General Motors’ global product development head is a committed fan of electric vehicles, he said on the sidelines of the British motor show in London on Tuesday.
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“No one is more enthusiastic about electric vehicles than I am. I personally own four Segways and [an electric scooter],” Bob Lutz told just-auto.
“I do believe electric propulsion has a big role to play.” He added that GM believes the “future of the automobile is electric drive” which could also involve the “intervention of an internal combustion engine”.
“Frankly I don’t share the prognosis that says ‘In 20 years’ time we’ll all drive electric cars’ because I think there’ll still be a lot of room for diverse powertrains which will also be very clean and very efficient.”
He said GM was placing a lot of emphasis on fuel cells “for the more distant future”.
In a dig at a Japanese competitor that “gets all the credit for” having 18 fuel cell vehicles on the road, Lutz noted: “We have 100 of them running in the hands of customers in the United States. I don’t think anybody is ahead of General Motors when it comes to fuel cells.”
He said fuel cell vehicles were “a little further out” due to the need to establish a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.
Asked how long, he said: “It’s the moving five to 10 years. I say that jokingly but it’s definitely going to come.”
“What’s near-term here and now is the Chevrolet Volt concept with lithium-ion batteries, pure electric drive and a secondary gasoline, diesel or ethanol-powered engine which never drives the car – there’s no mechanical connection between engine and wheel, it always serves as a generator set for the battery.”
Graeme Roberts
