Over 33000 buyers sign up for GM Chevrolet Volt PHEV plug-in hybrid car

In a bid to show the demand for the upcoming 2010 Chevrolet Volt PHEV plug-in hybrid car, a proponent of the car has released details of an unofficial waiting list for the vehicle with over 33,000 prospective buyers. Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist, has been assembling the list for over a year through his website GM-Volt.com. GM is designing the Volt to run for 40 miles on a lithium-ion battery pack that can be recharged at a standard outlet. The Volt will also capture energy from braking, like a traditional hybrid, and feature an on-board engine to charge the battery on longer trips. GM is racing Toyota to bring the first mass-market, plug-in car to the marketplace.

- There has been so much hype around the Chevrolet Volt PHEV, but the only way we can tell for sure about the execution is when the rubber hits the road. That's still about a couple of years away, and the last we've heard so far, as of 4 Sep 2008, GM is still in the process of choosing between the 2 competing suppliers of the crucial lithium-ion battery packs, LG Chem and A123Systems.

Will GM be able to complete integration testing? Will the chosen battery supplier be able to ramp up production in time? Compared to various other consortiums such as Toyota/Matsushita, Nissan/NEC, VW/Sanyo and also Bosch, who have committed over $2 billion combined in lithium-ion battery manufacturing facilities, we haven't heard anything nearly as substantial from either of these two.

(2008-09-04 23:27:02 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

NYMEX crude oil prices fall to $105.46 as Hurricane Gustav fears fade

channelnewsasia.com :

Oil prices plunged over $5 in New York on Tuesday [2 Sep 2008] after Hurricane Gustav appeared to have wreaked less damage than feared to Gulf of Mexico energy facilities. NYMEX light sweet crude oil for Oct 2008 delivery dropped as low as $105.46 in intraday trade. Falling demand for crude oil because of a slowing global economy has caused prices to drop from record highs of $147.27 on July 11. The euro fell below $1.45 as a strengthening dollar helped drive oil prices lower. Iran called for OPEC to discuss excess supply at its 9 Sep Vienna meeting. "Some OPEC members are providing the market with excess supply and producing more than their OPEC quota," said the Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari. $100 oil is "a minimum" for oil prices, he said.

- The mainstream press continues to fill up with talk about a $100 OPEC floor. Meanwhile the US dollar continues to power higher, with USDX (the US Dollar Index) breaking decisively through the 78 resistance level, heading for the 23-year support/resistance level of 80, which it broke through on the downside in Sep 2007. Not the greatest of times to be a commodity bull of any kind at this point especially of oil. The $100 level should hold, but if this support level fails, we could probably get ready to declare an imminent global economic collapse. Let's hope that's not the case.

(2008-09-04 20:31:45 SGT) [Energy] Permalink Comments [1]

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