By Steph Willems, EMC - The parking lot of the EMC might not contain the most cutting-edge vehicles, but at least its pages do.The most hotly-anticipated vehicle in years fell into the grasp of this EMC report on the eve of the Labour Day weekend, thanks to the folks at Jim Tubman Chevrolet.
After years of development and testing, the Chevrolet Volt rolled into the south Ottawa dealership on Sept. 1, just as purchased models were beginning delivery to their owners. The model at Tubman was available for studying and driving the next day, four days prior to the City of Ottawa taking ownership of one for its long-term fleet -- an event that warranted much fanfare.
The Chevy Voltis a confusing vehicle for those not used to the new classifications of vehicles emerging in recent years. As an "extended-range electric vehicle", the Volt's main propulsion method is electricity, in this case flowing from a large, 16-kWh battery pack to its 150-horsepower AC electric motor.
The battery is charged by plugging it into any 120-volt wal outlet, or by utilizing an optional 240-volt unit. Regenerative braking sends some juice created by the forward motion of the car and sends it back to the battery. Slippery aerodynamics and low rolling resistance tires aid in getting the most range out of the charge.
What makes the Volt different from a pure EV or a conventional hybrid is that after the battery is depleted, a small (73 horsepower) 1.4-litre gasoline engine fires up to generate electricity for the much more powerful electric motor.
The range of the Volt on battery power is roughly 60 kilometres (though specific driving situations can yield more or less range), during which the gasoline generator is silent.
Depending on how far the owner drives it and were, gasoline could seldom be used.
Range from the gas tank is about 500 kilometres, much like a regular car, meaning owners aren't slaves to the battery. Should a situation arise where they need to go further than the electric charge allows, they can generate their own juice on the road.
City driving is the Volt's specialty, as this is where gasoline cars (due to idling) use the most fuel. An electric car doesn't drain the battery while sitting still (minus the current draw from accessories like air conditioning), rather, the electric motor only uses juice when moving forward.
The 2012 Volt I tested was a white example -- GM's "Cadillac Pearl" paint, to be exact, with nine kilometers on the odometer.
Marty Rubenstein -- official "Volt Guy" at Jim Tubman's -- gave me the tour of the vehicle and answered some nagging questions I had concerning the operation of the car's complicated drive system.
What if I fill up the gas tank but never use it Will the gas generator feel neglected? What if I drive away with the car still plugged in -- a very real possibility?
GM thought of all of these scenarios during the lengthy design and testing period, Rubenstein told me.
"The car has a brain -- if the computer sees the engine hasn't been started in six weeks, it will start itself to move the lubrication around," he said, adding the little 1.4-litre generator uses a thin, synthetic oil that must be circulated periodically to protect engine parts.
The gasoline contained in the 35-litre tank is good for a year, said Rubenstein. Gas can and will go bad if left too long, a problem few people encounter when owning an internal-combustion vehicle. The Volt's "brain" ensures gasoline doesn't sit in the car longer than that 12-month period. The generator will fire up during regular driving to use it up when this time comes.
What about the charging times, I asked? Will I have to sit around, twiddling my thumbs all day, waiting for my car to charge?
Rubenstein tells me with a conventional 120-volt plug (the adapter comes stowed in the trunk of the car), charging time is 10 hours, meaning someone could plug it in during the evening and the car would be ready to go come morning commute time.
With the 240-volt charging unit charging time is reduced to four hours.
The actual body and cabin of the vehicle are nicely put together. The sloping liftback of the car doesn't accommodate the same amount of "stuff" as a crossover or station wagon, but the rear seats do fold down to give the car decent utility. The rear seats are two buckets rather than a three-person bench due in part to the T-shaped battery pack located under the passenger cabin.
Our tester came with optional two-tone leather upholstery -- black and tan -- which matched the dash and door scheme. This classy colour combination can be found in other Chevy's like the popular Malibu.
The driver's seat of the Volt is a comfortable place to spend time, as this six-foot-four driver discovered. Legroom was plentiful, as was headroom and back support. A telescopic steering wheel will make finding a comfortable seating position an easy task for drivers of all heights.
Before I fire up the ... motor ... Rubenstein gives me the run-down on how to operate the Volt. There's no ignition key, just a key fob that needs to be inside he vehicle for the start button to work. With the fob in your pocket, simply push the dash-mounted start button, wait a couple of seconds for the driver's display and in-dash computer screen to boot up (the latter is a wealth of driving/energy usage information), then you're ready to go.
Driving operation is then the same as any other car. A console-mounted shifter allows you the normal PRNDL selection as any other automatic transmission. The rest of the controls -- wipers, lights and signals -- are stock GM.
What isn't normal practice is starting a car without hearing an engine fire up, not to mention hitting the accelerator and still not hearing anything -- just feeling smooth, liquid acceleration. It's disconcerting at first, but you quickly get used to it.
The lack of engine noise makes for a quiet cabin. That, plus the somewhat hefty car's solid stance (the battery adds 400 pounds) and absorbent suspension, makes one feel as if they're driving a luxury car. The high quality fit and finish of the interior and precise steering add to the feeling of luxury.
This isn't an electric car for the masses -- a Model T of the future, if you will -- but it is proof that a quality electric car that drives and fels like a regular luxury car is possible from a mass-market automaker.
At a starting price of just over $41,000, minus a $8,500 government rebate, the Volt compares to many luxury hybrids currently on the market. None of these vehicles, however, allow the driver to drive as far on electric power alone.
With Rubenstein riding shotgun, I took the Volt on a winding, 43-kilometre trip through the south end of Ottawa. We cruised down the Airport Parkway to the Ottawa International Airport, where we did loops around the terminal hoping to attract stares. The all-but-abandoned Alert Road allowed us the space to try the three drive modes -- normal, sport and mountain -- and test accelerating to highway speeds from a dead or rolling stop.
The Volt pulls away somewhat sedately when told to go; following closely after is a pleasing boost of acceleration from 20 km/h to 70 or 80 km/h. The word that came to mind when thinkig of how to describe it was a "whoosh" of smooth power.
The Volt proved its worth when it came time to mingle with slow-moving traffic on various arterial roads -- Bank Street, Walkley Road, Alta Vista Drive.
Using no power sitting idle (our windows were down and the air conditioning turned off), we only drew power from the battery when moving forward. The dashboard computer has many screen options to see how efficient your driving style is.
On the driver's display, to the right of the digital speedometer, is a ball suspended halfway between two vertical lines. When the green ball rises above the halfway mark it means you're driving less-than-efficiently. When it drops below, you're doing good.
Between the acceleration tests (less efficient) and the city traffic (more efficient), I averaged 70 per cent efficiency driving style over the course of our trip.
We left the deaership with 58 kilometres rane remaining in the battery, and despite many different driving styles and situations, we returned to the dealership with 12 kilometres remaining after having travelled 42.5 kilometres, meaning the initial range estimate doesn't vary that much, as some have worried.
That worked out -- thanks to the car's "brain" -- to a fuel consumption equivalent of 1.75 litres/100 km, which works out to about 160 miles per gallon (mpg).
Once the generator kicks in to provide current to the motor, the car uses real gas at a rate of 42 mpg in the city and 48 mpg on the highway. Few gasoline-only cars get 45 mpg in combined driving these days.
Having the chance to drive such a new example of automotive technology was a real treat, and shows what automakers are capable of producing. The Volt won't be everything to everyone, but it can be a lot of things to many people -- an electric city car for those making many short trips in urban areas, or a fuel efficient and comfortable commuter.
By being the only car in its class, the Volt only increases the diversity of choices for car shoppers looking to go green.
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