EV CHEVY VOLT PASSING TESTS

GM: Electric Chevrolet Volt meeting range goals
Tom Krisher, April 12, 2010 (AP)

"Real-world tests show that General Motors Co.'s rechargeable electric car can travel 40 miles on battery power as promised, company engineers said…

"Engineers are testing six Volts that recently were made on a Detroit assembly line, driving them at the company's proving ground and on roads around Detroit…[Tweaks remain]…but the Volt is on schedule for full production in November…"

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"The Volt, which has a 1.4-liter gas engine that kicks on when the [Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are depleted, is due in showrooms in December…Later this month, GM also will start making test versions of a similar car for Europe called the Opel Ampera. It will be distributed in Europe as a 2012 model…

"…[Chief engineer Andrew] Farah said he got 41.5 miles and 42.5 miles on his last two electric cycles of the Volt, which he said were under normal driving conditions running errands to buy tax preparation software, basketballs and baked goods…The car will get about 50 miles per gallon when the gas engine turns on to generate electricity to power the electric motor…[depending] on weather, terrain and driving habits and can vary 20 percent up and down…[It] will have a lower range when the batteries have to heat the passenger compartment in colder climate…[T]he gasoline engine will add more than 300 miles to the Volt's range, but [GM will not] say how many gallons the gas tank will hold. Under both full-electric and gasoline engine power, the car will get about 230 miles per gallon…"

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"…[GM] will spend $8 million to double the size of its suburban Detroit lab…to centralize its battery testing and do tests in-house…The expansion will also allow GM to do safety and abuse tests, manufacturing engineering, charger development and heat tests…[A]reas in the lab that were previously used for engine testing will be renovated for battery development…Construction will start this month and the expanded lab is set to open this summer…About 1,000 engineers now work on electric vehicle development at GM, and the company has 40 to 50 openings…

"GM won't officially say the price of the Volt, but it's believed to be around $35,000…[T]hey are working to reduce the price as battery technology improves and becomes cheaper…It will take eight-to-10 hours to recharge a Volt from a standard 110-volt home outlet, but that can be cut to four hours with an optional 220-volt charging box that will have to be installed in an owner's garage…[GM is also] looking into a version of the Volt with the backup engine powered by natural gas."