For several months it has been rumored that GM would present an electric vehicle. It appears that this vehicle is , in the form of a Chevrolet Volt. The Volt is the first vehicle application of GM’s new E-Flex platform. Despite the presence of an internal combustion engine, GM does not call this vehicle a hybrid. In fact, they consider it an EV with range extension capabilities. The engine is a 71-hp 1.0L three-cylinder turbocharged engine that has no mechanical connection to the wheels. The ICE runs at around 1,800 rpm and drives a 53 kW generator that charges the lithium-ion battery. The engine automatically starts and stops as needed to charge the battery.
The Volt has a range of about 40 miles on battery alone, which may not sound like much. But considering that most people drive fewer miles per day, it should mean that many drivers will never use a drop of gas on their daily commute. However, when the fuel tank is filled to its capacity of 12 US gallons of gasoline, the Volt has a range of 640 miles. Additionally, the Volt ICE is fully flex-fuel compatible and can run on any combination of gasoline or ethanol up to E85. The drivetrain is sized to achieve 0-60 mph acceleration in about 8.5 seconds.
For a customer who drives about 40 miles a day or about 15,000 miles a year, compared to a 30-mpg car, the Volt would save about 500 gallons of gas per year. If the car is charged every night, the driver should be able to achieve that mileage with virtually no gas. That same example would also save 4.4 metric tons of CO2 each year from each car. Another example of a driver traveling 60 miles per day would achieve an equivalent mileage of 150 mpg with the engine running for the last 20 miles in a charge hold mode. As the driver’s mileage drops toward that 40-mile threshold, the equivalent mileage increases to infinity. The ICE/generator combo has enough power to keep the car running when traveling at 70 mph and after 30 minutes of running the battery will be fully charged.
The bottom line is that GM may have a winner on its hands among a sea of new introductions to the hybrid market.