By Mathieu St-Pierre
Can it be?! Yes, there it is! The Volt! This is the one we have been waiting for! Ok, I’ve got to calm down… the car won’t be in showrooms before the first half of 2011, but I actually got to stand beside a real Volt. Much has been written about this car already as a near-production-looking Volt has been making the auto show rounds for nearly a year and a half, but it still remains a significant achievement.

In case you’ve been living under a rock at the bottom of the ocean, the Volt is GM’s attempt at mass producing a hybrid-electric (GM will hate me for this) car that could essentially be an electric car depending on the consumer’s needs. The premise for the Volt is the advancement of the electric car without “range anxiety”.

The new definition of “hybrid”
As you may know, a hybrid vehicle (extended range electric vehicle in GM-speak) is one that uses a combination of an internal combustion engine and an electrical generator. In all cases, the electric motors served to assist the ICE. In the Volt’s situation, the lithium-ion batteries provide the momentum and the small 4-cylinder engine generates electricity to resupply the batteries.

In pure electric mode, the Volt will travel up to 40 miles (64 km). Given the size of the fuel reservoir, the combination of the ICE and battery capacity will take the Volt as far as 300 miles (483 km). The explanation as to why this is not a conventional parallel hybrid vehicle, is because there is no mechanical link between the ICE and the wheels. So there…

The real trick up GM’s sleeve is that the “generator” need not only be a regular gas engine. Essentially, any other means of energy creation can be used. For example, natural gas, bio or regular diesel or even hydrogen. This is the Volt’s true genius. This could mean that at any given time, the Volt could be sold with a generator that runs on the cheapest available form of energy and in theory, two Volts sold by a same dealer could have different types of generators; one biodiesel and the other, E85.

The car
The Volt itself does not look like a car from the future. It is a “Chevrolized” interpretation of the now wildly-popular 5-door trunkated hatchback design, made popular by the second generation Toyota Prius. To be frank, the Chevy version of the body style is the most handsome of the bunch as it looks more substantial and more upscale.

An enormous amount of time and effort was invested in the cars’ aerodynamics. As you can see by looking at the pictures, the Volt is certainly a sleek car, slipperier in fact than the Prius and Insight. Over the 500 hours that the car spent in the wind tunnel, it was discovered that the addition of a 5mm integrated spoiler-lip on the rear deck could improve range by a half-mile (800 metres) as it reduces drag.

It is difficult to make any constructive comment on the cabin, but suffice it to say that it will blend modern with conventional with a pair of screens, a single trim plate for a controls (like some cell phones) with cup holders and smart storage spaces. The mockup had seating for four adults and a fairly sizeable trunk which should find its way in the production car.

The dilemma
In actuality, it’s not much of a dilemma or even an issue, for that matter. Having recently attended the unveiling of the Nissan LEAF at Dodger’s Stadium in L.A., it is clear that different schools of thought are at work. Where Nissan is working hard on the pure EV car, GM is pushing the heavy-hybrid (EV + ICE assist as opposed to a mild-hybrid). The key difference with the Volt is that should your commute be less than 64 km in a day, it would be possible to fill ones tank only once a month.

You see, as long as you remain within the range and plug-in the car overnight, no fuel consumption will take place. Should you decide to go on a road trip, the tank will take you further. In the case of the LEAF, the fact that it is a pure EV dramatically limits its range; it will however, never require any fuel, moreover, as it has fewer parts and may require less maintenance over its life.

What to do then? Which idea is best? My guess is that an extended range electric vehicle or in Matt-speak “heavy-hybrid” makes more real-World sense for the average driver; it’s less of a psychological challenge. The EV though, is the next step without a doubt.

Then and now
Many will recall the Saturn EV1 and its sad and untimely demise. This car’s impact may have had a far greater reach than expected, at least for General Motors. The documentary film “Who Killed the Electric Car?” depicted what some say was a car manufacturer at grips with a fundamental change in course that it or the government was not willing to take at the time.

Today, mere weeks away from 2010, General Motors is ready, willing and able to produce these cars, sell and maintain them… with a smile. All that remains now are cold-weather tests in northern-Canada and a price. Both will make a huge difference, at least here in Canada.

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