Recently General Motors revealed its hope for the future of transportation: a production model of the Chevrolet Volt. The plug-in electric powerhouse will feature a revolutionary propulsion system that will allow it to travel 40 miles without using a single drop of gas – that’s far enough to render 75% of American’s daily commutes emission-free!
Beating Toyota to the punch with a production-ready plug-in vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt comes equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack that is good for around 40 miles. To charge the battery, simply plug it into any electrical socket. For longer trips, the car is capable of running on a gas tank, which serves to recharge its batteries rather than running its engine.The Volt’s cost will still be a bit steep, weighing in at between 30 and 50 grand, although If its fervent following has been any indication, the stunning plug-in car stands to be a great hit.
The Volt’s platform has been developed to be deployed in a number of follow-up vehicles, so expect to see plenty more plug-in hybrids in the future. GM’s chief executive Rick Wagoner has stated: “the Volt symbolizes GM’s commitment to the future – the kind of technological innovation that our industry needs to respond to today and tomorrow’s energy and environmental challenges”
+ General Motors
+ Chevrolet Volt
Via Reuters
i have problems with it being listed as emission free. you need to account for where the electricity comes from. don’t get me wrong this is a step in the right direction but lets get the facts straight.
I don’t understand why they’re so far behind the 2009 cityzenn, http://www.zenncars.com
40 miles? How about 400km and no batteries to replace every 3 years?
It’s defiantly cool… but it kinda watered down from that killer concept
While this sounds like great news, I don’t really know if it is.
The possibility of replacing up to 75% of US car journeys with eco-friendly travel sounds amazing. But how will the actual buying public feel about that? Ford are so sure that the average American cares little for the environment that their new 70+ mile per gallan Fiesta isn’t even going on sale in the States, only in Europe. (I actually posted this fact on my blog recently, expecting responses from my American readers but no one said a word.)
It seems diesel is simply a definite no-no for Americans, regardless of the massive financial saving in fuel costs or the huge environmental benefits.
Now GM are launching a car that costs up to $50,000 – who’s this ‘ec-awareness’ aimed at, because it’s certainly NOT the average guy! That’s rather unforntunate as who is it that does all these ‘average’ journeys on US roads? Yep, the average guy!
While this might be applauded in theory and by well off middle class Americans, I think GM have cocked up. They should have dumped as many of the car’s fancy but striclty unnecessary elements as they could to deliver a bare bones working car at a cheap price. I suppose they’ll leave that to some producer from India or the Far East to cash in on!
Pity. An opportunity wasted.
Steve N. Lee
author of eco-blog http://www.lionsledbysheep.com
and suspense thriller ‘What if…?’
clairsearch, i would like to know where you found the 400km range on that website. THe only one i saw said 65 miles. The Volt doesn\’t seem very far behind at all. Especially considering the Volt will operate at highway speeds whereas the Zenn can only do 25 mph.
I guess we all forgot about the GM EV1?
Finally a car like this that can actually go on the market and doesn’t look like a shoe! This car is sexy.
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you can build your own for less than $8k, and 100 hours of labor…. check out http://www.envirokarma.org …a simple DC motor and Lead Battery system with highway speeds and a range of 40 miles is not hard to do. As soon as you go to AC motors and Li batteries for longer range, the price goes way up. In my case I feel strongly that I do not want to ADD electric demand requiring another power plant, so I also installed photovoltaics on my house to offset the additional electricity.
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