Design engineering at large

Chevy Volt, Performance Capabilities Subject to Change

Did I hear that right? A Chevy Volt radio ad this morning concluded with a line like performance capabilities subject to change or may vary. I think it was the former. Should I be surprised given the GM’s rush to get this electric car into production by late 2010? That’s how fluid the battery situation is. The ad touts that you might seldom buy gasoline if you travel 40 miles or less day. Are people going to shell out big bucks for a car whose capabilities are subject to change? That said, I can appreciate GM’s candor.  With the economy the way it is, it seems everything is subject to change by the hour.

Bill Gates on the Financial Crisis, Innovation

Want to feel better about the current financial crisis? Listen to Tom Brokaw’s interview with Bill Gates whose optimism  about innovation and the economy is matched only by his wealth. Gates thinks investment in innovation will continue on through the crisis. Why do I think Gates is running for something? He comes off as a guy who might have some macro answers. I interviewed him a dozen times or more when I was editor of PC Week, an IT newsweekly. He’s come a long way since he was a difficult and sometimes combative CEO in 1980s and 1990s.

Below are some excerpts (Brokaw’s questions are paraphrased). Would you vote for him as president?

Can entrepreneurs still get capital?

“In terms of investing new medicines or improving software and coming with new ways of doing things, the level of investment will stay very, very high. This country in terms of its science and innovative businesses, it’s a great thing for the world. We need a risk-taking culture. The mechanism of risk-taking is not under threat. Even if we did have an economic cycle that was negative, a lot of that endures. In the long run, the U.S. is going to do very, very well. The uniqueness of our universities, science and risk taking - all of that is very much there. It’s just the financial sector that has developed these imbalances. We’ll see our way through it and continue to be a fantastic country and have a great economy.”

Do you worry about a “cataclysmic” event?

“The effect of a depression would be incredibly bad for all countries. The U.S. economy doing well is very, very important to the world.  [We have] challenges like price of food going up and political instability. Fortunately, the general trend line has been very positive. In 1990, over 20 million children died of diseases. A few years ago, we had that below 10 million. It should be zero.”
How can innovative companies help the poor?

“Companies should think about their innovations and how they can help the poor. If you’re a drug company, there are diseases you can put a little extra effort into. If you’re a cell phone company, there are illiterate farmers who want to know farm prices or health advice. It’s taking less than 5% of their innovation power and thinking about these things. Young people want to work for companies that are more involved in that type of innovation.”

Are we going to wipe out malaria?

“Absolutely.”

GM Throttles Back Chevy Volt's Design

The Chevy Volt’s official design has come in for some heavy criticism for being far from the futuristic and sporty concept car GM rolled out at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. It was that model that adorned our March 19, 2007 cover.

In photos of the production model released yesterday on GM’s 100th birthday, I find the design quite appealing and have more of an appreciation for innovative technology that propels the vehicle. Auto cheesecake photos can elicit far better response than what bubbles up when you’re in the same room as one. And the fact it’s a four-seater instead of five is a bit of a ding - you have to put that big battery somewhere. See our Volt photo gallery, watch GM’s introduction video and check out our extensive Volt coverage.

GM vice chairman Bob Lutz vigorously defends the more conservative design on his Power On blog. His rationale is a good one: GM chose to focus on aerodynamics and figures that buyers will connect more with what powers it than the vehicle’s looks. How else could Toyota ever sell the Prius? That’s about as unsexy as car design gets.

I buy cars based on practicalities such what’s inside, engineering, handling/ride, cost of ownership and reliability which is THE big question with the Volt. Design is factor, but never the overriding one and I like to think I am educated buyer. I suspect many engineers are this way, too. In fact, I would not have bought the concept car had it become the production model. Maybe it still will.

Here’s Lutz’s argument:

“The vehicle’s design has come under some criticism, most of it, to me, unwarranted. The challenge to the designers wasn’t to design the most beautiful car imaginable and accept the compromises you have to make to do so. It was, make no compromise to fuel efficiency and electric range, and then do the most beautiful design possible, around those aerodynamic dictates.

“When you look at the exterior of the Volt, you might notice certain aerodynamic shapes and design elements of some other cars you might see on the road. But beneath the skin, it shares very little with any other car that’s ever existed. So I submit that while it’s typically design that makes an emotional connection with buyers, in this case, the Volt is going to be bought for emotional reasons, but it will be for the emotion tied to the technology contained therein.”