Can it be?! Yes, there it is! The Volt! This is the one we have been waiting for! Ok, I've got to calm down... the car won't be in showrooms before the first half of 2011, but I actually got to stand beside a real Volt. Much has been written about this car already as a near-production-looking Volt has been making the auto show rounds for nearly a year and a half, but it still remains a significant achievement.
In case you've been living under a rock at the bottom of the ocean, the Volt is GM's attempt at mass producing a hybrid-electric (GM will hate me for this) car that could essentially be an electric car depending on the consumer's needs. The premise for the Volt is the advancement of the electric car without "range anxiety".
The new definition of "hybrid"
As you may know, a hybrid vehicle (extended range electric vehicle in GM-speak) is one that uses a combination of an internal combustion engine and an electrical generator. In all cases, the electric motors served to assist the ICE. In the Volt's situation, the lithium-ion batteries provide the momentum and the small 4-cylinder engine generates electricity to resupply the batteries.
In pure electric mode, the Volt will travel up to 40 miles (64 km). Given the size of the fuel reservoir, the combination of the ICE and battery capacity will take the Volt as far as 300 miles (483 km). The explanation as to why this is not a conventional parallel hybrid vehicle, is because there is no mechanical link between the ICE and the wheels. So there...
The real trick up GM's sleeve is that the "generator" need not only be a regular gas engine. Essentially, any other means of energy creation can be used. For example, natural gas, bio or regular diesel or even hydrogen. This is the Volt's true genius. This could mean that at any given time, the Volt could be sold with a generator that runs on the cheapest available form of energy and in theory, two Volts sold by a same dealer could have different types of generators; one biodiesel and the other, E85.
The car
The Volt itself does not look like a car from the future. It is a "Chevrolized" interpretation of the now wildly-popular 5-door trunkated hatchback design, made popular by the second generation Toyota Prius. To be frank, the Chevy version of the body style is the most handsome of the bunch as it looks more substantial and more upscale.
In case you've been living under a rock at the bottom of the ocean, the Volt is GM's attempt at mass producing a hybrid-electric (GM will hate me for this) car that could essentially be an electric car depending on the consumer's needs. The premise for the Volt is the advancement of the electric car without "range anxiety".
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The new definition of "hybrid"
As you may know, a hybrid vehicle (extended range electric vehicle in GM-speak) is one that uses a combination of an internal combustion engine and an electrical generator. In all cases, the electric motors served to assist the ICE. In the Volt's situation, the lithium-ion batteries provide the momentum and the small 4-cylinder engine generates electricity to resupply the batteries.
In pure electric mode, the Volt will travel up to 40 miles (64 km). Given the size of the fuel reservoir, the combination of the ICE and battery capacity will take the Volt as far as 300 miles (483 km). The explanation as to why this is not a conventional parallel hybrid vehicle, is because there is no mechanical link between the ICE and the wheels. So there...
The real trick up GM's sleeve is that the "generator" need not only be a regular gas engine. Essentially, any other means of energy creation can be used. For example, natural gas, bio or regular diesel or even hydrogen. This is the Volt's true genius. This could mean that at any given time, the Volt could be sold with a generator that runs on the cheapest available form of energy and in theory, two Volts sold by a same dealer could have different types of generators; one biodiesel and the other, E85.
The car
The Volt itself does not look like a car from the future. It is a "Chevrolized" interpretation of the now wildly-popular 5-door trunkated hatchback design, made popular by the second generation Toyota Prius. To be frank, the Chevy version of the body style is the most handsome of the bunch as it looks more substantial and more upscale.
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