Chevrolet Volt Leads Electric Car Innovation

Thursday, 7. July 2011

Image via Wikipedia

You know when you see something and it’s so damned obvious you wonder why no-one has thought of it before like the suitcase handle with built in scales. Well I was reading about the latest electric car technology and a new entrant into the market, the General Motors owned Chevrolet with their impressively named Volt, get it, electric car, volt? Bloody clever these Americans when they come to marketing. Anyway, the car isn’t anything special in terms of style although it’s got a very pretty screen with lots of colours on it showing you things like battery condition.

The bit of innovation comes with the small petrol generator that can top up the batteries if you run low 20 miles away from your destination.

This isn’t exactly new, hybrids have been working this way for years with a dual fuel system so why hasn’t anyone else come up with this solution given the fear of most Brits that you suddenly run out of electric power miles from anywhere?

The car will cover 40 miles using the electricity generated by the petrol engine which is more than enough for daily commutes.

Fuel consumption using the power generated by the petrol engine is down to 40mpg so not as good as electric charged from the mains but it gets around the serious reluctance to drive electric cars because of the range and fear that you could be stranded. Out of interest the car is likely to cost a whopping £28,000 even after the £5,000 government rebate! By Graham Hill