The Voltage

Could the Volt be the answer to stratospheric fuel costs and environmental concerns? That is the question, but one thing is for certain: Chevrolet’s new electric sedan promises to spark plenty of interest.

Unfortunately, it will take a lot more than mere interest to get the four wheels of change rolling and make them profitable. It’s going to take buyers that society calls “early adapters” whose overriding curiosity about our rapidly changing world has them quick to embrace new ideas and technology.

The future will thus depend on these inner-directed eager souls to plunk down an estimated $40,000 for the Volt, which is scheduled to go on sale in late 2010.

GM didn’t just break all the rules in creating its unconventional electro-mobile as there weren’t any to bust in the first place.

It all began with the Volt concept car in early 2007. It was a flashy prototype that showcased what GM hoped to build using technology that hadn’t yet been invented. Now, it appears the concept is nearing reality, excluding the exotic lithium-ion battery pack that still requires significant development by GM’s outside supplier.

Most would agree that setting a delivery date for technology that’s still under development is like putting the horse before the cart. And there have been other issues. According to product boss Robert Lutz, the show car performed so poorly in wind-tunnel testing, that it had to be redesigned. An attractive four-door hatchback body replaces the original’s exotic facade.

The Volt’s key dimensions are actually closer to that of Chevy’s compact Cobalt sedan, except the Volt is nearly three inches wider and enjoys a 2.4-inch inch length advantage between the front and rear wheels.

Like the nose, the squared-off rear deck appears the way it does so the car can cleanly slice through the atmosphere, aided by steeply raked front and rear glass as well as other aerodynamic tricks.

This helps the car run for up to 40 miles on battery power (predicted, of course, since the batteries are not yet developed) that’s contained within a spine that runs nearly the length of the vehicle. Because the cells occupy so much space, there’s room for only four passengers plus reasonable trunk volume for their gear.

The battery connects to an electric motor rated at 111 kilowatts, the equivalent of 150 horsepower, and produces 273 pound-feet of instantaneous twisting force (torque). Zero-to-60-mph times are estimated at 8.5 seconds and top speed is about 100 mph.

Whenever the Volt exceeds its 40-mile range, at which point the batteries are all done, a 1.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline-fueled (or E85 gas/ethanol blend) generator takes over supplying juice to the electric drive motor while at the same time recharging the battery. The gas engine does not drive the wheels, but operates purely as a distance-extending supplement to the battery pack.

Overall-driving range is expected to be about 400 miles with the gas engine/generator consuming fuel at the rate of one gallon per 50 miles traveled.

Since the Volt is electrically powered, there’s no transmission, just a controller to engage the drive wheels. The accelerator and brake pedals work the same as in a conventional car.

The only sound you’ll hear while heading down the road is the whirring from the Volt’s electric-drive motor and even that noise will be muted through the use of special sound-deadening material.

When parked, the Volt can be plugged into a wall socket at home. It takes about about eight hours to fully recharge, but time is reduced to less than three hours if a 240-volt outlet is used. GM estimates that cost of recharging (based on typical peak daytime rates), would be about two cents per mile driven compared with an average 12 cents per mile for the typical 30-mpg gas-powered sedan, based on $3.60 per gallon. Using that math, the Volt would then cost the same to operate as a gas-powered car that gets 180 mpg.

The Volt is expected to arrive with climate control plus the usual amenities. Some unique features will also be added, such as a driver-configurable instrument display and a seven-inch touch-screen information display, presumably to indicate voltage and/or gasoline consumption. Another touch screen will control ventilation, communication and audio systems. A navigation package with a hard drive that includes mapping plus downloaded music storage space will be optional.

That might not seem like a lot of features for $40,000, but the Volt offers the potential for enormous cost savings in terms of day-to-day operation. And if enough “early adapters” snap up the vehicle and other manufacturers introduce similar products, prices will eventually drop, increasing the attractiveness of this new techology.

Whatever happens, the automobile as we know it is about to undergo fundamental and remarkable change with the Volt leading the charge.

Malcolm Gunn is a feature writer with Wheelbase Communications. He can be reached at: www.wheelbase.ws/mailbag.html. Wheelbase Communications supplies automotive news and features to newspapers across North America.