Enough with the whispers and off-the-record remarks from engineers. We finally had the chance to drive a production-model 2011 Chevrolet Volt... well, almost. Let’s say that the version we tried is very close to what will soon be sold to American consumers. And, you guessed it, Canadians will have to wait until next spring!
The concept behind the 2011 Chevrolet Volt is so simple that it actually required a lot of thought. Since all-electric vehicles are still unable to offer enough range to suit most drivers, the GM engineers had the brilliant idea of pairing a gas engine with two electric motors. In this case, the gas engine does not power the front wheels. Instead, it acts a generator whose only function is to recharge the battery. For more information on its technical workings, read the article that my colleague Denis Duquet wrote about the 2011 Volt.
The beauty behind the Volt
To make a long story short, the Volt can cover 40 miles (65 km) on a single charge. That means that if you live 30 km from your work, you can do the round trip in all-electric mode. If, however, you have a longer distance to cover, the gas engine will kick in to provide electricity to the battery. A while ago, a hot debate was triggered when various websites claimed that the Volt’s gas engine powered the vehicle’s wheels. But one of the engineers (and a pretty one at that) in charge of the Volt project, and who accompanied us on our test drive, maintains that this is not the case. The confusion arises from the fact that when energy demands are very high, the power produced by the gas engine is immediately used by the electric engines instead of transiting through the battery.
Read this and more @ http://www.evhub.in/news/339#339
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