Unfortunately, as much as I would enjoy the ownership experience that driving a Volt would give me, that particular joy must forever remain unrequited. (As a retired automative power train engineer for a rival US automaker, all I can and will do is share a sense of nationalistic pride over GM's achievement.)
Go USA!
The Chevrolet Volt, going on sale this month heralds in a new age of automotive EV technology. But will customers bite on the $41,000 price tag? (Photo by Jason Perlow)
I admit that I’m something of a car junkie. So when the opportunity came to test-drive the new Chevy Volt, the hybrid Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) that’s been under active development by GM for four years (and arguably even longer) I absolutely jumped at the chance to put myself behind the wheel of this technological marvel.
Hybrids have been out for a while. The Toyota Prius of course is the best-known and by all accounts has been a major commercial success, but it’s been something of a compromise car from a Green Technology standpoint.
Like most hybrid vehicles the electric motor in the Prius works in tandem with a traditional internal combustion engine, which switches itself on and off as needed to power/charge the car’s electric motor/batteries or to directly engage the powertrain like a conventional gasoline car, using what is called a Hybrid Synergy Drive.
The Prius also employs a novel regenerative braking system that actually feeds power back to the batteries during the braking process. As such, combined with the Synergy Drive, the Prius is a very mechanically complicated car and is still gasoline-dominant in its design.
True battery-powered EV’s (Electric Vehicles) have taken a long time to come to market because the battery and electric motor technology required to power them has taken a great deal of time and money to build and develop.
General Motors has been experimenting with EVs for a long time, Most notably the EV1 in the late 1990s, but the range, peak electric motor horsepower, as well as the overall performance of the NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries for the weight and size required was disappointing.
Also See: Chevy Volt (Gallery)
Add 10 more years of battery, electric motor and computer technology, and you get the Voltec powertrain used in the Chevy Volt. Instead of the much heavier and bulkier Lead Acid and NiMH power packs used in the EV1, the Volt uses only about 500lbs of high-density Lithium Ion cells manufactured by LG.
While the Volt is still technically considered a hybrid because it also has an on-board 1.4L 4-cylinder 74 horsepower gasoline engine in addition to the electrical powertrain used in the Voltec system, the car is primarily battery-dominant rather than gasoline-dominant, which is an important distinction from the other hybrid vehicles currently on the market.
Unlike the Prius, which has mechanical linkages between the gasoline engine and the transmisson, the Volt doesn’t. With the Volt, he gasoline generator is only engaged when the batteries completely run out of charge for “Extended Range” (350 miles total with the 8 gallon tank) or if the car enters “Mountain Mode” to provide a higher level of voltage to the 149 horsepower electric powertrain to climb steep hills.
