GM resurrects electric car, introduces Chevy Volt

General Motors finally named its new pluggable hybrid concept car yesterday at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

GM says its forthcoming Chevrolet Volt could could deliver the equivalent of 150 miles a gallon and "nearly eliminate trips to the gas station," promising three times the mileage of a Toyota Prius.

The Volt is to be powered by the E-flex System - GM's next-generation electric propulsion system - and sport an aggressive, athletic design.

It's to be a battery-powered, four-passenger electric vehicle that uses a gas engine to create additional electricity to extend its range. It draws from GM's previous experience in starting the modern electric vehicle market when it launched the EV1 in 1996, according to GM Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz.

"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 will be fully chargeable by plugging it into a 110-volt outlet for approximately six hours a day, the company says. When the lithium-ion battery is fully charged, the Volt should deliver more than 60 city kilometers of pure electric vehicle range. When the battery is depleted, a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder turbocharged engine will generate electricity and replenish the battery (but not drive the vehicle's power train directly.) According to Lutz, this increases the fuel economy and range.

"More than half of all Americans live within around 30 km of where they work (60 km round trip). In that case, you might never burn a drop of gas during the life of the car," said Lutz.

The current Volt is designed to run on E85, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Future concepts might incorporate diesel generators, bio-diesel and E100, the company said.

A technological breakthrough required to make this concept a reality is 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.

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