CES 2008 Keynote: GM’s Rick Wagoner
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We are here at the General Motors keynote, the second keynote on day two of the show. The folks are starting to pile in and we will be getting started in about 25 minutes (4:30 pm pacific, 7:30 pm eastern). Last year Ford got a bunch of attention at CES, between Bill Gate’s Sync announcement and the Ford keynote. That momentum has continued into this year as more and more companies seem to be pairing up with Ford. GM is really struggling and one would expect that being offered a keynote address would come with some big announcements.
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We look forward to a cleaner, brighter future with the hekp of the CE industry. Enjoy the show.
It has solar panels on the roof.
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Here is the world premium of the Cadalac Provoq. It the first auto introduction at CES. It uses no petroleum and no emission other than water. It uses 5th generation technology, drives 300 miles on a full tank of hydrogen. It can go 100 mph and 0-60 in 8.5 seconds.
Back to the keynote. “To get Volt on the road we need advanced lithium ion batteries.”
Rick is going for his second joke, and bombed once again.
The Chevy Volt is the first demonstration of E-FLex. It is driven by electric and is flexible to be driven by various methods of electricity (hydrogen fuel cell, gasoline, an ethonal motor, etc).
Next mode is fuel cells. The Chevy Sequel is powered by the 4th generation fuel cell. This technology is being put into the Chevy Equinox. This is a ZEV (zero emission vehicle).
There will be a plug in version of the Saturn Vue hybrid in the near future.
Next mode is Gas-Electric hybrids. By the end of this year GM will have 8 new models in the US and 16 in the next few years. The Chevy Tahoe and GMR Yukon both get 50% better fuel economy than their gas siblings. A Hybrid blog even said they would drive the Tahoe.
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In 2008 25 FlexFule vehicles will be available. If Ford, GM, and Chevy made a commitment to use E85 we would save 22 Billion gallons of gasoline annually in the US alone.
Moving on to the role of the automobile in today’s global environment.... In 2007 70 million autos were sold. In 5 year this number will grow to 85 million vehicles. “It has become very clear to use that no one solution will be best in every part of the world.”
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GM won the DARPA automated challenge. It was 60 miles of driving in less than 6 hours, while not breaking laws or getting in accidents. (GM won the race)
The next big development is to connect cars to other cars (currently technology is connecting cars to the outside world via telematics). In 2008 lane departure warning and blind spot alert are rolling out. The next step is V2V(vehicle to vehicle communications). Next generation systems can use transponders to talk with other vehicles 1/4 mile around.
Now we are watching a video with more technology.
1. You can send an address from MapQuest to OnStar.
2. You can lock your car door via your cellphone.
3. Real time OnStar access via your cell phone to start it, check the status.
These applications and more are possible, not only in the US and Canada. It will soon be entering China, as well as other countries.
Later this year they will be adding “Stolen vehicles slow down”. Thus far 30k cars have already been found via OnStar. Now they can pinpoint the car, once police see the car, OnStar can slow it down.
OnStar is about to roll out it 8th development in12 year, “a bit better than our auto roll out time.” OnStar used to know if you crashed, asked if you were ok, and routed emergency response units. Now they can tell where the car was hit, how it was hit, how hard it was hit, if the car rolled over, and more—improving the chance that emergency response can help you.
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“OnStar provides safety, security, and peace of mind. 85,000 subscribers requests per day. 29,000,000 minutes of hands-free calling per month is routed through OnStar.”
They are showing an OnStar video—no wait they are showing a TV commercial.
At GM we think we will be closer to electronics as we use electronics to reinvent the automobile. The radio used to be the sharing point with CE industry, now it is telematics (via OnStar).
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Rick came out in the Chevy VOLT, which was introduced last year at the Detroit auto show.
Why is GM here? The auto the CE industries have traveled hand in hand for a long time. GM introduced the electric starer (moving from the hand crank. More and more, todays cars and trucks are highly advanced consumer electronics products.
“It is great to be here where so many powerful people are debating so many powerful people. Gates and Dell insisted the world was flat. Gary said that the world was round. They decided to look to god. God said the world is round. Gates say sorry, it’s only two against two.—Bad joke”
“Technology, nature, and fashion. We provide smarter options and thinking and breath clean. The bigger the challenge the futher ahead we look. The most exciting vehicles, driven by you.”
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Our CES boy is on the stage introducing Rick. Rick assumed his post in 2003 and has been president and CEO. This is the first time that the worlds largest auto manufacturer will be speaking at CES.
GM video intro…
And the lights dim...the CES promo video is back on for the 5th time. I don’t think I will be able to go to sleep tomorrow night without seeing this video. FYI - the artist of the theme song is Paulson.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the keynote will begin in 5 minutes. Please take your seats.”
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As I am searching around prior to the keynote, I came across this excerpt from a CBS article. “Cars that drive and even park themselves could be ready for the road within a decade, GM executives say. But such cars would also have to navigate such obstacles as government regulations, liability laws, and the desire of drivers to keep control.”
Stay tuned right here to see if this gets announced…
Here is a funny clip I found of Bill Gates at his last day at Microsoft. It’s from CES 2008 and features a whole list of the rich, famous, and powerful.
Link: http://www.webcastr.com/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=2067
on January 8, 2008 at 09:20 PM - LINKGeneral Motors - Super
on March 5, 2008 at 03:59 PM - LINKBut in Russia - Chery cars is the super - http://chinaplanet.ru/
I bought a brand new Chevy Silverado truck in Nov.05,I thought it was the best investment ever, as an electrician I travel several hours back and forth to work,sometimes out of state. How do you think I felt when my transmission went on my truck at 49,000 miles and I was a hour away from home. The truck is not even three years old! My wife talked to GM about this matter and they wouldn’t reimburse us even 50% of the 2500 dollars we had to pay for a new one. We have four children and we had to take food out of their mouths to pay for the truck,never again will my family or relatives buy a GM vehicle.
on April 9, 2008 at 12:31 PM - LINK