Chevrolet Volt - GM's Concept Electric Vehicle - Could Nearly Eliminate Trips to the Gas Station

Detroit (ots) -

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The Chevrolet Volt concept sedan, powered by the E-flex System -
GM's next-generation electric propulsion system - and sporting an
aggressive, athletic design, could nearly eliminate trips to the gas
station.

The Chevrolet Volt is a battery-powered, four-passenger electric
vehicle that uses a gas engine to create additional electricity to
extend its range. The Volt draws from GM's previous experience in
starting the modern electric vehicle market when it launched the EV1
in 1996, according to GM Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz.

“The EV1 was the benchmark in battery technology and was a
tremendous achievement,” Lutz said. “Even so, electric vehicles, in
general, had limitations. They had limited range, limited room for
passengers or luggage, couldn't climb a hill or run the air
conditioning without depleting the battery, and had no device to get
you home when the battery's charge ran low.

“The Chevrolet Volt is a new type of electric vehicle. It
addresses the range problem and has room for passengers and their
stuff. You can climb a hill or turn on the air conditioning and not
worry about it.”

The Volt can be fully charged by plugging it into a 110-volt
outlet for approximately six hours a day. When the lithium-ion
battery is fully charged, the Volt can deliver more than 60 city
kilometers of pure electric vehicle range. When the battery is
depleted, a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder turbocharged engine spins at a
constant speed, or revolutions per minute (rpm), to create
electricity and replenish the battery. According to Lutz, this
increases the fuel economy and range.

“If you lived within 50 km from work (100 km round trip) and
charged your vehicle every night when you came home or during the day
at work, you would get fuel consumption of 1.6 liters per 100 km,”
Lutz said. “More than half of all Americans live within around 30 km
of where they work (60 km round trip). In that case, you might never
burn a drop of gas during the life of the car.”

In the event a driver forgets to charge the vehicle or goes on a
vacation far away, the Volt would still get 4.7 l/100 km by using the
engine to convert gasoline into electricity and extending its range
up to 1030 km, more than double that of today's conventional
vehicles. In addition, the Chevrolet Volt is designed to run on E85,
a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

A technological breakthrough required to make this concept a
reality is a large lithium-ion battery. This type of electric car,
which the technical community calls an “EV range-extender,” would
require a battery pack that weighs nearly 400 pounds (181 kg). Some
experts predict that such a battery - or a similar battery - could be
production-ready by 2010 to 2012.

Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of Global Program Management, said
the Volt is uniquely built to accommodate a number of advanced
technology propulsion solutions that can give GM a competitive
advantage.

"Today's vehicles were designed around mechanical propulsion
systems that use petroleum as their primary source of fuel." Lauckner
said. Tomorrow's vehicles need to be developed around a new
propulsion architecture with electricity in mind. The Volt is the
first vehicle designed around GM's E-flex System.

“That's why we are also showing a variant of the Chevrolet Volt
with a hydrogen-powered fuel cell, instead of a gasoline engine EV
range-extender,” said Lauckner. “Or, you might have a diesel engine
driving the generator to create electricity, using bio-diesel.
Finally, an engine using 100-percent ethanol might be factored into
the mix. The point is, all of these alternatives are possible with
the E-Flex System.”

The Volt concept car is built on a modified future architecture,
Lauckner said, similar to the one GM uses for current small cars,
such as the Chevrolet Cobalt and HHR.

According to Larry Burns, GM vice president for research and
development and strategic planning, the world's growing demand for
energy and its dependence on oil for transportation is the common
theme behind today's headlines.

“Whether your concern is energy security, global climate change,
natural disasters, the high price of gas, the volatile pricing of a
barrel of oil and the effect that unpredictability has on Wall Street
- all of these issues point to a need for energy diversity,” said
Burns. “Today, there are more than 800 million cars and trucks in the
world. In 15 years, that will grow to 1.1 billion vehicles. We can't
continue to be 98-percent dependent on oil to meet our transportation
needs. Something has to give. We think the Chevrolet Volt helps bring
about the diversity that is needed. If electricity met only 10
percent of the world's transportation needs, the impact would be
huge.”

GM's E-flex System moves automobile toward new electric age

GM's E-flex System enables multiple propulsion systems to fit into
a
common chassis, using electric drive to help the world diversify
energy sources and establish electricity from the grid as one of
those sources.

“The DNA of the automobile has not changed in more than 100
years,” said Burns. “Vehicles still operate in pretty much the same
fashion as when Karl Benz introduced the 'horseless carriage' in
1886.

“While mechanical propulsion will be with us for many decades to
come, GM sees a market for various forms of electric vehicles,
including fuel cells and electric vehicles using gas and diesel
engines to extend the range. With our new E-flex concept, we can
produce electricity from gasoline, ethanol, bio-diesel or hydrogen.

“We can tailor the propulsion to meet the specific needs and
infrastructure of a given market. For example, somebody in Brazil
might use 100-percent ethanol (E100)
to power an engine generator and battery. A customer in Shanghai
might get hydrogen from the sun and create electricity in a fuel
cell. Meanwhile, a customer in Sweden might use wood to create
bio-diesel.”

The Chevrolet Volt is just the first variant of the E-flex System.
The Volt uses a large battery and a small, 1.0-liter turbocharged
gasoline engine to produce enough electricity to go up to 1030 km and
provide triple-digit fuel economy. GM will show other variations of
the propulsion systems at future auto shows.

“GM is building a fuel cell variant that mirrors the propulsion
system in the Chevrolet Sequel (fuel cell concept),” Burns said.
“Instead of a big battery and a small engine generator used in the
Volt, we would use a fuel cell propulsion system with a small battery
to capture energy when the vehicle brakes. Because the Volt is so
small and lightweight, we would need only about half of the hydrogen
storage as the Sequel to get around 480 km of range.”

Future concepts might incorporate diesel generators, bio-diesel
and E-100.

Environmentally conscious vehicles can be aesthetically appealing

With exterior proportions associated more with classic sports
cars, the Chevrolet Volt conveys an immediate message of agility and
sophistication. Twenty-one-inch wheels and sheer, taut surface
relationships reiterate the statement. The Volt's athletic design
challenges the notion that an environmentally conscious vehicle can't
be beautiful and possess an aesthetic spirit that matches its driving
characteristics.

“We leveraged our resources around the globe to develop the design
aesthetic for the Volt,” said Ed Welburn, vice president, GM Global
Design. “It was important that the design capture the face of the
Chevrolet as it's recognized around the world.”

True to the heritage of its Chevrolet bowtie, the Volt's exterior
design suggests spirited performance and is wrapped in a stylish
package, with classic Chevrolet performance cues that hint at both
Camaro and Corvette. On the inside, near-term technologies and
innovative materials combine with ingenious use of ambient light for
an interior environment that's light, airy and thoughtful.

“First and foremost, this is an advanced technology vehicle that
uses little to no fuel at all. But we didn't see any reason why that
should compromise its design,” said Anne Asensio, executive director,
GM Design. Asensio led the design team that created the Volt concept,
with designs solicited from GM's studios around the world.

“We wanted a size that connected with everyone, so we designed a
small car,” said Asensio. “In the end, the interior design team from
England inspired the final interior execution, and the exterior is
the work of the Michigan advanced design team.

“Our job was to design a vehicle people could easily imagine,”
said Asensio. “It couldn't be a 'science project,' because that's not
what this car is all about. It had to be realistic, executable and
carry the essence of the Chevrolet brand.”

Text and photos can be downloaded from the Internet at
http://media.gmeurope.com.

Originaltext: General Motors (GM Europe)
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Contacts:

Andrew Marshall
GME Technology Communications
Phone: 0049 6142 7-7-3815
E-mail: andrew.marshall@de.gm.com

Scott Fosgard
GM Communications
Phone: 001 248-857-0239
E-mail: scott.fosgard@gm.com