COVERITLIVE.COM

4:02	Rob Peterson - Welcome everyone. Frank Weber and Doug Parks will be joining shortly. As many of you already now Frank is moving back to Europe to join the Opel/Vauxhall senior leadership team and Doug is taking over the reigns for the Chevrolet Volt team effective December 2.

4:02	[Comment From Unni ] Are you also bailing out because volt is not that great as expected ?

4:06

Frank Weber - Welcome everyone. Glad to be here with you all. It is certainly not connected to the Volt. There 80 preproduction vehicles on the road currently and the program is well under way. I am just coming back to the office after a weekend of pure electric driving in the Volt. I can ensure one thing that driving the Volt will blow you away.

4:06	Doug Parks - Hello everyone. I'm glad to be on the team. I've been working on our new global compact vehicles for the last four years (Astra, Cruze) and now moving up to the Volt. It's a natural move and a great place to be.

4:06	[Comment From Dos ] What is the charging efficiency of the volt on 120?

4:08	Frank Weber - It doesn't make a real difference in the efficiency whether you are charging with 120 or 240 volt. Time to complete the charge is the big difference. 2.5 vs. 7.5 hours.

4:09

[Comment From Lyle Dennis, GM-Volt.com ]
Mr Parks, now that you are taking over I assume you will be involved in 2nd and 3rd generation Volt development. What is the timeline to production for each of those and what areas will you be focusing on? Also does GM plan to develop a partnership or JV with a battery production company?

4:10	Doug Parks - Our primary focus is on making this Volt the best it can be for the start of production late next year. We're already applying learnings into Gen 2, but stay tuned on timing announcements.

4:11	[Comment From ViVAPartnership ] What would you say are the biggest barriers to trial and adoption on a mass scale?

4:12

Frank Weber - The biggest success factors for electric vehicles are robust and low cost solutions for advanced batteries, electric motors, power electronics and thermal systems. The evolution can be compared to cell phones where you were initially carrying suitcases and today you have mobile computers at one-tenth of the initial price.

4:13	[Comment From Nate ] Are there any plans to delay the Volt for the same reasons that the Cruze was just delayed (seeing as they are on the same platform)?

4:14	Doug Parks - Our most recent ride and drives inside the company confirm we are on track. The Volt is on time and on target. There are no plans to delay production launch.

4:14	[Comment From Paul Stoller ] How will Opel fit into the overal picture at GM, does GM lacking controlling ownership present any problems with regards to future collaboration.

4:15	Frank Weber - It has been said before that Opel and its technical center will remain a part of GM's Global Product Development even if GM is only a minority owner. Opel needs GM and GM needs Opel.

4:16	[Comment From CaptJackSparrow ] Why did you start with such a low number of 10,000 Volts for the first year?

4:18

Doug Parks - I'm not announcing production numbers but people need to be aware that the whole system (dealers, service, production, salespeople) all has to be trained. This is a new technology with new training for all systems and we need to start as we intend to go. That means a controlled launch (sorry, no numbers today.)

4:19	[Comment From Polly ] Will Opel have the rights to market their version of the Volt in Europe after GM sells Opel?

4:19	Frank Weber - The Opel entry that is using the Voltec technology is called Ampera and has always been part of our plan. You will see in Europe Chevy Volts and Opel Amperas.

4:19	[Comment From ViVAPartnership ] Doug what do you think your main philosophy will be after you take over the reins?

4:22	Doug Parks - My main philosophy is to focus on the car - perfect it so that all details will be addressed and customers will be delighted. Believe it or not, this about more than "just" the Voltec propulsion system. The entire car needs to be right.

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