| Enter the Volt |
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| Written by Dr Madsen Pirie | |
| Sunday, 07 January 2007 | |
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It's introduced as a concept car, but this sometimes foreshadows a
production model, and in the case of the Volt this looks likely.
Unveiled on Sunday at the Detroit Motor Show, it marks GM's re-entry
into the electric car field after it abandoned its EV1 in the 1990s.
Ray Hutton tells us
it could be on sale by the end of the decade. It uses an all-electric
drive to do 0-60 mph in 8.5 seconds, with a top speed of 120 mph. Its
limited range of 40 miles, enough for most commuter journeys, is
augmented by a one-litre petrol engine for charging the battery. The
petrol engine does not drive the car, as do current hybrids such as the
Toyota Prius. The Volt is "a family hatchback built on the platform to be used for the next Vauxhall Astra," and will be much cheaper to build than the hand-built EV1. The model is taken to indicate GM's commitment to more environmentally friendly transport, since electricity can be generated from many energy sources, including ones independent of fossil fuels and with benign emissions. Its E-Flex propulsion system "can be adapted to use bioethanol fuel or have a diesel engine or a hydrogen fuel cell as the generator of electricity." One rather nerve-racking feature of electric cars, including hybrids, is their silence. Those accustomed to crossing roads by taking quick glances and factoring in the noise of traffic can be surprised by one of them up close and dangerous. People will have to relearn their street awareness. There was a documentary movie last year called "Who Killed the Electric Car," which claimed that GM scrapped the EV1 only because of pressure from business interests including oil companies. If that were true, it seems strange that GM should now be unveiling what might be a more valid and popular successor.
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