What You Should Know About The Chevy Volt

Forbes

Five points to clear up some of the misinformation about the new electric car.

The Chevy Volt is generating a lot of interest, and no wonder. GM has often been content to follow the trends, and it's suddenly coming out with a car that's far ahead of the pack. By all means visit your local GM dealer (soon to have solar electric vehicle charging) and kick the tires, but here are some critical facts to remember:

1. It's not all-electric. There was a big hoopla on the Web about this, with angry bloggers saying that GM had "lied" when it said that the car is all-electric, all the time. It's really a tempest in an oil can. At 70 mph, with the battery power depleted, the gas engine drives the wheels. In all other circumstances, including the first 25 to 50 miles, it is always electric. GM, which was trying to protect a trade secret, shouldn't have been so insistent about the car being 100% electric, but its choice in this case makes sense and improves its overall sustainability.

2. Results will vary. The mileage you'll get out of the battery pack will vary, depending on how you drive--and that's true of all electric cars. First GM said the Volt (a four-, not five-seater, by the way) got 40 miles on the pack, then 50, then 25 to 50, but in fact you may get all of these outcomes. Nothing depletes a battery pack faster than highway driving. The Volt is probably best described as a plug-in hybrid, but there are key differences. The Toyota  ( TM -  news  -  people ) Prius plug-in hybrid I'm testing now becomes a standard Prius after 13 miles of electric driving. The Volt starts its gas engine, but uses it as a generator to supply power to the electric motor; you're still in an electric vehicle. Plug-in hybrids don't offer many benefits to people with long commutes because most of your travel will end up on the gas engine. The Volt, with its unique drivetrain (only the Fisker Karma is similar), will thrive under such conditions and stay electric.

3. It's not cheap, but there are options. At $41,000, the Volt is nobody's idea of an economy car (though it will sip fuel). The best bet is the three-year, $350 a month lease, which matches the deal on the much-cheaper Nissan Leaf. You'll need to put down $2,500 to get the lease, but that seems reasonable enough. And remember that the Volt is eligible off the top for a $7,500 federal tax credit. Is it also eligible for a $5,000 California rebate? No, because it's not an AT-PZEV. That stands for Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle, and for 2011 the Volt will be only a ULEV, or ultra-low emission vehicle. But GM is promising that the car will qualify for AT-PZEV sometime in 2012, and cars after that should be eligible for the rebate (if any money remains in the state's depleted coffers).

4. Only some of us can buy them. The Volt will roll out at the end of the year, in seven states: California, New York, Michigan, Texas, New Jersey, the Washington, D.C., area and Connecticut. Fifty-state availability is on the horizon, and GM will introduce new launch markets over an 18-month period. Nissan has adopted a similar strategy with the Leaf, and the Coda will be in California only. That gives stealth electric vehicle carmakers like Wheego a chance to sell its LiFe vehicle in all 50 states for at least a year, until the big guys get there.

5. There's no range anxiety. After the 25 to 50 all-electric miles, there are 300 more miles on tap with the generator supplying electricity to the motor. This is one of the crucial differences between the Volt and battery electrics, and it gives the Volt range comparable to any other car on the road. GM has been heavily touting this as a market advantage over cars like the Leaf, but time will tell if it really matters all that much. GM's own studies purport to show that 78% of American commuters travel less than 40 miles a day. Range anxiety might fade as familiarity with electric vehicles grow, in which case the advantage might not seem as pronounced as it does now.

Review: Chevy's easy-driving Volt could be your only Car

USA Today

Chevrolet's 2011 Volt battery car, due in at least a few customers' hands in December, represents a staggering amount of engineering in order to be sure you never notice all that sophistication.

Except for the gee-whiz instrument panel, you might figure you were in a normal car. And that's stunning, because Volt combines an electric motor, a generator that itself sometimes works as a motor and a small gasoline engine to create a drivetrain that uses no gasoline for 25 to 50 miles, then sips it.

Most impressive, though, is that the Chevrolet Volt is a premium execution of a pleasant-looking, easy-driving small car — one you'd probably be satisfied to have as your only vehicle (assuming you don't need a big car or roomy back seat).

The General Motors engineers who created the Volt are reading from the right page in the reality manual: The driver should be able to behave normally and still get commendable fuel economy. The car should do the work. If the driver wants to help by motoring so gently as to create a trailing queue of aggravated, road-raged motorists, so be it. But that's not necessary to achieve low fuel consumption.

If Volt, as well as Nissan's Leaf and Mitsubishi's i-MiEV electrics and other alt-power machines due soon are to become mainstream — the only way they'll matter in the battle to cut petroleum use — they have to let drivers be drivers. Volt does.

Strongest impressions from the drives:

•Styling. Engaging, not ridiculous. Looks snazzier than the Chevy Cruze, with which it shares some underpinnings. You can even get a Volt in colors other than Boring Blue or Somber Silver. Quirky interior door-panel patterns are silly, though.

•Dynamics. Volt combined the best features of electrics and conventional vehicles.

Instant torque of the electric motor made the car quick in traffic, less so at highway speed.

Volt lacked the road racket and wind noise that mark some small cars. The drivetrain was quiet, free of the whine and other faint, unpleasant noises that accompany some electric machines. Smooth, too — electrics inherently are.

Like a good conventional car, Volt steered nicely (though you can't say the electric power steering had a lot of the beloved road feel). It rounded corners with sufficient agility to satisfy drivers whose other car isn't a Miata or Corvette. It stopped promptly (though brakes feel quite unnatural if you're new to the so-called regenerative braking used by electric and hybrid vehicles, because it helps recharge the batteries).

•Controls. Mostly normal. You're quickly at home, confident behind the wheel. It takes a few times to remember the car is on when you push the start button — no engine noise or tachometer as telltales.

You also can choose driving character.

Normal driving mode is as expected. Sport gives you the same power in the end, but delivers less pressure on the go pedal. Mountain revs the gas engine harder to keep the batteries fuller to let you cruise over passes without strain.

You can keep the shifter in Low instead of Drive for more forceful regenerative braking. That charges the battery more aggressively. It also slows the car dramatically simply by letting off the throttle. Sport/low was our favorite combo — nicely edgy, responsive.

•Gauges. Less conventional, because they're monitoring different things. How far you have left on the battery before the gas engine will kick on. How much gas you're using once it does. What that combination of electric only, then gas help translates into as a miles-per-gallon equivalent. And the normal alt-power car ability to watch a screen depict the power flow among the components.

You can choose what's shown — in other words, you can avoid having to view the silly and distracting sci-fi readouts.

•Battery. A 400-pound T-shape that fits under the floor along the center tunnel, and across under the back seat, swiping room for a middle rear seat and making rear-seat folding a bit awkward.

The plug-in charge cord is easy to use. One comes with the car for use with the common 120-volt circuit. Optional: a 240-volt set-up. It charges in about four hours, vs. more than twice that on 120.

The battery is heated, cooled to keep it at best operating temperature, so performance, Chevy says, is little affected by extreme temperatures.

•Range. Our test drives in prototype and pre-production Volts over the months suggest 35 to 40 real-world miles on a charge before the gas engine kicks in and turns a generator to keep the car going.

About 350 miles, battery and gas combined.

There's an undercurrent of criticism about that, as if Volt's somehow impure. But so what? Most of the time, you drive on battery power only. Some of the time, you burn gas to keep the juice flowing. No place to plug in to recharge? No problem. Fill the gas tank and drive on.

How, exactly, is that anything but genius?

ABOUT THE 2011 CHEVROLET VOLT

•What? Four-seat, four-door, front-wheel-drive compact hatchback sedan powered by an electric motor. On-board gasoline engine turns a generator to provide electricity when the lithium-ion battery pack runs low. Under certain high-speed cruising conditions, some torque from the gas engine is routed to the transmission to help drive the car, but even then the electric motor is providing most of the power.

That occasional use of gas engine to help power the wheels has triggered an argument over whether Volt is really an "electric" car or should be considered a new type of gas-electric hybrid. Chevy calls it an "extended-range electric."

•When? First few in customers' hands in December.

•Where? Built at General Motors' Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which also builds GM's Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne big sedans. Lithium-ion battery packs assembled at GM plant in Brownstown Township, Mich.

•Why? Need an alternative-power machine to be taken seriously as an eco-conscientious automaker. Green image might not sell many pricey Volts, but might sell more Chevrolets through so-called halo effect. And drastic measures such as electric power needed to meet federal fuel-economy rules that could be up to 62 miles per gallon by 2025.

•How much? $41,000 including shipping, but some buyers will qualify for a federal tax credit up to $7,500 as well as state and local clean-car incentives.

•How powerful? Electric drive motor rated 149 horsepower and 273 pounds-feet of torque. Gas engine used to run a generator is 1.4-liter four-cylinder rated 84 hp.

•How big? Compact, about the same as Chevy Cruze conventional sedan on which Volt is loosely based. Volt is 177.1 inches long, 70.4 in. wide, 56.3 in. tall on a 105.7-in. wheelbase.

Weighs 3,781 lbs. Rated to carry 802 lbs. of people, cargo.

Cargo space behind rear seats: 10.6 cubic feet.

•How thirsty? Depends on how you measure.

Chevy says it'll go 25 to 50 miles on battery-only with a full charge. Our full-charge range: 35 to 37 miles.

The preproduction test vehicles' trip computers typically showed about 80 to 100 miles-per-gallon-equivalent (mpg-e, or 1 to 1.25 gallons per 100 miles) in modest trips of 50 to 100 miles, roughly — long enough to run down the batteries and rely on gas-generated electricity.

Chevy says Volt would get in the "high 30s" if you never plugged it in to recharge and simply let the onboard gas engine and generator supply the juice.

Automakers and federal regulators are hustling to come up with an index that'll let shoppers compare fuel use of a Volt and other electric-based machines with the familiar mpg ratings.

•Overall. If the size suits, what's not to like, except the price?

Meet the Women behind the Electric Chevrolet Volt

USA Today

The most eagerly awaited car of the year is the Chevrolet Volt, the first next-generation extended-range electric car to hit the road. General Motors has a lot riding on the car, and it took a lot of workers to make it. Many of them were women in what has been traditionally the boy's club that was yesterday's auto industry. GM pulled together some biographies of some of the key women involved in the design of the Volt. Interestingly, each one is a mom. Here is what GM wrote about them:

Design

Nina Tortosa, pictured above, is the lead aerodynamicist on the Volt team. Her team has spent more than 500 hours of time in the wind tunnel with the Volt, often testing and tweaking changes in 1 millimeter increments. While their work is done in small measures, the cumulative impact is significant: Nina estimates that aerodynamic development on the Volt extended the electric-only range by almost seven miles at highway speeds. She has two children, ages four and five. Nina was born in Barcelona, Spain, and graduated from Mounds View High School, just outside Minneapolis.

Infrastructure

Britta Gross is director of Global Energy Systems and Infrastructure Commercialization. She is working to prepare utilities and to get communities across the country "plug-in ready," not just for Volt but for the wave of electric vehicles predicted to be on the horizon (Global Insight estimates that plug-in electric vehicles and battery-electric vehicles could represent 20 to 60 percent of the market by 2030). This includes working with state and local governments on purchase incentives, with utilities to develop smart-grid and smart-charging technologies, and companies and municipalities to iron out home charging processes and to install charging stations at work places. Britta has two children, age 12 and 17; growing up, she lived in Kansas City, Chicago, and Baton Rouge.

Powertrain

Pamela Fletcher is the chief engineer for Volt and Plug-In Hybrid Propulsion Systems. She is responsible for the integration of the propulsion system components, including the lithium-ion battery pack, electric motors, and onboard engine generator, to ensure the cars meet customer expectations and business requirements. For the Volt this means creating an electric car with extended-range capability. Pamela has three children, ranging from 24 to 27 years of age; she grew up in Sarahsville, Ohio.

As for marketing and manufacturing:

Marketing

Cristi Landy is the Volt product marketing manager. Cristi holds a degree in electrical engineering, and was part of the team that developed the Volt Concept in 2006. Currently, she acts as a liaison between Engineering and Marketing. As an example, Cristi helped identify the features and capabilities of the smart-phone application for Volt owners. This feature allows the driver to remotely heat/cool the cabin while the Volt is still plugged into the wall charger. This is much more efficient that using power from the battery for heat or air conditioning, extending the electric-only range of the Volt. Cristi has twin boys, age 10; growing up, she lived in Brookfield, Wis., and Jacksonville, Fla.

Manufacturing

Teri Quigley, pictured below, is the plant manager at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly. Teri is responsible for preparing the plant and executing the launch of the Chevrolet Volt on the same assembly line as the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne. This includes production changes to accommodate the installation of the Volt's unique powertrain, including the training and safety protocols to install the Volt's six-foot long, 400-pound lithium ion battery pack. Teri has four children, ranging in age from 14 to 26, and has two grandchildren; she grew up in Dexter, Mich.

Early Chevrolet Volt Buyers may get Free Home-Charging Kit

USA Today

DETROIT — Early buyers of the Chevrolet Volt electric car could receive a free home-charging station through a U.S. Department of Energy program, General Motors said.

The Volt goes on sale late this year, and 4,400 customers will be eligible for a 240-volt charge station from ECOtality or Coulomb Technologies. In many cases, it will include the cost of home installation.

It's all being paid for through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"Many owners will plug their Volt into a normal 120-volt electrical outlet, charge overnight and drive to work in the morning using only car battery power," Tony DiSalle, product and marketing director for the Chevrolet Volt, said Thursday in a statement. "For Volt owners who want to install a faster 240-volt charge station, we expect the Department of Energy project to save $1,000 to $2,000."

The program will collect data from customers to learn about average charge times and time of use so that the Energy Department can better understand how electric vehicles are used.

GM has said the Volt will be able to go 40 miles on an electrical charge alone. After that, an onboard gasoline generator will provide power to recharge the automotive batteries and keep the vehicle going.

Tony Posawatz, Volt vehicle line director, said a 240-volt charger will recharge the car in about four hours.

He said some of the program's engineers already have installed 240-volt outlets to charge test versions of the Volt at home.

"These guys would never use any gas on the weekends unless they would drive the Volt up north," he said. "We're learning through the whole process that the charging experience is important to us."

Meanwhile, electric and hybrid vehicles are expected to help increase the sale of global alternative-fuel vehicles by 28% this year compared with last, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates. That outpaces an expected 8% industrywide increase this year.

As U.S. sales rebound, J.D. Power expects the U.S. market to account for 55% of hybrid sales in 2015.

GM Hopes Volt Juices Its Future

Story by The Wall Street Journal

General Motors Co., outlining a raft of new vehicles designed to reinvigorate its lineup, said its much-awaited Chevrolet Volt is expected to get 230 miles per gallon in city driving.

The Volt is at the forefront of GM's efforts to win back lost U.S. market share with 25 product launches by 2011.



At 230 mpg, the Volt would dwarf the fuel economy of any mass-market vehicle on sale today, including Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid, which is rated at 51 mpg in city driving. It also could deliver a big boost to GM's efforts to cultivate a green image, a key element of the company's restructuring.

The Volt is set for U.S. launch late next year as a 2011 model. The mileage expectation reflects new methodology for electric and plug-in hybrid cars being finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency that factors in electricity used to try to reach a miles-per-gallon equivalent. The intent is to allow consumers to measure the vehicles against traditional gasoline-powered ones.

The EPA said it hasn't tested the Volt.

The Volt is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, with a range of about 40 miles, that can be recharged through a traditional power outlet. For longer drives, a small gasoline engine takes over, powering a generator that creates electricity to run the car's motors. The Volt's expected total range on one tank of gas is more than 300 miles, GM said.

Frederick "Fritz" Henderson, GM's chief executive, said at a media event that owners who charge the Volt daily could go days without the gas engine firing up. The U.S. Transportation Department says 80% of Americans commute less than 40 miles a day.

Mr. Henderson added he is confident the Volt's combined city and highway mileage -- the figure commonly used to gauge efficiency -- will be in the triple digits. "Having a car that gets triple-digit fuel economy can and will be a game-changer for us," he said.

GM's mileage estimate for the Volt promises to start a battle among auto makers as they rush to deliver electric cars, a segment that some executives believe could account for 10% of sales within four years.Nissan Motor Co. plans to launch next year the Leaf, a plug-in hatchback. On Tuesday it responded to the Volt news with a reminder that the Leaf would get a 367-mpg rating under the EPA draft guidelines. But unlike the Volt, the all-electric Leaf will need to be recharged when its battery expires after about 100 miles.

Mr. Henderson acknowledged the Volt's high price, expected at around $40,000, and lack of available public recharging stations are potential challenges. Even with an expected $7,500 tax credit the Volt will cost substantially more than the $22,000 Prius. Charging the batteries should cost owners about 88 cents on average, GM said.

The Volt will be unprofitable for GM at launch because of the high costs of its development and the batteries. GM is counting on economies of scale to make the vehicle profitable eventually.

The new GM board has said it wants management to accelerate product launches. Coming models include high-end compact cars for Buick and Cadillac, a convertible version of the Chevrolet Camaro and a revamped Chevrolet Aveo subcompact.

Mr. Henderson said GM remains on track to have positive net cash flow next year and post a net profit by 2011. He also said it intends to increase production as the "cash for clunkers" rebates boost demand for its vehicles.