The folks at General Motors know they have an image problem.
Too many Americans think of too many GM vehicles as stodgy, unreliable, gas guzzling dinosaurs. With so much competition from foreign automakers, more and more U.S. drivers are looking at other options – and buying them - with the result that the #2 car company in the United States is now Toyota. And this year, they have been running neck and neck with GM to be number one.
Fueling Toyota's success has been the American public's increased acceptance of the impact of automobiles on global warming – and in response, many car buyers are looking at hybrid vehicles, which rely on electric battery power to boost gas mileage. Toyota didn't invent the hybrid – but it manufactures the car that's become the symbol of the category: the Prius.
"The Prius creates Toyota's image, while GM is thought of as those guys who gave you the H2," General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz lamented last month.
He feels that the public's perception of the Prius – which is just one of around 30 different models Toyota and its subsidiaries market in the U.S. – casts a rosy afterglow on its entire product line. He hears stories about people purchasing Toyota's Tundra SUV for its fuel efficiency. "But the Tundra gets 21 miles per gallon, while a Sequoia gets 17," he said.
Lutz and his marketing team at GM are doing everything they can to change public perception and paint a new image of environmental friendliness. At the GM Collection event I attended with about a half dozen other bloggers last month, the corporation's low-mileage vehicles were front and center – and to drive the point home, they were presented on a green carpet leading to the exhibit hall entrance.
"We are committed to be the leader" in low gas mileage, said company spokesman Dave Barthmuss as we snapped shots of some GM cars that are rated 30 miles per gallon or greater by the Environmental Protection Agency. Barthmuss reminded us that the EPA recently rewrote the formula used to compute gas mileage to better reflect real-life driving habits – and these vehicles STILL get 30 mpg. "In fact, GM has roughly 24 vehicles that get 30 mpg or greater on the highway," Barthelmuss said.
The array of new technologies in current and upcoming models was impressive – and available in every price range, from the modestly priced 2008 hybrid Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura…
to "FlexFuel" SUV's and minivans that allow the consumer to use whichever alternate fuel is available (such as ethanol and biodiesel)…
...to the experimental hydrogen fuel-cell powered Chevy Equinox, … 
...to the vehicle Bob Lutz and his team are most excited about: the still-prototypical, futuristic plug-in Volt.
Why so many different options at this time? As Barthmuss and fellow spokesman Chris Pruess pointed out, if "we hybridized everything - if every automobile in the world was hybrid, that would only buy us an additional seven to ten years before the oil runs out."
The company is committed to changing "the energy equation by moving cars away from petroleum whatsoever... [because] it's hard to plan ahead with looming fuel shortages."
GM is committed to moving away from oil, because if they don't do it, the company can't survive.
Conversation turned to the EV1, the seminal modern electric car General Motors pioneered back in the '90's. I was fortunate enough to take a ride in one; they were marketed through GM's Saturn subsidiary, and when I used to take my little SL1 in to the dealership for service, the EV1 was the automobile used to shuttle customers around. It was a cool little car; amazingly quiet -- but impractical for a new mother who needed a back seat and room for an infant and all her gear.
The company spokesmen wanted their blogging guests to know that, contrary to the title of the popular documentary, they did not "kill" the car, as it was always meant to be an experiment; one that has led their engineers to new possibilities of fuel efficiency.
"We didn't kill it because it would have died anyway," said Barthmuss.
"There's a little bit of the EV1 in all these vehicles," he said.
They are hoping to have the Volt ready by 2010 or 2012. The hold-up is the lithium ion battery that will power the car.
C|net's Laura Burstein asked: "As Lithium ion batteries are affected by heat (a big problem for laptop manufacturers), was coming up with the insulation part of the hold up?"
Pruess replied, "Actually, our biggest challenge has been the crash structure to protect the battery."
The second biggest challenge was the aerodynamics.
"Not since the EV1 has a car been so thoroughly engineered aerodynamically," said Pruess.
Power management is also an issue on the Volt. I was surprised to learn that XM Radio pulls a lot of power that could affect performance in an electrically powered vehicle, as do power seats and windows.
The conversation reminded me of my own car shopping experience last year. I had considered buying a hybrid, but for the 11 years I owned my low-end Saturn, I had been kicking myself for not buying many options. I mean, if I had known I'd still be driving that thing after 11 years, I would have gotten leather seats. And once my husband brought home his nicely appointed Honda Pilot, I decided I could no longer live without HEATED leather seats.
When designing the Prius, Toyota identified vegans as a target market, so leather on that car was not an option at the time I was shopping. And from what Chris and Dave told us at GM, heating the seats would also take battery power away from the engine.
They mused that on an all-electric vehicle, they might give consumers the choice of "optioning out" -- that is, getting their car delivered without amenities like power windows, locks and seats, etc. -- which would maximize the time and mileage between vehicle charges.
When I was deciding what kind of car to buy last year, the only hybrid vehicle in my price range with the heated seat option was the Honda Accord, but its mileage was no better than a standard gas combustion Civic. So I picked luxury over environmental responsiblity, choosing to lease my dream car. I figured there would be more and better options when my lease ends in 2009.
My visit to the GM Collection confirmed that assumption in the most positive manner. I was intrigued by the automakers' two-step hybrid engines that allow SUV's like the Yukon and Tahoe to drive in bumper to bumper traffic with electric efficiency. But the vehicle that really got my heart pounding was the hydrogen fuel-cell powered Equinox.
The experimental version of the Equinox runs on something called Hydrogen 3, which has been available for three years now. According to Barthelmuss and Pruess, these autos will have the same performance, ease of use and safety as a normal Equinox. They will include a battery assist feature to help with starts and stops.
General Motors will be testing 100 of these vehicles on the road in three metropolitan districts later this year, and is inviting drivers in New York, Washington D.C., and Southern California to apply to take part in the test here. Although there are 30 hydrogen stations in California today, I was bummed to discover that none were near my home; my zip code did not qualify me to take part in this test.
In the coming months, you'll be hearing more about a similarly powered car called the Sequel, an all electronic vehicle with a 300-mile range on a fuel cell. "It will have everything that people will be looking for when they are ready to give up the internal combustion engine," said Barthelmuss.
"But there is no silver bullet today, so for GM, the strategy is to pursue diversity in innovative technology."
It makes sense to me.
Next post: The wit and wisdom of GM Vice Chair Bob Lutz.
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