Engadget test drives the Chevy Volt (video)
By Tim Stevens 
posted March 30th 2010 12:15PM
posted March 30th 2010 12:15PM
Two engines, united but separate
In a traditional hybrid powertrain, ala the Prius, the electric and gasoline motors are joined at the hip -- or, more specifically, at the transmission. Differentials and gearing handle the complex machinations allowing both motors to spin the wheels, either individually or together. While a Toyota engineer will say that's no big deal, as they've been doing it for years, it's one extra cog in the works adding friction and robbing efficiency.
The Volt is superficially similar, electric and gas motors both sharing an engine compartment, but in this case the internal combustion lump purely acts as a generator. It is not connected to the drivetrain and only serves to generate electricity, recharging the batteries while on the go. The idea is that you can drive the car as a pure electric vehicle for roughly 40 miles (until the batteries reach 30 percent capacity), then the 1.4 liter gasoline motor kicks in, recharging the batteries and directly powering the 111kW electric motor. That equates to roughly 150hp, which isn't bad for an environmentally-minded machine.
Chevy calls this an "electric vehicle with extended range capability," and since the gasoline engine is not connected to the drivetrain it is truly an electric car -- one that you could take on a road trip without worrying about finding 220 outlets along the way. But, unlike a typical EV the Volt has to lug around the extra weight of a second engine, a gas tank, exhaust system, radiator, and all the other accoutrement needed to keep things spinning. Sadly we couldn't get any of the many GM representatives to give us a curb weight for the Volt, so we don't know just how portly this is, but we'd be surprised if it came in much lighter than the Prius.
The drive
Chevrolet representatives were very proud to show off the design of the Volt, talking about the details like recessed wiper arms, smooth bodywork, and a trailing spoiler that all help to drastically reduce aerodynamic drag and to noise. That latter part is doubly important when you're working with a car that's quiet like an EV. And, of course, there's all the smartphone-integration and related tech to wonder at. Cool stuff for sure, but we were there to drive the thing, and drive it we did -- briefly.
Sadly we were only allowed to take it out for a loop around a New York City parking structure, but in our few minutes behind the wheel we were able to get a reasonably good feel for the thing. To start you simply put your foot on the brake and hit a power button that doesn't look much different from what you'd find on the front of an inexpensive ATX computer case. Hit it and a bunch of multi-function displays pop to life accompanied by the whirring of fans and other electronic devices buried in the dashboard. It sounds exactly like a PC booting up.
Move the curiously oversized shifter past P, R, and N and you get to D, then it's time to move. Pulling away from a start is smooth and nearly silent, with only the distant whirr of a dynamo reminding us that this wasn't a solid-state machine. Before long the supplementary 1.4 liter gasoline engine made its presence known as we drove up a parking ramp, the battery cells drained by the other test drivers on this day. Even when that was on, however, the driving experience was very quiet.
We were given an opportunity to put the Volt into sport mode (adding about
The interior was is also interesting, with an LCD display behind the steering wheel handling the crucial information -- speed, gear, economy -- and a secondary touchscreen mounted in the center console for controlling the in-car entertainment center. All along the center stack is a slew of capacitive touch buttons for things like the defroster and stereo controls, a trend that we'll be seeing in many more cars to come. The sport button is, at least, a physical thing that moves when you hit it. Thank goodness for that.
Wrap-up
The Volt is an intriguing car, perhaps the most exciting thing Chevrolet has produced in years (next to the new ZR-1, of course), but ultimately it is just a car and we're left wondering how much of an impact it will have in a segment dominated by the Prius -- especially after Toyota's plug-in model is released. That the Volt will let most commuters get to work and back without burning a drop of E85 is hugely appealing, but there are two big questions left unanswered: what will the real-world mileage be once you do have to dip into the dino juice, and just how much will the thing cost.
That last question is the most important, and it's the one that nobody from GM wanted to touch. The initial goal was to have it sell for $30,000 or less, but it's unclear whether you'll have to factor in the $7,500 electric car federal tax credit to hit that mark. We're guessing you will, and for this car to be worth $30k it's going to have to put out some fantastic real-world efficiency numbers. Unfortunately that's the kind of info we can't glean from a half-mile test drive, and early 230mpg EPA ratings sound a bit... optimistic.
Chevrolet is still planning on selling the Volt in limited test markets (California, Michigan, and Washington DC) before the end of the year, so we're guessing it'll be at least another six months before we get the answer to either of those questions. It certainly is an entertaining drive and, if it can provide a solid value proposition not just for those looking to make a difference environmentally but also for folks just looking to save some cash, GM could have quite a winner on its hands here.
@TimStevens Very interesting. I stand corrected. However, I think (and don't have attribution) that during WWII the electric motors weren't powerful enough to drive subs as fast as their diesel counterparts and this diesel-electric transmission wasn't typically used during that war. For example, USS Balao, commissioned in 1943, could run on the surface at just over 20 knots using four diesel engines while its two 126-cell batteries gave her a max submerged speed of 8.75 knots.
I'm really feeling this Car, but I'm wondering a couple things. What the Khotar rating on the capacitive buttons and what quotient does my beard need to be to get the most mileage from the car.
/jk
Thanks for the vid, Tim, that ride looks smooth! I am going to buy one of these.
@Andurilan I can't comment on the buttons yet, but I can say you'll need at least a solid pair of muttonchops to get by here.
another hyped hybrid car.
Hybrid cars are worse than combustion cars that are fuel efficient.
Either buy a really efficient combustion car or electric car.
The Lightning Car is very good electric car, america can learn a lot from Europe and Asia.
here you go http://www.lightningcarcompany.co.uk/performance.php
@kaasinees
How is the Volt less efficient than a pure electric if you do not drive a far enough distance for the combustion engine to be needed?
If I had a Volt, I would need the combustion engine once per year. All my other daily driving is within the electric-only range. That once per year trip, however, would be a stretch for a pure electric with a 150 mile range.
I still want to see some warm climate test drives to see how it deals with high temp and high humidity. Come GM, give us some feedback from Houston, New Orleans, or Miami.
If it has an acceptable price tag, I hope enough people buy a Volt so they can make it to the 2.0 stage. Then things should get interesting.
Oooh! I forgot to ask...
1. Tim, how tall are you? Was head room an issue?
2. It looked like your legs were are bit cramped side-to-side. Did it feel like it had "compact" car interior size? Can you give us a comparison to another car's interior?
@Jamus I'm 6' tall, no headroom issues. Footwell was a little less open than a Honda Fit, but not cramped. Overall room for driver and passenger is good. Back seats were a bit small, not a lot of legroom, and the major transmission tunnel running down the middle of the car makes it very difficult to get from one side to the other -- as Chad (behind the camera) found out.
@Tim Did you notice if the gas engine varied its speed dependent on the electrical load? I'm wondering if it will freak people out when they're driving and the engine revs erratically.
@cdave It was constant for the most part, you could barely hear it, but when I really romped on it with the sport mode on it did go up to a higher rev. Without a longer drive it's difficult to know exactly what revs it'll maintain in normal driving, though.
button to go into sports mode - does it say 'turbo' on it like my old 386 DX did?
It feels like GM is hiding something - by limiting the test drives to a parking lot.
When I test drove cars when purchasing my car, all felt good in the dealer's lot, it wasn't until I reached an on-ramp until the real differences could be felt.
Until battery technology improves, I think this is the electric car we need. Enough battery capacity to fill the range of the average americans daily mileage, but with the range to allow state-by-state travel which no other electric car reasonably priced allows and doesnt need to be charged for hours.
Here is why the Volt is a piece of garbage:
The fuel mileage numbers are ludicrous. 230mpg, where'd that come from? If I drive 40.1 miles, I could get upwards of 10,000mpg. So obviously the traditional rating system cannot be applied to this car. 230 is an arbitrary number that Chevy chose to make themselves feel good about making this pointless car.
Next, think about the gas engine powering the generator. From a thermodynamic and engineering perspective, no engine has 100% efficiency. After the batteries are dead, you are using a gas engine, less than 100% efficiency, to power a generator, which does not have 100% conversion. Then from there, the power in the batteries goes to run an electric motor, which isn't 100% efficient. So you are loosing energy in multiple spots, when this can be avoided by just having the gas engine power the wheels after the batteries are dead. Chevy may present this to the public as being an "eco" car, but it is the complete opposite. The car wastes energy for no particular good reason. They are just too stubborn to admit the hybrid design is engineered better.
Last point is, the car is relatively expensive for being equal or less "green" than a Prius or Civic Hybrid. The government is having to subsidize the thing just so it sells. Figuring the $37K estimate, since the government pays $7K, that is quite a high sticker price. For a car that only does 40 miles round trip on the batteries, that is quite a price to pay. People who buy hybrids buy them usually because they travel long distances during the day for work and enjoy the great gas savings. If I only drive 20 miles each way to work, I could drive an old clunker and the gas price wouldn't really affect me too badly. If I drive 100 miles a day for work, the hybrid starts to pick up strength in savings. This car is the opposite, the more you drive it, the less you save.
The way I look at it, if you are rich, have a short commute for the day, and don't want a luxury brand car, buy the Volt. Otherwise, if you are going to do any distance driving, skip the Volt. Other hybrids are cheaper to buy, cheaper to fuel at 50mpg, and a lot more "green". Do yourself a favor and skip the Volt, if you want cheap, buy a Prius or Civic Hybrid, if you want luxury, buy the Lexus HS Hybrid for the same price as a Volt. And if you want a sensible American car, go buy a Ford Fusion Hybrid.
@posershadow
This engine works more efficient than one with a transmission. It probably works at the ideal constant rpm level.
I'm not sure how they came up with the numbers for mpg, but I would think it would be, if this car started with a full charge and full tank, how far could it drive? If it is 1190 miles on 5 gallons, then it gets rated at 230mpg. I don't think they do that however, and in the test, the battery mode helps out a little too much.
I think it is a step in the right direction, but it will need some improvements over the next few years.
@rcappo
Sure the engine doesn't connect to the transmission directly, but the transmission is still there behind the electric motor, so eventually you loose that energy either way. No avoiding it. All you are doing is stacking pieces of machinery before the transmission that don't need to be there. If you're looking for a way to get the maximum energy vs performance curve, streamline the process and make it only a gas engine powering the wheels. All the other stuff in between isn't needed, you're taking extra steps to achieve the same result. Shortest path is a straight line...
Also, if the engine is running at a constant ideal level when charging the battery, that means that on the side streets or freeway, the engine will always run at the same RPM. At freeway speeds, that might not be a problem, but when you get off the freeway and your engine is still buzzing at a couple thousand RPMs, it might be a little annoying to listen to for both you and everyone else around you. Plus as stated by Tim, the engine starts to rev higher when you accelerate quickly, so the engine definitely isn't fixed at a certain RPM that never changes. Assuming they link the speed of the car to the RPMs of the engine, that would mean it isn't always operating as efficiently as possible. Regardless though, the gas engine should be powering the wheels directly, with some sort of energy recovery system, like hybrids/F1 cars have, that goes to charge the batteries.
@posershadow the efficiency lost in going from Gas->Generator->Batter->Motor-> is more than made up by the fact that the gas engire runs consistently at peak efficiency. Let's say that engine is most efficient at 2500 RPM. Well, that is the speed it runs at the whole time. That engine will be FAR less efficient at 1000 or 6000 RPM. If you hook the engine to the drive train, it is constantly going up and down in RPM's, and you have massive inefficiencies.
Why do you have such hate for this product ? The 230MPG rating came from following the US Govt's testing specifications for fuel efficiency. How else would you suggest GM report it? I agree, in the long run the efficiency rating needs to change, but GM is ahead of the curve here. BTW, your beloved Prius has the same issue. if you start the test with a fully charged battery, it gets much better mileage. This is clearly bore out in real world MPG #'s vs what is reported by Toyota.
Batteries under the seats? Have they taken into account overweight people? Could be a shocking experience for them :)
Will it have an App store?
Is it Apple powered?
The shift lever is amazingly ugly!
this is the same concept as a diesel locomotive.. have a diesel generator running an electric engine which drives the wheels. they should call it actually a chevy loco ;)
What happens when you need to replace the battery after a couple years?
@epicelite
Battery is under warranty for 10 years. They priced two battery packs into the MSRP, which is why it is so (relatively) high.
The plug-in Prius doesn't really compete with this. The plug-in Prius doesn't have any useful zero-emissions range. That is to go anywhere, you ALWAYS use gas. It's just that if you plug in, you'll use a little less gas over the first few miles.
To use the parlance in this article, the Volt is an EV at its heart, the Prius (even plug-in) is a gas car with electric assist.
The does not have a powerful enough electric motor to drive the car at regular speeds and with regular levels of power with the gas engine assisting. And it doesn't have enough juice in the battery that it could go very far even if it did have the power. All that makes the Prius a lot simpler. cheaper and lighter, but you give up the ability to commute on electricity alone.
An engine is not equal to a motor.
An engine converts thermal energy to mechanical work.
A motor converts non mechanical energy to mechanical energy.
Most of your readers got that right in their replies.
This car only has one engine. In contrast, this car would have at least seven motors: the drive motor, the starter motor, four power window motors and the disk driver in the CD player.
And 'machinations?' I get your being clever, but you only stated one plot, to get the wheels to spin. Lose the 's'. I don't see how spinning wheels are sinister. Both petrol and electric drive systems have been around for over a hundred years. Diesel-electric (engine -> generator ->electric motor) locomotives have been in use for well over 50 years. So optimising this system for a consumer vehicle is a sinister plot that gadget lovers appreciate?
What has happened to editorial control at Engadget? Don't your reporters require a degree? That said, I enjoy Engadget’s coverage hence I keep reading.
I see a lot of comments on something we still know very little about. I wouldn't waste my time debating it until more information is known. That being said, I am very disappointed with what I see thusfar. GM is going out of their way to restrict access to testing of this car for a very good reason. Because this clunker AIN'T READY for prime time. Did you notice the engine kicked in a hell of a lot for few miles drive? If it truly gives you 40 miles on a charge then why does it need to be continually topped off by the gas engine? And why won't they let testers drive it more... because all the kinks haven't been worked out yet. I foresee the final product as being nothing more than a gasoline engine car that just uses an electric motor for propulsion. Same thing... different impetus. If it were the same price as other economy cars I would buy it. Frankly I am tired of traditional unreliable drivetrains and transmissions but for the price... better more efficient cars can be had.
Oh well... maybe in 2011-2012 we can get our hands on the Tesla Model S. I think the NIssan Leaf will make it to market before all of them. We will see......
I say grats to Chevy for making such a car. At the same time I say boo to Chevy for changing what it looked like in the commercials to what it is today. It now just looks exactly like a Prius to me whereas before it looked like cyber-sex on wheels.
Either way, I hope its a success.
That was an interesting reference to WWII submarines. I never knew that about WWII subs. cool!
I seem to recall when they first announced the Volt, it would have a range of 600 miles. Hearing that it is only 300 is a big a disappointment, particularly for my regular trips to SoCal from Vegas.
@ackthbbft 300 miles is the range before the tank runs dry. Just hit a gas station along the way and you should be in good shape.
To be honest, I don't like the idea of cars being so reliant on computers. I'm all for using less gas, or no gas, but I remember recently hearing on the news, "It's almost like the car drives itself!"
I have a diesel truck that's been grounded for 6 months now because of the ECM, the computer system, has a glitch, and since the dealer in my area, the only dealer for hours, did nothing but steal my tailpipe and tell us that the entire problem was due to a bad tank of gas which looked like highlighter ink, we can't even get it fixed for quite some time since towing it is pricey, especially when it's a 2 hour trek.
The idea of everything being driven by even more advanced computers concerns me. What if there's a glitch, or a harddrive failure? What about that screen which displays speed? How long is that slated to last? I want my car to last me 10 years, not 2.
I'm not saying the cars are going to go off and develop minds of their own and kill us all, but this one glitch had cost me a $30k truck, and I can't imagine having the issue all the time.
I guess I'm still old-fashioned. I love manually controlling my vehicle, I love being able to fix small things with my car when they break. I wish we could incorporate that into electric or hybrid vehicles.
Please tell me they make that cool noise from The Jetsons.