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Valley native paves the way
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GM Designer Bob Boniface
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GM Designer Bob Boniface a Poland Native designed the new Chevy Volt - he was honored at the Chambers Annual Meeting at Mr Anthonys in Boardman.
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GM is working on improving the range and price of the Chevrolet Volt.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BOARDMAN — Area residents were excited by their first look at the Chevrolet Volt, but the car’s lead designer is moving on to something else.
Bob Boniface, a Poland native, isn’t quite ready to say what that is, however.
Sitting with a display model of the Volt behind him at Mr. Anthony’s banquet hall Thursday, Boniface just smiled when asked if General Motors’ next electric vehicles may include a cross-over vehicle or small truck.
“There’s a lot of little things that you can do, but that’s all I’m going to say,” Boniface said while speaking with the media after his keynote speech at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber’s annual meeting.
He stressed, however, that GM’s electric program will not be a “one-trick pony” and that his design studio in Michigan is working on other models. At a car show in Detroit in January, GM unveiled the Cadillac Converj concept, an upscale electric car.
As designers work on such models, GM’s engineers are focused on making the Volt even better, Boniface said.
The car is expected to come to market in November 2010, but engineers are working on the propulsion system of the second generation of the car, he said. Typically, the life cycle of a model is about five years.
Boniface said the cost of the car is expected to come down as battery technology improves, while the range of the car increasing.
The Volt is expected to travel about 40 miles on a charge. Then, a gasoline-powered engine will take over and power the car for between 200 and 300 miles.
Boniface said GM is trying to keep the cost of the Volt under $40,000, and there now is a $7,500 tax credit for buyers of electric vehicles.
“That’s still not a cheap vehicle,” Boniface said, but he added that the Volt could save the average driver between $1,000 and $2,000 a year in gasoline costs.
Boniface brought a display model of the Volt so local residents could glimpse their first look at the car.
Rex Kinsley, senior vice president of First National Bank, said the tax credit would make the car worth considering.
“It’s a nice-looking ride,” he said.
Ginny Pasha, director of community investment for the United Way of Youngstown and Mahoning Valley, also liked the design but said the gasoline-free range of the car caught her attention. She has a 35-mile drive to her office in Youngstown from her home in Kinsman.
“For me, anything fuel-efficient is attractive,” she said.
Boniface, a Cardinal Mooney High school graduate, said he has driven one of the 35 test vehicles that have Volt’s electric technology inside the bodies of Chevrolet Cruze compact cars.
What will surprise first-time drivers is the lack of noise and the lack of vibration, he said. Drivers have grown so used to gasoline-powered engines that they don’t notice the vibration in the steering wheel, pedals and shifter, he said.
“With the Volt, there’s nothing. It’s so creamy smooth. It’s amazing,” he said.
Starting in June, GM will begin testing the electric propulsion system with the Volt bodies, he said. By the end of this year, there should be 100 Volt test models on the road.
Boniface said he thinks GM caught its competition “flat-footed” when it introduced the Volt as a concept car in January 2007. Many observers didn’t think GM would bring the car to market, but the company invested plenty of resources into the project, he said.
Now, competitors also are working on bringing electric vehicles to market, he said. GM’s early commitment to the Volt, however, has given it about a two-year head start, he said.
shilling@vindy.com