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Chevrolet Volt’s Plug

Dan — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:10:59 +0000

We snagged a photo from our favorite automotive blog Jalopnik – check out this spy photo from the 2008 Paris Motor Show of the Nintendo Wii-looking charger plug for the Chevy’s 2011 Volt Electric Hybrid. It appears that the Volt name plate slide over to expose the vehicle’s outlet. Very impressive!

The Chevy Volt that Won’t Recharge Itself

Dan — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:14:36 +0000

Since the first hints of Chevrolet’s Volt electric concept over two years ago it was widely believed that the vehicle would be one that recharges itself as it drives. In fact, according to a 2007 Chevy press release: “When the battery is depleted, a 1-liter, three-cylinder turbocharged engine spins at a constant speed…to create electricity and replenish the battery.” It looks like GM dropped that idea all together, but didn’t bother to tell anyone until last week.

After you switch from electric to gasoline or “flex fuel” motor, the engine maintains what is left of your charge. Once you’ve passed the 40 mile range of the ion battery your regular engine completely takes over. According to Chevrolet, this is done so that you get the most out of each battery – drain it almost completely, and recharge it back to full at your home or a power grid (aka, fuel stations of THE FUTURE!) – It’s kind of like draining your cell phone battery when you get a new mobile device, then charging it full and draining it again – it gives the user’s battery a longer lasting life span. Great…cars that charge like cell phones. Does this mean that after a year your Chevy Volt won’t hold a charge anymore?

Our Chevy Volt Round-Up

Dan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:29:33 +0000

This week General Motors turned 100 years old – and to help celebrate Chevrolet introduced (to a fanfare of reporters and well-paid corporate execs) their insanely anticipated 2011 Chevrolet Volt Plug-In Hybrid Electric Car! (Shesh) But what’s in a name, really? We’ve been pumping out the Volt coverage so far this week, and now that the hullabaloo has calmed down Chevroletpedia has a round up of photos and information on the future of electric American-made automobiles.

Initially, General Motors reportedly released promotional photos of the Volt, watermarked by several of Chevrolet GM’s top officials. Shortly after these Volt pictures debuted GM followed up with a press release stating the photos were leaked accidentally. They blamed “human error” for the premature unveiling of production model stills. A day after the executives made their Chevy pictorial appearance, official (non-blocked by human bodies) Volt pictures appeared online.

Volt’s original internal design looked more Blade Runner and less real world, but who wouldn’t want to drive while playing with those signals and touch screen indicators. As you’ll see below, the real Volt dash is much more user friendly, but still keeps the look and feel of a car that should have been produced by the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

And behold! The 2011 Chevy Volt in all its glory. Revealed yesterday morning, the vehicle is a 5-door front wheel drive car with room for four. GM claims the Volt can reach a top speed of 100 mph (not bad for the old Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) motor) and a city mileage of 40 mpg! Yes, we said CITY. Volt also has “full regenerative brakes for top energy capture.” Power steering will also be controlled electrically, while 20 lithium-ion cells make up the Volt’s power plant.

GM estimates a fuel savings of $1500/annually. They are also reporting a starting price of $35,000, but if they want to compete with Honda’s more aggressive hybrid Insight (which is apparently starting as low as $18,5) Chevrolet will need to drop that number.