GM's then-product czar, Bob Lutz, fought hard (and successfully) to save the Volt on the grounds that the company needed a technology-driven halo car. In fact, Chevrolet showed the first Volt concept in 2007, and the company made the decision to build it well before Obama was elected.įollowing GM's 2009 bankruptcy, in fact, the White House Auto Task Force tried hard to kill the project during the restructuring process, since it wouldn't make money for several years-if ever. ![]() This is one GM likely doesn't want to touch-but that doesn't make it any less wrong. The car is a plug-in battery-electric/gasoline hybrid, featuring an electric-only mode with a range of. President Barack Obama forced General Motors to build the Volt and then subsidized each one with $7,500 of Federal tax credits. The Chevrolet Volt was introduced in the 2011 model year. They say the effect of electric cars will be far less disruptive to the grid than was the quick adoption of cheap home air-conditioning in the 1960s and 1970s. With the average hybrid, including hybrid trucks, projected to achieve almost 100 mpg by 2050, putting its real-world fuel economy in the 60-70 mpg range, I have to ask: If your SUV is getting well over 50 mpg, are you really willing to pay a $1,000 to $2,000 premium to plug in for part of your driving?" So not only does the Volt trip on its mileage claims, but its drivetrain's long-term viability is doubtful, too.And electric utilities are quite confident in their ability to handle the slowly increasing draw from electric cars, especially if they're recharged overnight when power demand is lowest. "According to the National Academy of Sciences' 2013 report, 'Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels,' the cost of hybrids, BEVs, and fuel cell vehicles will converge in the 2030 to 2040 timeframe. However, PHEVs like the Volt will still have a substantial cost penalty due to its two expensive powertrain systems hybrids will remain more expensive than conventional vehicles, but the cost premium might be down to only $600. Chevy's PHEV Volt, with a 40 mile allelectric range, uses a physically blended. "The recent improvements on both the Prius and the Volt are completely consistent with that of each one's previous generation-and why I'm confident that hybrids will go mainstream sometime after 2020," German said. John's a hybrid-tech veteran and part of the team that unraveled the VW diesel cover-up. As if they need nightmares.įor a bigger-picture perspective, we spoke with John German of the International Council on Clean Transportation. How opportune, then, that the two cars Sam is standing in front of-the all-new 2016 Volt and Prius-are making the biggest gallon-stretching claims out there. The 2014 Chevrolet Volt has a maximum range in the city of 325 miles on a full tank of fuel. While there's lots of buzz now about "real-world" testing in the wake of Dieselgate (in Europe, Renault has announced it will publish independent real-world results next to the government scores)-we're already doing this testing. ![]() Numbers are crunched and adjustments are made for traffic fluctuations, weather, and air-conditioner use, and once Emissions' London-based chief and statistician, Nick Molden, is satisfied, the results are added to our tally. ![]() But the first cars on the market, the Nissan Leaf from Japan and General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt, offer sharply. Regular punters will soon be able to buy new technology electric vehicles which are more like proper cars and not souped-up golf carts. Supported by a 15,000-gallon, chemically stable supply of regular, premium, and diesel grades from our partner, Chevron, the cars are instrumented with a $150,000 gas analyzer and expertly lapped around a tedious 100-mile real-world course. Volt Vs Leaf First New Technology Electric Cars Face Off Soon The future is here at last. At this moment, he and his assistant, Jesus Flores, have tested a whopping 328 cars and trucks for our Real MPG program. His job at our partner company, Emissions Analytics, is to narrowly but scientifically measure how far cars travel in the real world with that gallon. However, trusty Sam Boyle-who's still holding that beaker of gas (thanks, Sam)-really doesn't care about any of this.
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