Greg Cecil and the Chevy Volt

AKA Mr. Angry

Yesterday I spoke to Greg Cecil, who is one of the men in charge on the Volt project. I am the co-host of the "RPM" radio show on Maxim Magazine channel 108 on Sirius Satellite every Thursday from 2-3pm Eastern, and he was our guest.

The Volt is a very interesting car and Greg was very quick to point out that it is NOT a hybrid but an "extended range" vehicle. You can charge it with a 220 or 110 standard outlet. A full charge with a 210 outlet can be done in about three hours, whereas with a 110 it will take about eight hours. The first 40 miles will be done solely on electric power, no gas. After that the gas engine kicks in to recharge the batteries. However, the Volt’s wheels are ONLY powered by the electric motor, never by the gas engine. Once the 40 miles of electric charge runs out, fuel economy will be that of an average four door sedan. He would not go into details about the price of the car.

All electrical systems in the car run off the batteries–even the heaters are electric. All in all it’s a really cool piece of technology. Batteries are said to have a 10+ year life span as well. If you do a 40 mile commute you can essentially run to work, charge the car and run home for about 80 cents. 0-60 times are said to be in the 9 second range, with a top speed of around 100 mph. Styling is ok, as a lot of thought was put into the aerodynamics to make the car as efficient as possible. All in all a really cool little scoot from GM.

Permalink:

Posted at 10:17 pm in 2011, Chevrolet, Chevy, Mr. Angry, Volt

Comments

Evan
Sep 21, 2008 at 3:24 pm

I think it’s a fantastic car as well. However, I’m miffed as the car looks NOTHING like the concept. True most cars rarely resemble their Concept counterpart but, at least they could have been a little closer to it’s Concept, counterpart!!!!

chevyssboy9
Sep 20, 2008 at 9:31 pm

im a GM man 4 life this is a great step 4ward 4 the general take dat honda & toyota

sdnative
Sep 20, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Its nice to see the American auto industry getting serious about getting alternative powered vehicles out there. but I think once again in true Detroit form. they scarped the really cool looking Prototype design that would sell really well and went with the boring design buy committee that will fail to appeal to the public that can aford this car. what a shame when they have such a good chance to shine then flop in the looks department. they should of just put the technology into the new CTS body, then it would of been a great looking and more appealing. I’ll stick to my Lexus GS 450h it looks great and gets 35mpg, not great, but it looks great doing it. hopefully Lexus will make one that is all eclectic then I can have it all.

Son Of a Beach
Sep 20, 2008 at 2:57 pm

This car is indeed a Hybrid, but differs from the Prius et al by being a Series hybrid, not a Parallel hybrid. Series hybrids have been in use for while now in locomotive trains. I think this car is much better looking than the Prius, even the new redesign. I would consider buying one, where as I would never want a Prius. This will get even more interesting when they start putting other “range-extender” power sources in it, such as a diesel or a fuel cell.

kerry bradshaw
Sep 20, 2008 at 1:02 am

Nothing like understatemtn – themileage of theVolt while ruunning on liquid fuel is 50 MPG city and highway – that is NOT the typical
mileage for a four door sedan, which would be about 21 MPG combined.

kap0w
Sep 19, 2008 at 11:31 pm

One thing I love about these cars (and hybrids too) is that they had to transition to all electric accessory systems instead of belt-driven. It means that when you’re sitting in the car at a stop, your AC and stuff still works. I hate having to idle while I’m waiting for a bridge to go up or something, but I hate sweating to death too. All in all, it’s a great start. Would I buy one? Not my thing in the looks department and a little expensive, but it’s getting there.