New Chevy Car 230 mpg EREV

Yesterday GM shocked the automotive world by announcing that their upcoming electric-drive new Chevy car named Chevrolet Volt will gain an EPA city mileage rating of 230 mpg. It's an astounding claim - one that would make the new Chevy car more than four times as efficient as Toyota Prius. And yet, even the federal government says it can't back up GM's math.




The new Chevy car is one of several so-called Extended-Range Electric Vehicles, or EREVs, in development. An EREV functions as an electric car until its batteries are depleted to a certain level; then it starts a small gasoline engine. That engine, however, doesn't drive the wheels - it merely acts as a generator to recharge the batteries. Chevrolet Volt, GM says, can travel about 40 miles at any speed before its onboard generator kicks in.

That number is significant, because Department of Transportation figures show that most Americans drive less than 40 miles per day. For most of us, owning the new Chevy car could mean rarely ever using gasoline.

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Chevrolet Volt Plug-In Hybrid Transformers Car

A hybrid car is a car that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the car. A plug-in hybrid car (the term used is PHEV) is a hybrid car with batteries that can be recharged by connecting a plug to an electric power source. Chevrolet Volt is one of the plug-in hybrid cars.




Chevrolet Volt Plug-In Hybrid car appears on the upcoming robots movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. One of the robots in this Transformers sequel named Jolt can transform itself into a Chevrolet Volt car.

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Geneva Show: Opel Ampera EV - European Sales start in 2011

The recently revealed Chevrolet Volt extended range electric hybrid will find its way into Europe as the Opel Ampera while it will also be offered with right-hand drive in the United Kingdom by Opel's sister-brand, Vauxhall. Scheduled to go on sale in Europe in the second half of 2011, the Ampera features a unique front and rear design that incorporates several styling cues from Opel's Flextreme and GTC Concept show cars. Other than that, the Ampera is virtually identical to the Volt.

The five-door Ampera can seat four passengers offering a luggage capacity of 301 litres. The car's interior features a Jet Black cabin combined with 'Spice Red' accents and Dark Argent Metallic paint on the instrument panel's centre stack.

The Ampera is equipped with an electric motor that powers the car and a conventional petrol engine that kicks in to produce electricity once the batteries are depleted. GM says that for journeys up to 60 km (approx. 40 miles), it runs on electricity stored in the 16-kWh, lithium-ion battery, and emits zero CO2. When the battery's energy is used up, electricity from the petrol engine-generator extends the Ampera's range to more than 500 km.

The electric drive unit delivers 370 Nm of instant torque, the equivalent of 150 horsepower offering the Ampera a zero to 100 km/h (62mph) acceleration time of around nine seconds, and a top speed of 161 km/h (100mph).

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2010: Chevrolet Volt Technology Testing

2010 Chevy Volt
General Motors is working hard to meet its goal of having the Chevy Volt, its first plug-in electric hybrid, ready for the road in 2010 — a short three years after the concept was revealed at the North American International Auto Show.
While it's not unusual for the industry to develop an all-new car in 36 months, the Volt represents a special challenge because of its plug-in hybrid powerplant. Conceived as part of GM's new E-Flex architecture, the Volt will be the first of a new generation of vehicles that are electrically and not mechanically driven.
The heart of the Volt is a 160-horsepower electric motor that is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack that has an electric-only range of 40 miles. That means for short hops, the Volt, which can take a plug-in overnight charging, can be driven without using its turbocharged 1.0-liter 3-cylinder gasoline engine. Once the pure electric range has been exhausted, the engine kicks in to recharge the batteries and drive the car through its electric motor.
Chevrolet Volt E-Flex Platform Test Mule

The Volt is claimed to deliver 0–60 mph acceleration of 8 to 8.5 seconds while delivering an equivalent of 100 mpg in its hybrid mode over an 80-mile daily-use cycle. The car will also feature a metal space-frame chassis covered with composite body panels. GM has initially set a target base price of around $30,000.

2010 Chevy Volt
The Volt is not a pure electric in the sense that it relies on its gas/electric hybrid powertrain once the plug-in charge range of 40 miles is exhausted. Over that initial range, the Volt delivers zero emissions of an electric car (other than the remote ones of the electric utility source), something that conventional hybrids like Toyota’s Prius can’t claim. The Volt will also be one of the first plug-in hybrids offered from a major manufacturer. But it won’t be alone long; others including Toyota and Honda are working on plug-in hybrids, while Nissan is promising a pure electric in the same 2010-2011 time frame as the Volt launch.
The company is current testing the Volt's hybrid system in development mules built from its mid-size Malibu family sedan (the photos here show it with an Opel Vectra grille). GM reports that the system has reached its goal of providing a range of at least 40 miles in the pure electric mode. As the car moves closer to production, look to see future spy photos of the Volt in a 4-door hatchback body style similar to that seen on the concept.

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2010: Chevrolet Volt Technology Testing

2010 Chevy Volt
General Motors is working hard to meet its goal of having the Chevy Volt, its first plug-in electric hybrid, ready for the road in 2010 — a short three years after the concept was revealed at the North American International Auto Show.
While it's not unusual for the industry to develop an all-new car in 36 months, the Volt represents a special challenge because of its plug-in hybrid powerplant. Conceived as part of GM's new E-Flex architecture, the Volt will be the first of a new generation of vehicles that are electrically and not mechanically driven.
The heart of the Volt is a 160-horsepower electric motor that is powered by a lithium-ion battery pack that has an electric-only range of 40 miles. That means for short hops, the Volt, which can take a plug-in overnight charging, can be driven without using its turbocharged 1.0-liter 3-cylinder gasoline engine. Once the pure electric range has been exhausted, the engine kicks in to recharge the batteries and drive the car through its electric motor.
Chevrolet Volt E-Flex Platform Test Mule

The Volt is claimed to deliver 0–60 mph acceleration of 8 to 8.5 seconds while delivering an equivalent of 100 mpg in its hybrid mode over an 80-mile daily-use cycle. The car will also feature a metal space-frame chassis covered with composite body panels. GM has initially set a target base price of around $30,000.

2010 Chevy Volt
The Volt is not a pure electric in the sense that it relies on its gas/electric hybrid powertrain once the plug-in charge range of 40 miles is exhausted. Over that initial range, the Volt delivers zero emissions of an electric car (other than the remote ones of the electric utility source), something that conventional hybrids like Toyota’s Prius can’t claim. The Volt will also be one of the first plug-in hybrids offered from a major manufacturer. But it won’t be alone long; others including Toyota and Honda are working on plug-in hybrids, while Nissan is promising a pure electric in the same 2010-2011 time frame as the Volt launch.
The company is current testing the Volt's hybrid system in development mules built from its mid-size Malibu family sedan (the photos here show it with an Opel Vectra grille). GM reports that the system has reached its goal of providing a range of at least 40 miles in the pure electric mode. As the car moves closer to production, look to see future spy photos of the Volt in a 4-door hatchback body style similar to that seen on the concept.

READ MORE - 2010: Chevrolet Volt Technology Testing