living with a chevrolet volt - 3.7 volt rechargeable lithium ion battery

After years of development, almost the same time was previewed in commercial advertising and auto show exhibitions
The Chevrolet Volt has been introduced, almost reaching a mythical proportion.
It is seen as a symbol of GM's recovery from bankruptcy-a shining example of what the company can achieve after the restructuring.
With the increase of production and 50-
We can finally get the state availability at hand --
Door hatchback for a proper week
Test drive for a long time to see if this is the case
The so-called "extended electric vehicles" may live up to the hype.
For the benefit of those who are not started, Volt is not a pure electric vehicle, nor is it a plug-in vehicle
Gas/electric hybrid.
Its main power source is to generate a power drive equivalent to 150 hp.
Since the peak power of the electric motor appears at the same time, the car feels faster than the rating may suggest.
In addition, the electric drive does not require more traditional
Manual transmission;
For this reason, there is only one forward gear for the Volt transmission.
However, unlike pure electric vehicles, once Volt's rechargeable lithium is trapped, it is not afraid of being trapped.
The ion battery pack runs out. Instead, a 1. 4-
The upgraded gasoline engine automatically engages the running generator, which in turn provides power to the Power Drive system.
At speeds of more than 70 mph, the gas engine adds a bit of power to the generator.
At this point, the range of the car is limited only by the amount of fuel in the tank.
With a fully charged battery and a tank full of gasoline, the Volt can travel about 379 miles before refueling, Chevy said.
According to the EPA test, Volt owners can expect an average of 35 miles of battery mileage, which is enough to meet the needs of daily attendance and weekend shopping.
However, this distance depends largely on factors such as the speed of the car, the number of passengers, the ambient temperature, and the use of accessories such as heating and air conditioning.
Living in the heart of a big city with mild climate
The weather in the fall and our longest regular trip is the 11-mile round trip to take the kids to school on a weekday morning, and we thought we could easily avoid using gasoline.
We had about 10 miles of battery remaining when our tester was delivered and we decided to take a long trip to see how it was going to switch to gasolinesourced power.
When running at full speed, it is whispering --
Electric mode, tire noise is the only auditory clue of car movement.
We did notice some buzz when we stopped, and our local GM rep thought it was caused by the car's regenerative braking system, it recycles energy that would otherwise have been lost by slowing down and stopping and sends it back to the Volt's battery (
Although there is not enough volume to maintain the charge beyond its effective range).
Acceleration is fast enough.
It reaches the speed of the highway at an authoritative rate, and can easily exceed most size cars, although it drags around the extra weight of two separate power trains.
It is particularly eager when the voltage switches to "motion" mode, which provides a more active throttle response that we believe must be precisely controlled in terms of battery range and/or fuel economy. (
The "mountain" mode helps maximize performance through the hilly environment, but we only need to quote Chevrolet on that feature. )
After running about 42 miles for the last charge, Volt switched to gas-assisted-
Electric operation, the transition is seamless.
We have not detected any difference in acceleration, the main difference is its four-sound mute
Cylinder gasoline engine running in the background.
Since its main job is to run the generator instead of actually powering the road, and sometimes the gasoline engine is out of sync with the actual speed of the car, we find it a bit disturbing.
As our initial test ended, we pulled the Volt to the garage, removed the charging unit from the trunk, and then plugged the car into our home charging circuit, dashboard-
The installed Display says it takes about 8 hours to use 120-volt current.
Unfortunately, Volt's charger determined that the electrical service in our garage was inadequate-the flashing red light indicated that the circuit was not grounded enough-and acted with caution that it would not charge the car.
According to the owner's manual, the AC outlet must have a properly grounded, dedicated, 15 am p or larger, three-way wall plug.
This means that there should not be other major devices connected to the same circuit.
The owner of an old house like ours may need to reinstall the garage.
Even the first one
The price is connected, which will rule out keeping the fridge or extra fridge in the garage.
A lot of buyers will be good.
Service is 240-
Volt lines and charging stations are installed as this not only frees up 120 of the garage-
A voltage circuit for other purposes, but it shortens the charging time to about four hours.
While the cost of the charging station itself is approximately $500, the installation cost is estimated to be approximately $1,500, and this figure may be much higher if additional work is required to comply with local building codes.
In the absence of an electrician, we decided to drive the voltage to the local Walgreens pharmacy, where two electric cars had just been installed.
Car charging station.
Chain 240 during installation-
Volt chargers are available in parking lots in many stores.
At least for now, this is a free service for customers, although the parking time is limited to 30 minutes, we think this will make the battery life no more than 5 miles.
Fortunately, the store manager allowed us to keep Volt working, although the owner next to Toyota Prius was clearly confused in another charging bay, they have the right to park in the space "for electric vehicles only.
"Since then it has sailed smoothly and we have been able to spend most of our time sitting behind the steering wheel and relying on battery power. In day-to-
The daily use of Volt acts like a "normal" car, and it certainly feels more solid and fulfilling than a Toyota Prius or Honda Insight hybrid of the same size.
The handling of Volt is predictable and provides sufficient feedback to the driver through the steering wheel.
While the suspension of the car seems to have reached the task of a quick turn, whenever the car is pushed hard over the turn, its low rolling resistance tires tend to scream painfully.
At this point, we would be happy to give up a little suspension stiffness for a smoother ride.
Although the pedal seems to be suddenly engaged at a lower speed, the braking is straight and safe.
Saw the voltage in the photo and automatically
In the past few years, the look of the car seems too familiar to us, although it does change in the public.
To a large extent, it looks like a smooth hatchback version of the Chevrolet Cruze, with a solid silver grille with a black roof in front, matching decorations along the window and the rear of the car.
Although the interior of the car is well decorated, it is too busy to satisfy our taste.
The LED display as a car dashboard is equivalent to excessive information.
A bunch of controls in the middle are done in white and look like they were designed by about 2005 of Apple computers, avoiding the traditional buttons of a series of confusing "touchpoints" controls.
In addition, there are only four adults in the Volt seat.
The center console separates the two-barrel seats, not the rear bench.
This is the "T-" of the car for a long time-
Incorporate the shape "battery pack" in the frame below the passenger compartment.
The back seat has enough legroom unless the front seat is in the last position. The car’s low-
In addition to ensuring that higher riders hit their heads when they enter the car, all of this is hung on the roof.
However, the cargo space is usually a sign of hatchback type, only 10, is scarce.
6 cubic feet behind the rear seat.
It is not enough to support a typical Sam's Club or Costco in a family.
Fortunately, the rear seat back can be folded forward when needed to expand Volt's cargo carrying capacity.
During the driving time of the week, we ran a total of 129 kilometers. 71 miles 3 miles.
Four of them
Electric operation.
All of this illustrates the fuel economy of 59.
The city and the highway travel 5 miles together.
According to official data, the EPA conducted a comprehensive assessment of the fuel economy of the Volt.
Electricity mode equivalent to 94 mpg.
After the battery is exhausted, the gasoline engine starts at a power rating of 37 miles.
Combined driving of gasoline-
Electric and electric-
Volt's power model is estimated to be 60 miles per gallon, which is consistent with what we can achieve.
Chevrolet is estimated to cost about $1.
50 fully charge the Volt's battery and this number may be higher or lower depending on the local power rate.
According to the EPA, a driver who specifically drives Volt with electricity will pay about 4 cents per mile for energy costs, while a person who never charges a battery and drives a car with only gasoline (
Advanced level required)
Nine cents a mile.
Despite its inherent flaws, we were impressed with the Volt, although we would be even more impressed if it was priced below $39,145.
Even by one-
Time $7,500 federal income tax credit-
We are not sure if buyers can reasonably recoup the price premium compared to similar traditional cars in terms of fuel savings. (
By contrast, Toyota Prius starts at about 50 miles and starts at less than $24,000; the new plug-
In a version that runs 15 miles on battery only, MSRP is $32,000 and enjoys a $2,500 tax credit. )
We won't even discuss whether using the power grid to power the car instead of burning gasoline has any substantial benefits to the environment-or using natural gas or hydrogen.
Still, Chevrolet Volt is a choice for those who want electric cars to minimize their carbon footprint and/or thumb nose while driving past gas stations,, who also needs to have a car that can be used for long trips.
While some may argue that pure electric vehicles are not ready for prime time, volts are a bridge between internal combustion engines and batteries --
Driving force.
See it as vehicle equivalents for a combination of VHS/DVD players, and the proliferation of this combination is to make it easy for consumers to move from one home video technology to the next home video technology.
Jim Gorzelany is the author of "money for car intellectuals"Saving New-
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