There is no doubt that the Chevy Volt news coming from GM over the past year has been nothing short of electric – especially the claim by GM that the Chevy Volt will come with a game changing EPA city rating of 230 MPG.
Leftlane has already had the opportunity to drive the Volt test vehicle (which is actually a Chevy Cruze with the Voltec drive train) in the pure electric mode, but GM has yet to allow outside drivers experience the vehicle while the gas generator is active. Although our experience driving the Volt prototype in pure electric mode was a pleasant one, we, like many other journalists and enthusiasts alike are rather curious as to what the complete experience will entail.
Fox Car Report recently interviewed Chevy’s Volt Vehicle Line Director Tony Posawatz and asked a host of questions centered around the bold claim of 230 MPG city for the upcoming Volt. Tony Posawatz made it very clear that the Volt will be coming to market in late 2010. When asked about remaining changes and testing to be done, Tony explained that the majority of work left to be done is based around software programming and not physical testing or development.
When asked if drivers will be able to manually switch between electric or gas powered modes Tony explained that driver choice will be fairly limited due to regulations. Tony did clarify however that drivers will have the ability to dial in the amount of regenerative braking taking place – giving a similar effect to downshifting in a traditional vehicle.
At this time Chevy has not released any firm numbers on fuel efficiency while operating in extended-range mode due to ongoing testing. When Tony was questioned regarding extended-range fuel efficiency he would not commit to numbers or even a range of numbers, but did say that they believed the production Volt will be “better than any conventional car, and we’re trying to figure out how close, or if it will actually be better than any hybrids.”
When questioned about the forty mile pure-EV range in real world conditions Tony explained that “a couple drivers” have achieved that range using an EPA city and highway cycle, but in real world driving there will be variation.
The video below is from our first drive of the Volt prototype in June, 2009.
