January 7, 2006
Chevrolet Volt electric car concept
Detroit, Michigan - Chevrolet unveiled a surprise vehicle prior to the official vehicle unveilings to the media on Sunday: a four passenger electric car that recharges its onboard lithium-ion battery with a small 1-litre engine in order to extend driving range.
The Chevrolet Volt draws from GM's previous experience in starting the modern electric vehicle market when it launched the EV1 in 1996, said GM Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz. "The EV1 was the benchmark in battery technology and was a tremendous achievement," Lutz said. "Even so, electric vehicles, in general, had limitations. They had limited range, limited room for passengers or luggage, couldn't climb a hill or run the air conditioning without depleting the battery, and had no device to get you home when the battery's charge ran low."
"The Chevrolet Volt is a new type of electric vehicle. It addresses the range problem and has room for passengers and their stuff. You can climb a hill or turn on the air conditioning and not worry about it."
The Volt can be fully charged by plugging it into a 110-volt outlet for approximately six hours a day. When the lithium-ion battery is fully charged, the Volt can deliver 40 city miles of electric vehicle range. When the battery is depleted, a 1-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine spins at a constant speed, or revolutions per minute (rpm), to create electricity and replenish the battery. According to Lutz, this increases the fuel economy and range.
"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," Lutz said. "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."
But GM admits that a technological breakthrough is required to make this concept a reality: a large lithium-ion battery. This type of electric car, which the technical community calls an "EV range-extender," would require a battery pack that weighs nearly 400 pounds (181 kg). Some experts predict that such a battery, or a similar battery, could be production-ready by 2010 to 2012.
The Chevrolet Volt's 1-litre engine is also designed to run on E85, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Using E85, fuel economy of 150 mpg would translate into more than 525 miles per petroleum gallon.
Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of Global Program Management, said the Volt is uniquely built to accommodate a number of advanced technology propulsion solutions that can give GM a competitive advantage.
"Today's vehicles were designed around mechanical propulsion systems that use petroleum as their primary source of fuel." Lauckner said. "Tomorrow's vehicles need to be developed around a new propulsion architecture with electricity in mind. The Volt is the first vehicle designed around GM's E-flex System." "That's why we are also showing a variant of the Chevrolet Volt with a hydrogen-powered fuel cell, instead of a gasoline engine EV range-extender," said Lauckner. "Or, you might have a diesel engine driving the generator to create electricity, using bio-diesel. Finally, an engine using 100-percent ethanol might be factored into the mix. The point is, all of these alternatives are possible with the E-Flex System."
According to Larry Burns, GM vice president for research and development and strategic planning, the world's growing demand for energy and its dependence on oil for transportation is the common theme behind today's headlines.
"Whether your concern is energy security, global climate change, natural disasters, the high price of gas, the volatile pricing of a barrel of oil and the effect that unpredictability has on Wall Street - all of these issues point to a need for energy diversity," said Burns. "Today, there are more than 800 million cars and trucks in the world. In 15 years, that will grow to 1.1 billion vehicles. We can't continue to be 98-percent dependent on oil to meet our transportation needs. Something has to give. We think the Chevrolet Volt helps bring about the diversity that is needed. If electricity met only 10 percent of the world's transportation needs, the impact would be huge."
I guess my guesstimate of 200 real world miles wasn't far off. Still, the use of a 1 liter engine as a generator would still make it lighter / more effective than a Prius, although, in my opinion, they'd be better off using same turbocharged 1 liter engine just to power the car in the first place, and use engine-off technology and direct electric accessories (steering, brakes and air conditioning) to save fuel.
