Editor’s note: The Wired Volt Challenge gave four Wired.com readers the chance to visit General Motors to learn first-hand about the Chevrolet Volt, drive the car at Milford Proving Ground and write a review. This is contest winner Ron Focia’s review.
Let me start by saying this: The Chevrolet Volt is a cool freaking car and I will own one as soon as possible.
I didn’t dislike anything about the Chevrolet Volt. Being a larger than average individual, my only fear was feeling cramped. After getting in the driver’s seat, I was pleasantly surprised to find it is rather roomy. It felt roomier than the Ford Mustang I recently rented on a business trip.
I also was pleased to see the Bose sound system includes a USB input for loading your own music and Bluetooth capability to integrate your cell phone. My 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid doesn’t have these conveniences.
So. About my test drive.
General Motors turned us loose at Milford Proving Ground in a pair of bright red Volts. I quickly stomped on the accelerator and was up to about 70 mph in no time. (Editor’s note: GM says the Volt does zero to 60 in 8 to 9 seconds.) The electric motor provides loads of torque — 272 pound feet — almost instantly.
Although the electric motor is rated at 111 kilowatts (148 horsepower) peak power, the battery is fused at 400 amps. At 365 volts this represents a peak power capability of 146 kW (195 hp). The motor control system limits wheel slip so you can’t do burnouts. The upside is it should make driving on ice and snow easier and safer.
The car features a low gear that allows you to activate regenerative breaking when you aren’t accelerating. While it would take some time getting used to driving in low all of the time, it is possible to do so. That would virtually eliminate using the friction brakes and let you reclaim a lot of the energy you’d normally waste heating up the brake pads and rotors.
Another benefit of driving in low gear is maintaining speed in cruise control while driving on downhill as the regen provides much more braking capacity than engine braking with an internal combustion engine.
My fellow contest winners have sung the Volt’s praises, so I’ll offer a few suggestions for improvements that would make the Volt even cooler.
I’m sure some people will complain about having to actually plug their Volts in to recharge the 16 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. One cool feature would be some kind of resonant inductive charging capability similar to what WiTricity has developed. This would allow one to simply pull their Volt into their garage and park it close to the power transmitting source, thus negating the need to physically plug it in.
At 16 kilowatt-hours, the energy storage capacity of the Volt is close to what I have installed in my grid-interactive solar electric system. It’d be nice if you could extract energy from the Volt’s battery to generate AC power if necessary. I’m not talking about a wimpy 150 watt inverter than can run an electric shaver. I’m talking about 2.5 to 3.5 kW capability that could power my house for a few hours in an emergency. For safety concerns, this would best be accomplished by allowing integration of the Volt’s energy storage system with a manufacturer of off-grid or grid interactive inverter systems.
As you’d expect, the Volt must appeal to the masses to start, which is why it’s a four-door sedan with room for four. I’d like to see a two-seater Volt with a larger battery, say 30 kWh, and an electric drive with about 50 percent more torque. I would like to silently pull up to a any high performance car a stoplight and blow it away when the light turns green.
I was disappointed to learn that I would not just be able to walk into my local Chevy dealer and order a Volt unless I lived in one of the initial markets of California, New York, Michigan, Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey and Washington D.C. (Editor’s note: GM plans to roll the car out nationally in 2012.) It also will build just 10,000 cars in the first year.
When General Motors announced that it was accepting orders, I called one of the participating dealers nearest my home. I discovered that production of the Volt for this particular dealer wouldn’t start until March at the earliest and it was slated to get just one Volt to sell and one for test drives.
Austin, Texas will be among the first cities to get the car, so I called two dealers there. One told me he had a waiting list of about 15 people waiting for the six Volts he’s slated to receive. He requested a $500 deposit to put my name on the waiting list and said you can’t specify what color or options you wanted. You’ve got to take what they order. This dealer also told me he wouldn’t sell to anyone out of state because there is “enough local interest.”
The other dealer was running a lottery and said he might get between four and eleven Volts. Again, you wouldn’t be able to specify your color or options. If your name is picked in the lottery you can buy what they had.
I managed to be the first to call Viva Chevrolet in El Paso, Texas to place an order. Hopefully I’ll be among the first to get my Volt from this dealership and get the color and options I want. All I have to do is wait about nine months, hop on a plane to El Paso and drive my Volt home.
The “ordering” process is a bit of a disappointment. So much for being able to place an order and track your Volt through production and delivery as GM said. If you want a Volt, good luck getting the one you want this year.
Editor’s note: General Motors spokesman offers this response to the difficulty Ron encountered ordering a Volt:
Photos: Jon Snyder / Wired.com
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