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| Monday, January 08, 2007 |
| Chevrolet Volt electric car concept - news and photo gallery |
GM finally embraces the plug-in hybrid with Chevrolet Volt.
Chevrolet Volt, the first electric car from the GM stable is at the concept stage. General Motors showcased its electric concept car Chevrolet Volt at the Detroit Auto Show on Sunday. GM, which abandoned its EV-I electric car project has shown to the world that it is capable of doing a one-up on Toyota in the green car department with the Chevrolet Volt.
GM lovingly calls its battery car as a plug-in hybrid, meaning the Volt's power pack can be charged from a wall socket. Also, the Chevrolet Volt sports an E-Flex onboard engine, which can run on hydrogen, petrol, ethanol and biodiesel. The lithium ion battery which will go into the Volt is still not perfect; GM says that it needs more work on the Chevrolet Volt before it can be put out for commercial production.
The GM Chevrolet Volt has enough battery power to go 40 miles without a recharge. According to GM, the average American drives about 20 miles to work every day. So, a 40-mile strong battery should make the Volt a hit with the commuting masses. GM claims that the Chevrolet Volt can be charged fully in 6.5 hours when plugged into a standard household outlet. GM says the Chevrolet Volt's battery can be charged on a 110-volt standard outlet.
What's more, the Chevrolet Volt's E-Flex engine can run up to 1000 kilometers, if it makes use of its other fuel options. The power plant of the Chevrolet Volt is a 53-kilowatt generator.The three-cyliner E-Flex engine powers the 160 hp motor Volt which moves the car’s front wheels.
“If you lived within 30 miles from work (60 miles round trip) and charged your vehicle every night when you came home or during the day at work, you would get 150 miles per gallon. “More than half of all Americans live within 20 miles of where they work (40 miles round trip). In that case, you might never burn a drop of gas during the life of the car,” said GM Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz.
Unlike the runaway hit Toyota Prius, the Chevrolet Volt will be run almost entirely on battery power. Toyota Prius, on the other hand, uses an optimum mix of battery power and fuel to make the best of both energy sources.
The battery pack, placed in a tunnel between the passenger seats, is computer-controlled. The Chevrolet Volt's onboard computer determines when the battery should shut down and switch to alternate fuel. The Volt battery is desgined to operate within a temperature range of 30 degrees to 80 degrees. If the temperature crosses these limits, the computer shuts the battery and automatically switches to other fuel for optimum on-road performance.
Along with Toyota, GM was one of the first carmakers to pursue the hybrid car project. However, as Toyota powered ahead with its green car Prius, GM scrapped its eco-car project in 2000, after trying for four years. At that time, GM claimed that there was no market for such a hybrid car. However, Toyota showed there is a market, and a big one, and GM took note. The Chevrolet Volt shows that the company is this time serious about the new market.
GM is embarking on this project at a time when it is seriously pursuing a corporate restructuring which involves shutting down unprofitable units and retrenching workers. The funky-looking Chevrolet Volt is four-door and sporty as you can see from the accompanying photo gallery of Chevrolet Volt. Scroll down to see the full set of pictures.
In the prototype electric car which GM had put together before 2000, the battery power was poor, it could not run air-conditioning, and the car had problems running long distances and climbing.
GM has built the Chevrolet Volt concept car on the modified Delta small car architecture. This car architecture is similar to the one GM currently uses for the Chevrolet Cobalt and HHR.
Said Larry Burns, GM's vice president for research and development and strategic planning: "Instead of a big battery and a small engine generator used in the Volt, we would use a fuel cell propulsion system with a small battery to capture energy when the vehicle brakes," he said.
More than making a mark of its own, the Chevrolet Volt may force other automakers like Honda and Nissan to pump up their own hybrid and fuel-cell car strategies, analysts said.
Jon Lauckner, vice president and global program manager for Chevrolet Volt said: "This isn't a PR ploy or a science fair project, we're dead serious. We're working with battery-makers now on how fast the battery pack can be developed, but it's not going to be way out in the future. We plan a working Volt prototype this year." GM has described the Chevrolet Volt development as "something very important for the future of our company."
The Chevrolet Volt is built to support all-electric mode from 0 to its top speed of 100 mph. The Volt can speed to 60 mph from standstill in 8 to 8.5 seconds. The Volt fuel tank can hold 12 gallons of fuel. GM has also carried out substantial weight reduction in Chevrolet Volt by using advanced plastics.
GM's pioneering effort in building an electric car EV-I and then abandoning it in favour of gasoline-powered conventional automobiles made it the target of many environmentalists who have been pushing for green cars. It even led to a documentary called "Who killed the Electric Car?"
The plug-in hybrid car will be charged from a 110 volt wall socket. The combustion engine on board will be used for charging the battery and not for running the car.
Talking about Chevrolet Volt, an official who founded the non-profit group CalCars said: ""We commend GM for being the first out of the starting gate in the Great Plug-In Car Race of 2007. GM's announcements are the biggest victories yet for CalCars.org and other PHEV advocates. Now our campaign is in third gear. We'll work with the auto industry, government, fleet buyers and advocates to get to the day -- soon, not in a decade -- when customers can buy PHEVs as easily as any other car."
The Chevrolet Volt is the first car developed by General Motors under the E-Flex Engine System. According to GM, today's cars are built around a mechanical propulsion system, which relies on petroleum products as the primary source of fuel. GM believes that the way ahead will be in designing a viable alternate architecture.
Said Anne Asensio, executive director, GM Design who developed the Chevrolet Volt: “First and foremost, this is an advanced technology vehicle that uses little to no fuel at all. But we didn’t see any reason why that should compromise its design.” Designs for the Volt have been solicited from across the world.
The primary problem facing all electric car manufacturers is battery technology, which is still, to put it mildly, behind the times. Until technology grows up to accommodate much more power in much lighter batteries, battery-powered cars will have a long way to go.Labels: Auto Industry, chevrolet |
posted by a correspondent @ 7:29 AM   |
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| 7 Comments: |
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I was very interested in this information as I recently viewed "Who Killed the Electric Car". I was very disappointed with what I saw in that documentary and am glad to see General Motors attempting to introduce a different (yet similar) concept to redeam some of their credability. However, that being said I am perplexed about this battery that isn't here yet! In "Who Killed the Electric Car" there is an inventor near Detroit who has developed some fantastic battery technology that I believe GM owned a majority stock in his company at one point. I'm still not convinced about GM intentions towards this type of vehicle until I see the Volt for sale in a consumers hands. And I mean for sale, not some lease where GM can take back the vehicle if they feel like something isn't working out for them.
Just food for thought!
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I think that you shouldnot be able to lease these cars, only buy and pay off other costs from the starts. It's insane that the car companies think that when they lease a car, its still their liability and if one thing goes wrong with one car; wiring problems, the instantley have to take it back. Thats onesmall problem that any shop can fix with the right tools and backgrounds in electric car history. If the companies decide no leasing, then more people will buy the car but lower the prices and again more and more people buy cars. The electric car is a good idea but when you take back a car that most people thought was going to save the air polution allaround the world, the people who bought these cars the first time will not trust you again becasue you screwed them over on the deal. Even though some people bought the car, they were still tooken back so this car all in all won't do so much of anyone buy this product.
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This car is a clasic and looks like a nice an good car to own and drive in. It would also be a better chose to drive if you had the money to purchess this car because it is eletric and it would be better for the invornment because all the other cars are ran on gas so it pollute the air
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I couldn't help but wonder how did GM manage to pack a 50kw generator into this car? I checked all the usual power generators and anything approaches 50kw is BIG and weighs several hundred pounds to over 1000 pounds. I assume we are not talking about a 1kw Honda portable generator here. I certainly don't mind to have one of this compact generator for my home!
I have seen a Chinese Lion battery company "Thunder Sky"
"http://www.thunder-sky.com/home_en.asp?id=333&typeid=79&orderby=7"
that claimed to have a pure electric 40 passenger bus running with their Lion battery with a range of 400km back in 2005. Did I miss something?
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whoa thats pretty beastly guys.
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The concept of Plug-in energy is a complete fallacy. On the surface, this car may seem to be environmentally friendly but the opposite is true. The electricity needed to charge the battery comes from the powerplant. Powerplants are fueled via coal and other burn-sources. Where does the coal come from? It comes from the coal mines via large trucks and trains that run on gas. The more demand for electricity, the more demand for gas for transport trucks...see the catch 22? By snatching up these so-called green vehicles, you are actually increasing the need for petroleum. The only true way to green transportation is to install independant generators that use wind-turbine technology but the energy giants won't have that.....in essence the entire energy dilemma is being manipulated by the energy companies and their lobbyist stranglehold.
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I have heard that even when you take all of that into account, the amount of greenhouse gas released by creating the electricity is wayyy less than if it was a gas car. Also, coal power plants have a certain lifespan, and one day they will start shutting down, do you think that we will go and replace them with brand new coal power plants? When wind/solar/nuclear energy take over there will be nothing to worry about.
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I was very interested in this information as I recently viewed "Who Killed the Electric Car". I was very disappointed with what I saw in that documentary and am glad to see General Motors attempting to introduce a different (yet similar) concept to redeam some of their credability. However, that being said I am perplexed about this battery that isn't here yet! In "Who Killed the Electric Car" there is an inventor near Detroit who has developed some fantastic battery technology that I believe GM owned a majority stock in his company at one point. I'm still not convinced about GM intentions towards this type of vehicle until I see the Volt for sale in a consumers hands. And I mean for sale, not some lease where GM can take back the vehicle if they feel like something isn't working out for them.
Just food for thought!