ManMade - Ultimate Factories: Chevy Volt
In March the National Geographic Channel Aired an episode of ManMade -Ultimate Factories: Chevy Volt. I found out about it but did not have the channel on my satellite. So I ordered it online at National Geographic Store, It was in the making till now, so it has finally arrived.
It comes in a dvd/English format only and does not have any menu. It is a 1 disc, 50 min., Widescreen film, and does not have closed-captioning and they do not ship overseas. It just plays the episode that was aired with no commercials. It is of high broadcast quality and very detailed and easy to follow the construction of the pre-production Chevy Volts built by hand.
We start in a large section of the Pre-production Operation Facility at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, MI called the Machining, Tooling & Stamping. This is just a part of the 200,000 sq. ft. set of buildings that is set up to fabricate the cars destined for production. It is a custom shop and a Volt could be made just as a Aveo or Cruse in the same line. They look for the problems with the engineers on the floor for design changes that they do not want after the commitment is made to construct the cars at high speed in a full production line factory. The factory in Warren is flexible and most all of the parts are hand assembled, it is slow and tedious work.
MACHINING, TOOLING & STAMPING
From ART to PART
A computer controlled router mills out Styrofoam, and out of that a cast is made, then a die is created. The dies are massive, and one that is use to make the Volt fender weigh 15 tons. It sets in the press that exerts up to 1000 tons of force to stamp out the steel to make the shape. Then a 1700 watt computer controlled laser cuts around the edges and all of the holes in each of the stamped parts. 100′s of parts are constructed this way to make up all that is needed to build the Volt. From there parts like the fenders, hood, doors and the back hatch require “Heaming” – A hand crafted skill of bending over the edges or mating two flanges that need a tight flush connection. It is done by hammering a tool made of aluminum, slowly rounding the edges of the metal, rolling it up and over the adjoining face. The heaming of the Volt’s back hatch takes Craig R. Jueckstock, 30 minutes to connect the inter frame to the outer skin. In full production, only seconds for a robot.
But it will not be the same, truly the value of these hand built cars bring new meaning to me a, Volt that I got to drive earlier this year, was one of these cars from this build. I will not forget Mr. Jueckstock hand crafting that part made for showing, crashing, driving, pushing to the limits and re-testing. To make sure GM builds a great car.
UNDERBODY
The stamped parts for the lower bottom of the car are first put together in three sub-assembles. The Motor Compartment, The Mid Floor Assemble and the Rear Compartment. The Volt is made like most modern cars as a Uni-body, the only thing that is unique is the extra large center hump in the mid -floor to accommodate the size of the battery that goes down the middle and back. But it is not to say that it does not have frame like members that run along the sides and floor of the car. Some parts are regular and others high strength steel, all spot welded together. Special paper templates are use to mark out the places, designs by the engineers, to tell the worker were to put the welds. 150 welds just go in the Mid Floor alone to provide the crash worthiness and integrity to the whole car. The pieces are jigged together with clamps and pins that are used to insure alinement and then hand spot welded. These assembles in full production will all be done by robotics. The finished Mid-Floor weighs 75 pounds, now still light enough to carry by hand to the jig that mates it up with the other two sub assembles, 400 more spot welds later, and the new underbody is 1500 pounds and ready for the next step.
FRAMING DEPARTMENT
Now a hoist is used to lift the underbody up into the next jig, the framing fixture. The sides that frame the car make up the inter posts where the doors hang and all of the skin of the body will attach. The frame in not under the car it is in it’s sides, like webs of a suspension bridge over a river. After the fixture closes around the frame and underbody, 100 spot welds are used to tack this stage together. The fixture is removed and a robot finishes the welding job, the only part of this whole build that is automated.. Now all of the skins can go on, fenders, and top and temporarily all the swing metal is bolted on. Swing Metal is the term use to describe the parts of the car that swing off the car like the hood, doors and back hatch. It is starting to really look like the Volt, but we still have a long way to go.
THE PAINT SHOP
After the body is put on a rolling carrier a sealer is applied to the interior, underbody and frame. It is baked on then pushed into the spray booth for a coat of color, put on by two painters, by hand. No robots used here. Then into a oven to bake for 40 minutes at 325 degrees and back for a clear coat and re-baked.
THE TRIM AREA
The first thing here is to remove the side doors and get busy, we will see them later. It is time to install all of the interior parts and the one and one half mile of wire. All in bundles with it’s connector plugs on, made up and ready to go. Next the “IP” or Instrument Panel & Dash Assemble mounted on a long armed adjustable fixture for the reach into and over the high battery hump. Only installable from the driverside door opening and with a tight 5 mm of clearance on each side of the opening, it is one of the most trickiest installs for the Volt build.. A little up on the back, a little in and over and little shove and it is setting on it’s pins and ready to bolt in. This is what this build is all about, finding the snags and interferences that would really cost on the line.
Now the wind shield can be set in with a squeeze of rubber. And here comes the doors back. They have their glass, hardware and the beautiful inter panels installed. But before we go any farther it’s time to take a test… The Water Test to check for leaks before carpet can go down. A punishing 950 gallons of water per minute, that simulates a lifetime of road spray, car washes and rain storms. With a push a button, sprayers hit the Volt from every angle inside the test booth. Did it survive? After 8 minutes they inspect, no water was found this time, but a modifications to the door gasket helped make this test be a success. It is easy to fix now to make a “leak free” Volt.
THE CHASSIS AREA
We have a nice looking car hanging above, but it needs propulsion and wheels.
A robot cart is called into service to help, called an AGV or Automated Guided Vehicle, that I think it was following a line on the floor. It has mounting alinement pins that extend up and match holes in the body to help worker place the parts correctly and quickly.
This AGV is carrying a 6 foot long, all important battery. Remember at the beginning of this story we talked about the jig holding the parts of the Mid Floor Assemble, here is their payoff for there hard work. The battery fit perfectly, but they say the first one did not, but now it does.
Many sub-assemblies are going on here from the electric motor / generator mounted to gas engine and struts and springs bolting to sub-frames. They are all set on another AGV to hold those parts in alinement. The AGV takes them off to show up and match with it’s car body in the main assembles line. The body is lowered a little and the AGV raises the chassis to the body. Connections made, Tires put on, front nose bumper put on an we have a Volt!
THE TEST DRIVE
Chevy Volt Engineer – Andrew Farah takes you on the first public on camera drive to show the car automatically making the transition into range-extended mode and seamlessly the car does what it claims
a electric car continues to drive after the battery runs out.
A lot for detail goes into a build that was not belabored on but enough was show to see the joy and care of the workers in this film. Is it about a car or a team of people that are trying to make a difference in the car industry? For me the first time to see this kind of build was a real treat.
It was for the techy and Volt fan like me but there is an under story that this car make people feel. From the designers, engineers, fabricators and assemblers it an aw inspiring car.
Reviewed and Posted By: Ron G.
SHOW CREDITS:
Series Producers: JOHN SCHEERROB ENGLEHARDT
Producer/Writer/Director: AARON KASS
Segment Producer: DANIELLE SAVAGE
Editors: TOM MESHELSKI
Narrator: CHRIS COOK
Produced by KAOS ENTERTAINMENT, LLC for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
