[jyl]

The Volt is an interesting idea.

As I understand it, the concept is that the car is driven solely by electric motors powered by the lithium-ion battery, which would be charged overnight and good for a 40 mile range. There is an internal combustion engine (ICE) on-board, but solely to charge the batteries during trips longer than 40 miles. Thus there's no need for a transmission and the ICE can run at a constant, efficient rpm and load. Since the electric motors should be small, and neither the ICE nor the battery back have to be in any fixed location relative to the driven wheels, packaging would seem flexible.

I'd be interested to know what advances in battery technology and safety GM will have. Why the range can't be longer (the EV-1 had an 80 mile range). Also what will be the efficiency when the Volt is running on ICE-generated electricity.

GM started working on the Volt in 2006, showed a concept car in early 2007, and are trying to begin production in 2010. Assuming the Volt does go on sale in 2010, it will probably compete with Toyota's plug-in Prius (usually speculated to be a MY2010 or MY2011 vehicle). Although, the Volt might be aimed at a different niche, based on the styling.

But - lithium-ion batteries are tricky enough that I probably wouldn't buy a Volt until the vehicle has been around for a couple years. When a cellphone battery can explode with enough force to kill a person (one case - the phone was in the guy's shirt pocket), imagine what a car-sized lithium-ion battery could do.