LOS ANGELES — General Motors invited Inside Line to drive the latest version of the future 2011 Chevrolet Volt this weekend, and Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah was on hand to confirm the fuel economy drivers can expect from the new electric sedan.
Farah says there's up to 40 miles of range until the Volt's advanced lithium-ion battery pack runs down to about 30 percent "full," at which point the Volt's 1.4-liter gasoline engine takes over. The engine generates electricity to power the electric motor and maintain the battery's state of charge to this level, but it does not offer additional charge. Instead, owners will need to plug in the Volt to return the battery to full charge. Using household 120v current, a full recharge takes approximately eight hours, but a special 240v supply is expected to shorten this to three hours.
Farah reiterates, "The Volt's [battery-only] range is up to 40 miles. Most people will get less than 40 miles. A few people will get more than 40."
Once the gasoline engine is sustaining the charge, Farah says the Volt will run at least 300 additional miles. The Volt is outfitted with an eight-gallon fuel tank, which means drivers should expect to earn at least 38 mpg in the city when driving in this "charge sustaining" mode.
The Volt will reach full production in early 2011, with select dealerships offering the electric sedan in late 2010.
Inside Line says: A total driving range of 340 miles should reassure potential buyers they won't be stranded when an unexpected errand interrupts their daily commute. — Kelly Toepke, News Editor
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firstclass says:
10:24 AM, 11/30/2009
I like that the new Volt is "normal". This isn't Chevrolets first electric car. I think they've learned a lot from the EV-1 mistake. This is a much better rounded car, both in styling and in technology from the EV-1. I'm positive the exterior styling will attract customers trying to one up the eco friendly "Joneses". Even if their unfamiliar (or even ignorant) with the technology underneath. I'm a bit disappointed with the interior. Last week's interior photos were much more attractive.
alphaang says:
08:09 AM, 11/30/2009
man 123,
I don't think you are getting this. This vehicle, like most, is purpose-built. People who typically travel 300+ miles at a time (which are few) probably won't be buying this vehicle (even though it's still more fuel efficient in charge sustaining mode than 95% of the vehicles out there). For the rest of us who travel much shorter distances each time we drive, our fuel economy numbers will far exceed those of the Prius. Yes, the Prius can will get high 40s just about any way you drive it, but it is also capped at that same number. What's the cap on the Volt? Some people could use ZERO fuel. THAT is the point and what makes this car unique.
As for this expectation that the Volt's powertrain should be more efficient in charge sustaining mode, that is unrealistic. Any engineer will tell you that the Volt's setup is less efficient in this mode. You have an extra energy conversion step. You are converting thermal energy to electrical energy and then to mechanical energy, rather than just converting thermal energy directly to mechanical energy. There are extra losses in doing this. If this was more efficient, you would have seen vehicles doing this without the battery pack already.
Why does GM do this? It's a trade-off for having the ability to use zero gas and not have a 1000lb battery pack. I think it's worthwhile. Having a vehicle that could realistically use a gallon of gas for every 150 miles driven in the real world, that would get high 30s in the worst possible case, when you take those half dozen road trips over the course of a year, sounds very appealing to me.
This is also the first generation system and you know GM is being conservative. In Europe, they are already planning to offer the Volt with a diesel genset. Very soon, you'll see the battery range creep up as well. While I have seen no evidence of this, logic tells me that the Volt setup is a perfect application for HCCI gasoline engines, as they can better control the engine speed if they needed to. That along would increase the charge sustaining mileage by about 30%.
Regardless of what critics like yourself say, this is a huge step forward.
trez001 says:
05:29 AM, 11/30/2009
This is really very simple. If you want to continue driving around using gasoline, then the prius, impact, vw diesel, and a host of other econoboxes are your choices. If you don't ever want to depend on gas,l then the Volt is at the top of the list.
The Volt marks the beginning of the end of depending on fossil fuels in cars.
soulblighter says:
05:21 AM, 11/30/2009
@man123: I dont think one can compare this to the prius when running in the charge sustaining mode. The car will be lugging around 300+ pounds of dead weight in the batteries on top of all the subsystems to keep the battery alive so 40 MPG sounds about right. Hopefully they will get the weight down for their gen 2 and 3 systems. I just hope that the launch is a success and there are no major problems considering the complexity of this machine! They will have to check and recheck everything on that car and not rush things along. (Hint: Check the floor mats before it kills someone tsk tsk... )
man123 says:
10:01 PM, 11/29/2009
It is deeply disappointing if the technological advanced & expensive Chevy Volt only get 38MPG when it operates in the charge sustaining mode.
With the advantages of the flexible electro-petrol system being managed by a sophisticated onboard computer & software control system, the Volt should at least beat the 2010 Prius' gas mileage when operating in the charge sustaining mode.
Another way to look at the Volt's gas mileage is that the driver would only get an effective 42.5 MPG at best with a fully charged battery and a full tank of gas.
This is much less than the Prius' reported gas mileages. This is even less than the Honda Civic Hybrid's gas mileage.
Come' on GM engineering, what is happening??? We support you but don't let your country down!
MAN
icecubefosho says:
08:57 PM, 11/29/2009
A Honda Civic and Toyota Prius finally gave birth!