Chevrolet Volt

2011 Chevrolet Volt

2011 Chevrolet Volt interior

Despite its status as an electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt is not merely a full-fledged electric car because it combines an electric motor and a 4-cylinder internal combustion engine, but any reasons about Chevrolet's full fledged eco-car remains slim for now.

The Chevrolet Volt seems to be different from the 2007 Volt Concept that was appeared in the 2007 North American International Auto Show at Detroit and possibly be the spiritual successor of the sacred GM EV1 electric vehicle. You might thought that the age of electric cars is dead, but think again, the age of electric vehicles has just been reborn thanks to the inception of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle, Nissan Leaf, and other plug-in hybrids coming to the future, and the Chevrolet Volt has a high hopes to become the most efficient hybrids in the world.

Two worlds combined into one because the Chevrolet Volt has an electric drive unit and a 1.4L Internal Combustion engine combined for various purposes. The electric drive unit has a power output of 150HP and the torque output of 273 lb-ft. The Internal Combustion engine has a weaker power output of 80HP and if the electric drive unit's battery is out of charge, this engine will serve as a backup. While an electric charge was its first priority, the gasoline engine equipped on the Volt will serve for emergency purposes only.

There are six colors available for the Volt; Black, Crystal Red Metallic Tintcoat, Cyber Gray Metallic, Silver Ice Metallic, Viridian Joule Tricoat, and White Diamond Tricoat.

The Volt's initial availability starts at California (Los Angeles, San Francisco), Washington D.C., Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Texas this month. Other regions of the U.S. will follow next year or so.

My thoughts about the Volt:
The Volt might be beaten by the Nissan Leaf in terms of its EPA ratings, but on the brighter side, this is much more fuel efficient than the Toyota Prius. Much disappointing about the Volt is its initial pricing of about $40,280 (I'm thinking about over 3.5 or 4 million Philippine Pesos), which means people would go shopping for the Nissan Leaf instead. The Volt's price tag really put a hole on our wallets but on its brighter side, this electric vehicle can go anywhere it wants. It's just what the North American TV commercial said, we are nomads. This electric car can go further...

It's disappointing that Covenant Car Company doesn't have plans to bring the Chevrolet Volt to the Philippines until our government approves the law to sell electric cars.



Photo: General Motors