Corrections added
The moment I realized that the driving of the new Chevrolet Volt is basically a new experience was not when I first turned it on and went around the block. Yes, it was whisper quiet, powered by its 16 kilowatt, 400-pound battery, but it still felt like a "normal" car. And it wasn't when I rode the 100 or so miles from Manhattan to Southampton, NY, either. Although the batteries range only about 40 miles is, did the car even after the battery was empty; it switched to the petrol engine, in a seamless transition so I hardly noticed it. It wasn't even when I arrived in Southampton that night and a special cable connected to an electrical outlet in the garage, for charging the battery overnight.
Joe Nocera
No, what made the experience truly different — and the potential to change the way we think about gas consumption what got me thinking about the Volt — was what happened afterwards.
You know the story of the Volt, right? If the entry of General Motors in the race to a viable electric car to build — a race in which the all-electric Nissan leaf, a series of Fords in various stages of development and an electric sedan that Tesla soon with the sale will begin — perhaps the most hyped American car since Lee Iacocca rolled out the Chrysler minivan. Four years ago, and by the legendary car Executive Bob Lutz advocated started, the Volt project managed to survive the G.M. descent into bankruptcy, and emerge as the company seems great, hope, a symbol of what u.s. automakers could achieve. At least, it is claimed.
Cars such as the journal and the original Tesla — Roadster that cost more than $ 100,000 — "pure" electric vehicles powered solely by their batteries. Classic hybrids like the Toyota Prius use a battery as a kind of add-on, to promote the gas mileage of an internal combustion engine. The Volt is designed differently, however. As long as the battery JUICE, the car behaves like an electric vehicle. When the battery dies, the combustion engine, and is an old-fashioned car gas-consuming. Once you charge the battery, electricity again.
The experience of driving meshed with the way we think about the use of a car. There is no need to plan ahead, for example, to verify that the car will not run out of battery life before we can recharge it. And the gas engine eliminates the dreaded "range anxiety" that prevents most people embrace an electric vehicle. Indeed, G.M. like to call the Volt an "extended range vehicle." Motor Trend car enthusiasts, the Bible, was so impressed that the Volt are 2011 car of the year honor.
The Volt went on sale in December last year. But since Chevrolet so cautious in rolling — dealers in only seven States have gotten cars so far, with less than 2,500 sold — it can sometimes seem as if the world most invisible car of publicity. (A larger rollout is scheduled for next year.) That's why I asked G.M. as I could about the Memorial Day holiday test drive. I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about.
For four days, I drove it around the city, used it to pick up the groceries, took it for a visit to friends. Sometimes, when I ran out of a store, someone would stand next to ' my ' Volt, ask me questions about it. Although I am not a car expert, I was pleasantly surprised by the power cars, pick up and treatment. "People think it's going to be a dorkmobile," said Mr. Lutz, who retired last year. "But it's fun to drive."
Here's what really got me, though: on the dashboard, next to the profile that measures of the longevity of the battery, the Volt has a different profile that vehicle miles per gallon. During the two-hour drive to Southampton, I used two gallons of gas, a quarter of the tank. So, as I drove into the driveway, reading of 50 miles per gallon.
The next day, after the nightly cargo I use not gas. After about 30 mile ride in the morning, I charged it for a few hours while I puttered around the House. (It takes 10 hours to fully recharge, unless you have a special 240-volt charging unit buy.) That gave the battery 10 miles, more than enough to get me where I had to go that night on battery power alone. Before I knew it, had my miles per gallon tankful of gas that hit 80. By the next day it had topped 100. I quickly found myself obsessed with increasing my miles per gallon — and avoid having to buy more gas. When I came home from a business, I would, even for a few hours, just to grab a few more miles of range load. I was actually in control of how much gas I consumed, and it was a powerful feeling. By the time I gave the car back to General Motors, I had 300 miles driven, without another drop of gas than the original two gallons. I'm not what you would call a Sierra Club kind of guy, but I must tell you: I was kind of proud of myself.
When I started to describe Mr Lutz the psychological impact that the Volt had had on me, he laughed. "Yes," he said, "it's like playing a video game that constantly gives you back your score."
Correction: June 27, 2011
An earlier version of this article contains an incorrect reference to car batteries. The Chevrolet Volt is a 16-kilowatt-hour — not kilowatt — battery and the Nissan leaf has a 24-kilowatt hour — not kilowatt — battery pack.
Correction: June 27, 2011
An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to with the technology that has won the race in automotive innovation a century ago; It was the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine, not a combustible engine.
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