The rebirth of GM's electric-powered vehicle

The Chevrolet Volt announced at the North American Auto Show

General Motors (GM) has faced severe criticism for shutting down its production of the EV-1 electric vehicle in the nineties (see blog post 'Who killed the electric car?'). At the Detroit North American Auto Show in January, GM announced that it is currently developing the EV-1’s successor, called the Chevrolet Volt.

GM shares this newfound interest in electric hybrid vehicles with Toyota, Ford and Daimler Chrysler. This interest is fuelled in part by promising technology breakthroughs in lithium-ion batteries. The technology is currently tested and approved at the battery cell level. What remains to be done is the packaging of cells into large units and testing them in the vehicles.

The Chevrolet Volt will be a 'series hybrid vehicle'. In a conventional hybrid vehicle like the Toyota Prius, the car can run on a gasoline engine, a battery–powered motor or both. In a series hybrid, the gasoline engine serves only to recharge the batteries and has no direct contact with the wheels. As a result, it can run at a constant speed, making it much more efficient. Another advantage is that the batteries can be charged from any source, including a wall outlet.