Test Driving the Chevy Volt

Very pretty. I hope Chevy is able to develop a very inexpensive [Metro] vehicle utilizing some of this tech, and very soon.

Eww @ the white plastic console.

Yes, but is it fun?

The volt is a new generation "hybrid" vehicle. It has an electric motor that propels the vehicle. It has batteries that can provide enough power for up to 40 miles. It has a gas powered generator that acts as a backup when the charge on the batteries falls below a predetermined thresh hold.

There is a lot of promise and room for improvement for this car. In addition the guvmint offers $7500 tax rebate for purchasing an electric car.

When we were talking with the GM Chevy Volt engineers who left the project over the past couple years, we were somewhat confused by their comments and areas of expertise. Now it makes sense.

Hopefully, the Federal Government will eliminate the tax rebate on this vehicle ASAP. The best thing they could do at this point is to stop trying to sell these as private cars and put them into fleet service for postal workers, utility meter readers, etc.

EV's and Hybrids are not our Future ... etcgreen.com

Judge dred anyone?

If it was the Apple Volt, it would sell like hotcakes at twice the price.

@fuwpow yeh but they made an app for the car though, you can start it from your iphone or itouch with wifi, android app too

Really surprising: GM Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF announce battery lifetimes of 8 years which is typically obtained by linear extrapolation of 2 years test times - an inacceptable procedure. - In contrast, LG Chem and other major battery companies (Johnson Controls, A123 System...) had to admit at the recent DOE contractors meeting that their batteries (probably also Li-Mn chemistry) loose up to 25% of capacity in 12 months at 40°C, same in 36 mths at 20°C. In my opnion a desastreous result which the automotive companies try to overcome by reducing the depth of discharge to 65% which reduces the useful capacity to 78 Wh/kg, still maintaning the very high cost of 900 $/kWh installed. - How many people will really buy such cars, more likely people will opt for the Chevy Volt with an unlimited range than the short range LEAF at the price of two Honda Insight Hybrid cars! The safety concern may be reduced by the 65% DOD but still it remains an aspect not completely to neglect.

Also surprising: GM had an option for long years on the high energy Ni-metalhydride [NiMH] battery from ECD/Ovonic which dominates today with 2.3 millio. vehicles the world hybrid market, even in Europe in 2009: VW Touareg, BMW X6, Porsche Cayenne. GM turned to Li-ion batteries, touched by the Lithium hype and in the hope to get 200 Wh/kg. May be possible to reach in 10 years this value but certainly not with the lifetime of more than 2 years and the required safety. NiMH reached in the 2nd generation comparable energy densities to LiFePO4 (110 Wh/kg) but at 1/3 of the cost of Li-ion and with no safety concern. As an expert in the battery field I am sure we will see a lot of surprises in the future where fuel cells with no range limitation and fast recharging will take over the intermediate battery technology with all its restrictions.

I KNOW THE LIMITATIONS FOR THE AVERAGE MILES PER CHARGE!
BUT THERE IS A SOLUTION FOR THAT IN WHICH RECHARGING IS INSTANTANEOUS AS WELL AS ALMOST FREE!!
THIS IS NOT GIMIC!! I AM REALLY LOOKING FOR LEGAL PROTECTION OF THE CONCEPT AND THE IDEA. IS THERE ANY ONE WHO COULD PROVIDE ME WITH THAT? ESPECIALLY BIG AGENCY OR MANUFACTURERS??

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