2011 Chevrolet Volt

“Chevy Volt is not a plug-in hybrid, but rather it is an extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV)”
Bob Lutz

Chevrolet Volt 2011 – is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle which will be produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors and expected to be launched in November 2010 as a 2011 model. General Motors is determined to sell an E-REV before anyone else.

Larry Burns, GM vice president for R&D told Car and Driver magazine: “Toyota creamed us on the Prius. It won’t happen again.” Among the GM’s “green car” promises, Volt 2010 is a grudge-match challenge to Toyota. The 2011 Chevrolet Volt will differ markedly from the Prius and other gasoline/electric hybrids.
The Chevrolet Volt is a four-seat, four-door “series plug-in hybrid” hatchback with a plug-in battery pack that can power the car’s 149-horsepower (111-kilowatt) electric motor by itself for up to 40 miles.

Standard features such as a fixed glass sunroof, a trip computer, full power accessories, keyless ignition, dual-zone climate control, a leather-wrapped tilt steering wheel, leather upholstery, heated front seats, a split-folding rear seatback, cruise control, Bluetooth, the OnStar telecommunications service, a back-up camera and a CD stereo with a video display, an auxiliary audio jack, a built-in hard drive and a USB port are included. A hard-drive-based navigation system is optional.

Volt’s driving force system will be based on GM’s new Voltec (formerly known as E-Flex) electric automobile platform. It is significantly different from GM’s earlier BAS Hybrid and Two-Mode Hybrid systems.

With fully charged batteries, enough electrical energy will be stored to power the Volt up to 40 miles (64 km). This distance is capable of satisfying the daily commute for 75% of Americans, whose commute is on average 33 miles (53 km). More than 40 miles (64 km), a small 4-cylinder gasoline inside combustion engine creates electricity on-board using a 53 kW (71 hp) generator to extend the Volt’s range to more than 300 miles (483 km). The electrical power from the generator is sent primarily to the electric motor, with the excess going to the batteries, depending on the state of charge (SOC) of the battery pack and the power demanded at the wheels. The distribution is controlled by the electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle.

The first pre-production test car based on the full Volt design was built in June 2009 in Warren, Michigan and by October 2009, 80 Volts had been built and are being tested under various conditions. On March 31, 2010 the first factory-built Volt was produced at the Detroit Hamtramck Assembly Plant in order to test the production line and for quality control purposes.

Safety features on the 2011 Chevy Volt include antilock brakes, stability control, front side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags.
The Volt may also become the platform for several GM cars.mor detail