TECHNOLOGY

GM Volt shocking

GM’s Chevy Volt is finally in production after over a year of promotion and hype. As promised, the vehicle is not a hybrid – where the electrical and gas motors constantly interact one way or another. But to call it an electric car is a half-truth, or more accurately, by mileage, a 1/8 truth.

Yes, the car has a pure, electric motor and a 220-240 volt socket so it can be charged from the same supply that runs your home stove and dryer. And the battery is guaranteed for double the normal hybrid battery life
-- 8 years or 100,000 miles.

But the Volt also has a second, 4 cylinder gas motor! The electric motor handles the first 40 or so miles and then shuts down. The next 300 or so miles are powered by the gas engine!

While this design – 2 separate motors -- is less complex than hybrids – and so less likely to have computer glitches as Toyota is now finding, it still relies heavily on traditional gas power.

(See Time magazine, July 26, 2010 article on new electric cars, pp. 40-43.)



PS – The Volt takes 4 hours to recharge so you need to plug it in at work
or overnight. Fortunately, you always have the safety net of gasoline.