The new electric car concept: Chevy's Volt

The besieged auto giant General Motors Corp., struggling to retain its Numero Uno slot, revived the concept of an electric car when it unveiled ‘Volt’ at the North American International Auto Show.

The Chevrolet Volt is designed to use little or no gasoline and will draw power totally from a next-generation battery pack recharged by a small onboard engine. Jon Lauckner, a GM vice president for product development said, "We have a thoroughly studied concept, but further battery development will define the critical path to start of production."

Unlike current gas-electric hybrids, which use a parallel system twinning battery power and a combustion engine, the Volt will be driven entirely by electric power. Plug-ins offer better fuel economy than today's hybrids because larger batteries store more energy and one can drive in pure electric mode longer. The Volt would mark a big shift in strategy for GM, as well as a major development in fuel efficiency.

The Volt is designed to run for 40 miles on pure electric power before the lithium-ion batteries wear down. Thereafter, a small gasoline engine kicks in and recharges the battery. If you drive it until the 12-gallon gas tank is dry and the battery drained, you'll go 640 miles at 50 mpg. The Volt's combustion engine is thus designed only as a supplement to keep its batteries charged.

GM claims that Volt will have many advantages, including smaller batteries, faster recharging, more room for passengers, and a faster maximum highway speed.

The Volt will be prepared with new lithium-ion battery packs, which hold a charge longer than the nickel metal hydride batteries now used widely in automobiles. The cause of concern for GM is that the lithium-ion batteries have a tendency to overheat and catch fire.

Skeptics like James Hall, vice-president of automotive research firm AutoPacific, claim that cost, safety, and reliability issues could take longer to solve than GM thinks. James said that GM has announced the car but they don't control the key technology, the battery.