http://www.usnews.com/articles/busin...-and-more.html
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And you think lithium ion batteries are the way to do that?
The problem with lithium ion is scalability. But now Black & Decker has been using it in tools. Segway switched to lithium ion from nickel metal hydride two years ago for their transporter. Then I read about Tesla, these battery-powered cars with a 200-mile range. To do that, they're using thousands of laptop batteries wired together. When Tesla announced they were building a car, that kind of tore it for me. I thought, "If some little West Coast outfit can do this, we can no longer stand by."
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So of all the different technologies GM is working on, how would you prioritize them?
Electric. Advanced hybrid. Plug-in hybrid. Advanced clean diesels. And far out, there's hydrogen.
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I'm not fond of some of the reports about Lutz and I've never met or heard him. But this is the first interview where he comes across with some sensible statements that I can agree with.
Of all the things he says, only one causes me to raise my eyebrow,"
But instead of the normal GM routine, the usual gates, we removed all that. There are no milestone meetings. No gate reviews. Nobody has to prepare papers prior to meetings. We make decisions on the spot, then the team marches off."
The last big project I worked on in General Electric took this approach and our R&D and proposal was wildly successful. We met our goals and objectives and won the contract. But when the 'helpers' showed up from headquarters, they went out of their way to invalidate and walk away from everything we'd done as quickly as possible. That included driving off most of the team leaders who made the prototype effort possible. When Ford's FEH vice president resigned, I smelled the same 'wiff' of how big companies "get even."
I hope the Volt folks are successful and bring the product to market. But most of all, I hope we don't find most of that team, out on the street, looking for their next job.
Bob Wilson