General Motors Chairman and CEO Rich Wagoner used his keynote address at this year's CES in Las Vegas to outline his company's vision of the future of car technology. The presentation was the first ever by an automobile manufacturer at CES. The most significant item Wagoner touched upon was GM's answer to environmental concerns and the need for alternative sources of energy to power automobiles in the coming years. The answer, Wagoner declared, could be found in the 5th generation fuel cell concept vehicle that rolled out onto the stage with him, a sleek SUV called the Cadillac Provoq.
The Provoq, an impressive looking silver specimen, relies on EFlex technology, using GM's latest generation of hydrogen fuel cells and an Advanced Lithium Ion Battery to power it. The result is a vehicle that can achieve top speeds of 100 miles per hour, go from 0 to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds, get 300 miles per tank of hydrogen and produces no emissions. In addition, the car comes complete with a solar panel on the roof to power accessories and a front grill with louvers that optimize the vehicle's aerodynamics.
EFlex technology – that is, electronically driven cars that have flexible power-deriving capabilities, will function by charging from an electronic source, combining that with a small ethanol or diesel engine, or a hydrogen fuel cell. EFlex allows vehicles to drive up to 40 miles with a single charge from an electronic source. Since most commuters only drive within that range on a daily basis, the zero emission product is astounding. Should the car owner need to travel further, the engine generator uses the other flexible sources of power to allow the car to run at a ridiculous 150 miles per gallon!
Until such cars are available, Wagoner pointed to the FlexFuel models that run on up to 85% ethanol, whose production GM will increase to 50% of all of its cars by 2012. The country will need to have more E85 fuel pumps, however, if the ethanol-based system is to be effective nationwide. Over the next four years, GM also plans to introduce 16 new hybrid models.
Wagoner dished out another hint of the future when he discussed the potential for cars to drive themselves. He shared that GM recently won the DARPA competition, a challenge in which the Chevy Tahoe "Boss" navigated on its own a 60 mile course that simulated urban conditions in under six hours.
OnStar, GM's telematics system, also had its share of developments. The 8th generation of OnStar will soon provide vital information to rescuers following a collision, such as what part of the car was hit and how hard, as well as whether it rolled over. Furthermore, OnStar will also feature Turn By Turn Navigation, a new directions service. Another service coming includes a partnership with MapQuest to add a "send to OnStar" function. Perhaps the most important OnStar upgrade, however, was the "stolen vehicle slowdown" feature, which will gradually decrease power to suspected stolen vehicles upon a request by law enforcement. GM also plans on introducing OnStar in China this year.
Finally, Mr. Wagoner introduced V2V technology that will allow cars to communicate with each other in order to avoid collisions. Using transponders and GPS technology, one car will alert another behind it to a sudden stop, allowing the second car to automatically begin slowing down even if the driver is unaware of the situation.
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Say what you will about General Motors (okay, so maybe you should say it under your breath), but there's no denying the brilliance of this idea. On the company's FastLane blog, one Gery Kissel explains that engineers and suits will be meeting up next week to discuss the standardization of common components that will hopefully be installed in forthcoming electric vehicles. Notably, the SAE J1772 Task Force will be responsible for designing a plug that links each plug-in vehicle to an "ecosystem," ensuring that drivers can pull into any charging station from Key West to Neah Bay and see a socket that fits their ride. Specifically, the group is being charged with defining a "common electric vehicle conductive charging system architecture for all major automakers in North America," but it remains to be seen if said standard can be hammered out before the Volt's not-to-be-missed 2010 introduction.
If you've ever been in an accident you've probably wished that you had someone there to help you get everything figured out -- call the police, line up a tow truck, etc. That's exactly the sort of help that GM's 
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