Vehicle Chief Engineer Andrew Farah began the update by saying there is less than one year to go before the start of regular production for the Volt. The goal is to build a great vehicle for the customer and have the Volt be much more than a battery on wheels.

Here are some of the highlights from his presentation:

• GM has teamed with LG Chem to produce a great battery cell for the vehicle. It puts the team in a position to meet customer expectations and to use this technology to make vehicles beyond the Volt.
• Inside the Volt’s battery are cells, which are grouped together into modules that are grouped together into battery packs – or, the T-shaped objects that actually go into the vehicle.
• The Volt is meeting energy power requirements and is now balancing issues such as safety, regulations and customer satisfaction with other issues such as performance, durability, packaging and vehicle design.
• The team has completed the pre-production build process and is in the process of testing the vehicles. Some are being tested around the clock 24/7.
• The team has built all 300 packs for the Volt and the results have been excellent.
• There have been more than 250,000 miles of testing on the pre-production and mule vehicles. Some of the highlights of this testing include hot weather testing in Death Valley, mountain testing at Pikes Peak and a 65% calibration drive.
• Everything is not perfect on these drives, but there are not any problems that will not be handled before production. This is not unlike any other challenges that come with developing a new type of vehicle such as the Volt.

Engineering Group Manager Bill Wallace then gave a battery update:

• There are 50,000 cells available for testing and to date, none of the cells have failed in the tests.
• Pack development is lining up with overall vehicle development and both tracks will meet with the start of production in November 2010.
• Battery cells go through 150 tests, including cell crushing, cell overcharging and cell life cycling.
• There are three major battery modules (groups of cells) inside the pack and they are tested to measure pressure, stress and high dynamic impact, among other things.
• The battery pack itself undergoes more than 20 different types of tests, including corrosion, crash and life cycle use.
• The team learned that the battery is well protected inside the vehicle and the cell abuse tests have shown the cells to perform as expected.
• Since the vehicle is so quiet, noise is an issue and the team is working on ways to reduce ambient noise when the vehicle is in motion.

The team then opened it up for questions:

• In response to a question about how much the internal combustion engine will be started, Andrew Farah mentioned that the Volt is designed to be your only car and even though you can drive up to 40 miles on pure electric energy, the engine needs to be available when you exceed that range. He believes most people that have a Volt will have engine run once a month at minimum because of normal use.
• The Detroit-Hamtramck plant is in the process of being retooled and new equipment is being moved in. The plan is to do the next build of the vehicles at the end of March.
• The tweaks to the battery chemistries are very small. The adjustments are mostly in the life of the battery. It’s a challenge, but also a great asset for the vehicle.
• The battery pack weighs about 200 kgs. Future versions of the Volt will try to reduce that weight, but it is not impacting any of the goals in the vehicle’s development.
• GM continues to work with the University of Michigan. The school offers a special curriculum on energy storage systems and there is an ongoing intern program that works with GM. There are some students who have been hired who work on the charging system or in the battery lab.
• In cold-weather, the Volt has an electric cabin heater to provide comfort. At certain temperature levels, the engine will start to help warm the battery. Heated seats provide good bang for the energy buck.
• The biggest challenge in testing is hot-weather storage of the vehicle. Currently, ten years of battery life is the norm, but some people could get more battery life depending on the climate where they live and their driving conditions.

On July 10, my management team and I made a commitment to you: GM will rebuild itself by focusing on cars, customers and culture. Today, for the first time since emerging as a new company, we released preliminary managerial financial results. They demonstrate we are on the right track, but still have a long way to go.

We’ve worked hard to set a solid foundation for rebuilding our company. Our progress is evident: market share is stabilizing, our balance sheet is healthier and our cost structure is competitive.  In the US, our newest launch products like the Buick LaCrosse, GMC Terrain, Cadillac SRX and Chevy Equinox are generating higher transaction prices and residual values than previous model year vehicles. And we’re seeing the same positive momentum felt globally as GM’s newest products such as the Holden and Chevrolet Cruze, Daewoo Matiz Creative, Opel/Vauxhall Astra and Chevrolet Agile gain market share.

Our entire team is encouraged by these results  but we are not and cannot be satisfied. GM is still in a loss position. We know the upcoming fourth quarter will bring additional challenges and cash outlays. Our cash level, however, will allow GM to focus on improving the top line and keep investing in important products and technologies.

Perhaps the most telling announcement we made today was that GM will begin repaying US and Canadian taxpayers by the end of next month and we will continue paying down both loans on a quarterly basis.  We take these loans personally. They represent an enormous obligation to our fellow taxpayers, and we want to pay them back as quickly as you do.

GM is showing solid progress, but we must do better. New challenges are on the horizon and GM will be ready for them. In my eyes, success comes down to keeping our heads down and following our plan to build great vehicles as well as creating stronger relationships with our customers, dealers, employees and so many others.   Again, it’s all about cars, customers and culture. I look forward to what the future brings.

OnStar takes its subscribers’ concerns very seriously. We are committed to providing subscribers with safety and security, and our privacy policy support that focus. Recently, we’ve noticed conversations in the blogosphere about OnStar and privacy. Many of the conversations discuss misperceptions of our services and privacy policies.

We want to set the record straight.

Jane Speelman, OnStar’s Privacy & Compliance Officer is hosting a Web chat to talk about the privacy practices OnStar has put in place to ensure customer information is not used in a way that is inconsistent with the subscriber agreement. She will also talk about the common misperceptions about OnStar and privacy and why they are wrong.

The Web chat will take place, Thursday, November 12 from 2 –3 p.m. EST. Jane will try to answer as many questions as she can.

One of the most difficult things about working with a new technology is helping people understand the “dollars and sense” associated with it. This is especially true when the technology is one that can be demonstrated, but is still a few years from commercial introduction. Take hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for example.

In 2007 GM deployed Project Driveway, a fleet of more than 100 Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell electric vehicles. Project Driveway is still the largest and most experienced fleet of its kind anywhere in the world with more than one million miles of accumulated driving by real consumers. The vehicles were hand-built, making them very expensive, but the builds helped establish a new supplier community and resolved many technical challenges.

While the Project Driveway vehicles still amaze almost everyone who drives one, they use technology that is now four years old and was essentially a proof of concept. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t put early vehicles in the hands of real customers until a program reaches pilot production. Project Driveway’s purpose is to gain customer feedback, better understand the technology and evaluate the fuel infrastructure. More importantly, these vehicles were intended to prove to the world that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can become practical solutions for future transportation needs. It is a testament to the skill of the development team and the capability of the technology that these vehicles are refined enough to be used daily and meet or exceed customer expectations.

We are often asked how much these vehicles cost and we are consistently careful to avoid putting a price tag on a vehicle that people can experience but not own. Putting it bluntly, the cost of a demonstration vehicle is neither the right measure nor the right question. Even prototype vehicles with conventional propulsion systems are prohibitively expensive at this point in their development cycle. The important cost question should focus on what the technology will cost when it enters production and what value the technology provides the customer, including energy efficiency, zero emissions, improved performance, reliability, fuel range, short refueling times, and consumer acceptance.

With quantifiable learnings from the Equinox fuel cell fleet and a strong technology development effort, the fuel cell program left R&D about a year ago and became part of Powertrain, where it is treated like any pre-production program when it comes to seeking efficiency, cost reduction, design for manufacturability, and other elements of a production program. It is still expensive, but the costs are coming down dramatically. Our next-generation fuel cell architecture is 220 pounds lighter, uses about half the parts and roughly a third of the precious metals, compared to the still-impressive Equinox demonstration vehicles.

In some ways, we are a victim our own success. The Chevy Equinox fuel cell is a great car, but it is a demonstration vehicle with aging technology and high cost. The next-generation fuel cell system is much less expensive but is not yet to the point where we have vehicles on the road. The graphic below shows the significant physical differences and the tale of the tape between the Project Driveway propulsion system and the next-generation system. The things we are learning will continue to lower fuel cell system costs and we expect the fuel cell system will become cost competitive with other comparably capable advanced powertrain solutions. All these technologies have a common goal: to quickly complete a couple production learning cycles that will help bring costs down. Then the technology must be used in enough cars to achieve necessary economies of scale.

For today, we must help people understand that the fuel cell vehicles they can drive now would still be out of reach for most buyers. Fuel cells must cross the same “valley of death,” that every new technology must endure. GM is developing advanced hydrogen fuel cell designs that are clearly on a path toward affordable hydrogen-powered vehicles. As we move from petroleum to other energy sources we must consider the true technology costs and stay the course to achieve our long-term objectives.

Click here to see the full-size image.

Vice President, US Sales

Today, we reported October sales for the new GM of 177,603 units, up four percent from last October – our first US sales gain in 21 months. Retail sales were up 15 percent for the same period. So, while no one is declaring victory … we are seeing signs of progress.

Our estimated share of the US market for October was 21 percent.   That was better than September and significantly better than last October.

With 95 percent of our retail sales for the month attributed to Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac, our sales mix is healthier than it was with eight brands.  Importantly, our six newest products (Equinox, Camaro, Traverse, LaCrosse, Terrain, and SRX) are off to a great start, showing improvement in traffic and sales compared to the models they replaced.  Camaro has outsold the Ford Mustang five months in a row; Equinox and Terrain are gaining share in the crossover segment; LaCrosse is bringing younger buyers to Buick; and SRX had the best month in its history.

We know we have a lot of work to do to earn consumer trust, change perceptions about our company and products, and strengthen relationships.  And, while we’re encouraged by consumer acceptance of our new vehicles and our October results, no one is celebrating.  We will continue to work hard every day to make our customers our top priority – and that means offering cars and trucks they “gotta have,” and giving them the service they deserve.

Stay tuned, and let us know what you think of our new products.

(Click here for a video in which Susan Docherty explains the sales numbers in more detail.)