GM Officially unveiled the Chevy Volt today, to which I asked, "Again?" To clarify this time it's the "Official Launch" and the first time industry outsiders we be given a full look at the mysterious vehicle scheduled to go on sale in 2010.
If all goes as planned this will be the first PLUG-IN Hybrid (PHEV) to hit the mainstream market. GM boasts that the car will cost "less than purchasing a cup of your favorite coffee" to recharge, and use less electricity annually than a refrigerator. They estimate that the Volt should cost less than 2 cents per mile to drive on electricity. Not bad compared to 12 cents a mile they estimate for a car that gets 30 mpg on gasoline that costs $3.60 a gallon. Still good even compared to the 7 cents a mile the Prius costs at $3.60 a gallon.
A little different from other PHEV concepts the Volt is driven solely by an electric engine. It's batteries allow you to drive 40 miles before the gas engine kicks in. But instead of switching its drive train over to the gas engine, it uses the gas engine to produce the electricity to run the electric engine, enough for 300 more miles of driving.
As you can see in the picture above, the design is much different from the original concept that they unveiled last year. While I like the new design better, it's got people up in arms and down with disappointment. Lyle Dennis, a New Jersey neurologist who runs the blog GM-Volt.com, explained his readers reaction to the new design:
"The majority of [the comments] are negative. A lot of people are saying they're very disappointed and 'take me off the [waiting] list.' "
Well you can't make everyone happy all the time. At least it doesn't look like this!
Check out the next page for more photos at the 2011 Chevy Volt Gallery...
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c’mon… the original prototype looks like it would have had less visibility than a chopped Chrysler 300…. you want to drive while looking out through gun-slits?… YOU buy it… the higher roofline gives it better all-around visibility.
by the way, doesn’t the prototype look like it’s got LED headlights, too?
have you seen those on ANY production cars yet? even in AFTERMARKET bolt-ins, which are often a year or two ahead of mass- production models’ availability?
MAYBE in 2011, but i’m skeptical… we’ll all see, soon enough.
Good for GM, I hope that it work out! This is a big gamble because I don’t think that they have the battery problem fully resolved but will need a just in time solution! I have a 2003 model year vehicle and hope it will last until a decent electric car is in production!
Audi R8 has LED headlights and taillights
Ya, lets see how many people are willing to spend 40k for a chevy made prius that gets 25mpg ( 100mpg equiv on battery — 40miles before battery runs out, 50mpg over 100 miles and 25mpg over 200miles are some numbers I saw).
I could buy 2 next-gen plugin Prius’ for that price and have Toyota reliability as well. Good for GM, but I think they are already behind the curve with this one. Only 40 miles on electric? Their EV went a few hundred without any gas.
Me thinks that by the time this car actually hits showrooms, several Japanese makers will already have better cars out; but I could be wrong.
Until BEVs get better range, I suppose we’ll have to make do with plug-ins, but I think 40 miles on a battery is still pretty shitty.
Also, this looks taller and narrower and more like a Prius, so it looks stupid. I liked the original a lot better.
Volt already netted billions in loans! It can afford to fade into Corvair anonymity now, or even Vega away to never never land ! or even go riding in your merry Oldsmobile into the history books! Who cares? BYD has a road proven model for the U.S. and GM(China) has yet to rear its ugly head, with Shanghai Buicks and Cherry’s galore, and perhaps the long lost EV-1 batteries in a Chinese made model for a much better mark-up than the Volt! Don’t worry, the big boys at the top, with their investment wad sfely in Chinese Yuan know exactly what they are doing!