Dan Neil drives a Volt prototype at Dodger Stadium, in one of the first chances for anyone outside of GM engineering to test the extended-range plug-in hybrid.
It accelerates with a big husky twist of its electric motor. Actually, you can even chirp the front tires if you push the go-button hard enough -- very unlike a golf cart. It corners confidently and brakes crisply and, if it's no Ferrari, it certainly won't embarrass itself on the 110 Freeway, otherwise known as the Pasadena Grand Prix.
It's comfortable, practical and -- graded on the curve of five-seat family hatchbacks -- reasonably attractive. Think German-made-dishwasher pretty.
But the question remains: Will the Chevrolet Volt -- General Motors' radical electric vehicle with a range-extending gas generator on board, due in November 2010 -- really work? Will it help GM leapfrog Toyota -- currently experiencing its own woes -- as a grandmaster of green-car technology? Will it help win back legions of disaffected customers? Will it wow EV enthusiasts in Southern California, who still haven't forgiven GM for building the Hummer H2 or forgotten the murder of its charismatic little electric car of the 1990s, the EV1?
The high-tech, Earth-friendly Volt could provide a bridgehead for GM in California, where the company's sales have plummeted about 50% from September 2008.
And by the way, while the Volt is saving GM, will it save gasoline?
"Absolutely," says Andrew Farah, the Volt's chief engineer. "It's going to work and work better than people realize. . . . I'm proud as hell of this thing."
The Volt is a series hybrid EV that is propelled by a 120-kilowatt (160-horsepower) electric motor. Drawing on energy stored in its 16-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery, the Volt has an all-electric range of about 40 miles. If the battery is depleted, a 1.4-liter four-cylinder generator kicks in to supply electricity to the traction motor.
The advantage of this design is that if drivers don't exceed 40 miles of driving daily (and most don't), and if they plug in at night, they won't use any gas at all. If they need to go farther, they can, burning gasoline.
The Volt splits the difference between the greenness of an EV and the freedom of a gas-powered car. It will be the first such car to come to market.
GM hasn't announced pricing, but it's widely speculated the car will sell for under $40,000. Buyers will get a $7,500 tax credit on the car, for a net cost of $32,500 or less. That would still make the Volt thousands more expensive than a Toyota Prius or Honda Insight hybrid.
It would be hard to overstate the importance of the Volt to the image of GM -- not least because GM, battered by bankruptcy and a lingering reputation as the Darth Vader of fuel economy, has been trumpeting the car in advertising for well over a year. That strategy carries its own risks.
"GM likely feels the massive pre-intro hype for the Volt is probably more valuable than any post-intro disappointment it may yield," said Karl Brauer, editor of Edmunds.com, the consumer auto research website. "The company is well into its second year of cashing in on the car's promise of near-zero emissions and 200-plus mpg. Will there be a year plus of scolding by the press if the car ultimately bombs? No, a few weeks at most."
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