For a while, it seemed like the Japanese, and especially Toyota, had a monopoly on the green car crown. But it appears that the General is intent on taking it away in the not-too-distant future. Take a look at the Chevy Volt hybrid concept. The vehicle is theoretically capable of 150 miles per gallon. Impossible you say? Well, with concept cars, anything is possible.
For a while, it seemed like the Japanese, and especially Toyota, had a monopoly on the green car crown. But it appears that the General is intent on taking it away in the not-too-distant future. Take a look at the Chevy Volt hybrid concept. The vehicle is theoretically capable of 150 miles per gallon. Impossible you say? Well, with concept cars, anything is possible.
You see, the concept is a plug-in series hybrid (like a diesel locomotive) with a lithium-ion battery pack and internal-combustion (IC) back-up engine. With the battery pack fully-charged, the car is (could be, more accurately) capable of 40 miles on straight electric power alone, and 20 miles with the IC engine running at a constant speed and load (most efficient) getting 50 miles per gallon. Using Chevy’s patented voodoo math, out pops 150 mpg.
As we will soon see with the 2008 EPA figures, buyers are about to be in for major sticker shock in the form of significantly lower mileage estimates. First of all, did Chevy make these calculations using the old or the new EPA protocol? Secondly, without a running prototype or working battery pack, how do the engineers think this figure will stand up to real-world testing and journalistic scrutiny?
While I applaud Chevy’s audacity at attempting to take on the current mass-market Green King (Prius) with this edgy, sporty concept, perhaps it’s tipping its hand a little early by showcasing theoretical and un-tested technology. Nobody yet makes a lithium-ion battery pack as large as would be needed for the Volt.
Believe me, nobody would like to see GM beat Toyota at its own game more than I would. And the fact that the Volt’s chiseled, swaggering stance has far more style than the Prius’ sand-blasted doorstop profile is an added bonus. But with Toyota’s track record and more than six years of production experience with hybrids, GM should not expect that it’ll be standing still with advanced powertrain development.
I would love to see the Volt replace the Prius at Hollywood red-carpet galas, and finally tip the needle on the cool-factor-meter toward domestics, but GM had better come to the table with more than interesting-looking prototypes.
6 comments so far
GM has a record of concepts going a long way towards production and falling flat, most notably the GMRE rotary of the early seventies. That was weeks from going into production before it was yanked (Fram had filters in its catalog for GM rotary engines, for example), and GM had predicted 90 percent of its cars powered by rotary engines by 1980. And don’t forget the copper-cooled engine fiasco, or GM’s early flirtation with battery power.
Then consider the Corvette (saved only by the V-8), the Corvair (unfairly perhaps, but still…), the Vega (a great idea, but lousy execution), diesel cars of the early eighties, and more I can’t think of at the moment.
But there are great successes as well, including the small-block V-8 and more.
The preceeding notwithstanding, GM’s E-Flex system–which will/may power the Volt/whatever–seems to offer a lot of potential. E-Flex allows any type of engine, be it diesel, fuel cell, gasoline, E85, E100, you name it, to generate the electricity.
This flexibility allows these E-Flex to trump hybrids using the Toyota system. Most remarkable is an E-Flex powered vehicle to travel 40 miles on plug-in electricity before having to turn the fossil fuel recharger on at all. And if your commute is 40 miles or less, gas mileage is infinite. Electricity can come from anything from coal to wind to nuke. Can you say Mr. Fusion?
It all hinges upon batteries, of course, but by having a ready application, particularly from a giant customer like GM, should help motivate battery manufacturers even more than they are already.
GM could be one step away from the big one. Heck, they’ve been building diesel-electric locomotives for decades.
January 11th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Agree. I don’t see Toyota resting on its hauches, though. Same with Ford. Their engineers are probably prepping their own projects.
January 12th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
they wont do crap .. they are big on hte media and getting started and like u said , crapola on execution.. their production line for new things is what sucks .. to make the saturn, it’s a whole new facilitiy, withouht the GM name of pokieness to completion associated
January 13th, 2007 at 3:18 am
It will not be long before Toyota start to make GM worry, they seem to be the one company that seems to bee going from strength to strength and they are getting their brand out to a huge audience with their F1 team as well
January 16th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
I heard that especially women like hybrids! I heard myself when a woman said she liked that such cars were more economical and moreover more environment friendly! I think GM fights for this very segment of the market!
January 17th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Nick,
Good question. I don’t know. I’ve met plenty of women AND men who like hybrids.
January 17th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
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