GM: Without software, Chevy Volt is stuck in neutral | Green Tech - CNET News
The Chevy Volt is as much a software engineering accomplishment as it was a mechanical engineering challenge, according to General Motors. General Motors today plans to bring the Chevy Volt to IBM’s Raleigh, N.C., offices to show off the electric car and celebrate its partnership with IBM’s software business in making the Volt. With the Volt, GM aimed to not only break new ground in electric powertrains but it also decided to make a demonstrably high-tech car, complete with an Internet connection and smartphone-inspired in-car controls. To make that happen, software engineers took on one of the most sophisticated projects at GM, said Micky Bly, executive director of electrical systems, hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries at GM. “We haven’t done a vehicle this complex in the history of GM,” Bly said on Friday. “The software–the control side–is what ties together (the mechanical components)…It’s really the heart and soul of how the car performs."