VOLT GETS TEST, PRAISE

Volt shows electric car can be powerful, sporty
Mark Phelan, May 18, 2009 (Detroit Free Press)

"General Motors drove a stake through the notion that environmentally friendly electric cars can’t also be fun and sporty in a brief test drive of the company’s Chevrolet Volt powertrain…A fast, smooth blast from zero to 70 m.p.h. on the roads within the GM Tech Center in Warren proved the car can be electrifying as well as electric-powered.

"The Volt is on schedule to go on sale in November 2010…GM has about 35 test vehicles on the road equipped with the electric motor and lithium-ion batteries that will power the Volt. Those development cars have the body of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact…GM will put 80 Volts with the production car’s sleek and futuristic body on the road…in June."

This video has audio drop-outs but nicely shows the current state of the Volt. From mrpitv via YouTube.

"The test vehicle ran with smooth, quiet power, but driving it felt reassuringly like getting behind the wheel of any new car. That’s a key goal for the Volt program…The test car’s electric motor provided immediate torque for acceleration most sporty small cars would envy."

click thru to the Stanek/GM presentation

"The Volt is designed to cover about 40 miles on electricity stored in the big lithium-ion battery pack that runs down the center of the car. For longer trips, a 1.4-liter gasoline engine will kick in to sustain the batteries. Unlike hybrids, the engine never drives the wheels.

"The onboard generator frees the Volt of the drawback that crippled previous electric cars: range. While an electric vehicle without a generator must stop and recharge when the batteries run low, the Volt has an essentially unlimited range, and should be able to cover 500 to 600 miles on the combination of battery power and a single tank of gasoline."