6. Coming soon to other models.
- Vehicle to Vehicle Communications
- Allows vehicles to communicate with one another in multiple vehicle situations such as traffic flow and stop and go efficiency improvements, route planning and obstruction avoidance.
- In testing with Cadillac CT6 and other models.
- Vehicle to Infrastructure Communications
- Vehicles will know if a bridge, roadway or other infrastructure has a variable such as ice, rain, traffic disruptions or other adjustments needed to increase efficiencies.
- In the early stages of R&D.
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- When cruise control is initiated, the sensors and cameras will monitor traffic in front of you and make adjustments to your speed via decreased acceleration or braking to match the vehicle in front of you.
- Available on select models including Large SUV's, Highest Trim Levels of sedans and the Chevy Volt.
- Fully Autonomous Vehicle
- Vehicle has the ability to fully drive itself with or without a human inside.
- Almost ready to roll out nationwide. The Chevy BoltEV and other models have been through millions of miles of testing including with GM's subsidiary company Cruise Automation out of San Francisco.
- You can currently hail a Lyft ride in select cities across America and have a fully autonomous vehicle show up to give you a ride.
Cars.com published this information in March 2017:
General Motors has announced that they will release 20 New Electric Vehicles in America by 2023. We anticipate a Buick Crossover as well as something new from either Cadillac or GMC in 2019. I anticipate additional electrification and automation of vehicles in Chevrolet's line as well including widely available (possibly every model) autonomous safety features by 2020. I think that we will see the BoltEV line expanded to include additional trim levels and possibly a cheaper option. I expect to see a crossover similar to the Equinox or Traverse in 2020 and the elimination of the Volt as we know it in 2022 to be replaced by a small sized hatchback similar to the Cruze Liftback. The Corvette is being changed in 2019 allowing speculation about a mid-engine (motor) hybrid or electric super car. The Camaro now offers a small four cylinder, leading me to dream of a fully electric version perhaps when it is restyled in 2021. There is no reason that every model shouldn't offer a 100% electric or other hybrid system.GM's U.S. brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC. These cars offer adaptive cruise control:
- 2017 Buick LaCrosse
- 2017 Buick Regal
- 2017 Cadillac ATS
- 2017 Cadillac Escalade
- 2017 Cadillac Escalade ESV
- 2017 Chevrolet Impala
- 2017 Chevrolet Suburban
- 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe
- 2017 GMC Yukon
- 2017 GMC Yukon XL
These cars have adaptive cruise control and self-park steering:
- 2017 Buick Envision
- 2017 Cadillac CTS
- 2017 Cadillac CT6
- 2017 Cadillac XT5
- 2017 Cadillac XTS
- 2017 Chevrolet Malibu
- 2017 Chevrolet Volt
Some GM cars have a lane keep assist feature that applies steering to mitigate lane departure, but "none are designed to steer the vehicle without the driver's hands on the wheel," spokesman Tom Wilkinson told us.
Hybrid drivetrains have sold poorly in the truck and large SUV markets. Chevrolet is offering "E-Assist" on light duty Silverados in 2018 which is basically a hybrid electric motor assisting the lower-end torque for towing and other truck duties. This does not improve fuel economy and it is not being called "Hybrid". I fully expect electric heavy and light duty pickup trucks and large SUVs by 2022, perhaps with a generator and perhaps not. One barrier for these vehicles is that the drivers/owners of this type of vehicle do not have much interest in driving electric. Another obstacle is making the truck convenient for folks on the jobsite.
I fully anticipate every General Motors model to offer autonomous safety features and many of those features will become standard for our vehicle fleet.
On the road to Zero Emissions and Zero Deaths with GM Vehicles!
~Dave Troy~
~Dave Troy~
*Update: I just want to clarify that I am a salesperson at a Chevrolet Dealer. I do not have inside information and I can not confirm or deny claims and personal opinions in this blog as being accurate or actual.
