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To my surprise the overall shape of the production Chevrolet Volt doesn’t look all that bad.  The front looks tamer (smoother) than the angular lines of the concept car.  GM’s aerodynamist found that it had the same drag coefficient of their Silverado pickup and so the Volt had to spend over 500 hours in the wind tunnel to streamline everything from the wiper blade housing to the rear crease to improve air flow.  Consumers usually install after market trunk spoilers for appearance, except those who bolt on those huge wings for greater down force for racing purposes, GM on the other hand incorporated the Volt’s tail to function as a sharp cut off to prevent turbulent vortices.  Visually the 17-inch wheels provide an aggressive stance, but wouldn’t smaller, thinner, lower rolling resistance tires extend the electric driving range?  Looking inside was also a pleasant surprise.  I’m usually not a big fan of GM’s cheap looking plastic interiors, but this one is acceptable. 

The three spoke steering wheel was a plus, giving it that sporty look.  The dual 7-inch LCD displays are kind of redundant though.  We’ll see if having both screens on will blind your eyes during night driving.  Eliminating one would save on electric power consumption, not to mention cost.  The center console looks more like an MP3 player then that of a typical $40k car’s usual push button stereo.  The T-shape Lithium Ion battery stack runs within the center of the vehicle for better balance and handling.  For all those major car manufacturers who said Lithium Ion batteries aren’t ready for the car market, THINK again.  Testing of the battery pack has been non-stop to stress the unit to the point of failure to find its weak points.  So far so good according to Bob Lutz Vice Chairman of Global Markets.  The ICE this time won’t drive the Volt as that in the parallel system of the Prius.  Instead its used as a generator to recharge the batteries to extend the range to 400 miles.  It’ll be able to reach 100mph and split time of 0-60 in about 9 seconds.  I’m not sure why GM didn’t include a diesel, that would make it more flexible to run on cleaner vegetable oil.  Prices and drag coefficient figures aren’t disclosed to keep the competition guessing.  GM may have hit on their hands.  Heck I might even trade in if the price is right.

Filed under: Electric Cars