The Volt: An Electric Car That Could Change Everything
(Page 2 of 3)
June/July 2007
By Bill Moore
With the Volt concept, GM’s goal is to blend the best features of electric vehicles and hybrids, and bring to market — perhaps as early as 2010 — a small family car that uses the E-Flex system. GM says the Volt will deliver all-electric driving, meaning zero gas burned, for up to 40 miles in city conditions. At 60 miles of driving, the Volt’s fuel economy would be 150 mpg; at 80 miles, 100 mpg. Beyond that, if the driver can’t recharge via a plug-in outlet, the engine recharges the batteries and the Volt’s fuel economy drops to a still respectable 50 mpg. All this combined, GM says, would propel the car 640 miles on just 12 gallons of fuel, enough to go nonstop from Detroit to Washington, D.C.
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While the engine can recharge the batteries, it’s far more economical — and potentially cleaner in terms of emissions — to use the local electric grid rather than gasoline, ethanol or biodiesel. Assuming the local utility’s rate is 10 cents per kilowatt hour (the national average), it would cost about $1.50 to fully charge the car. Driving a typical hybrid 40 miles will cost you $2.50 to $3.00, depending on the hybrid’s fuel economy and the current price of gasoline. Volt owners who only drive short distances could recharge every night and go indefinitely without having to buy gas. And if recharged with renewable energy, such as solar or wind, the car would produce zero or nearly zero emissions.
Obviously the Volt concept is appealing, but there’s a significant hurdle to clear before the Volt can move beyond the concept stage — the lithium-ion battery pack. While lithium-ion batteries are already in use in many rechargeable power tools, it will take more technological breakthroughs before they are feasible to power electric cars produced in great numbers. Many think that breakthrough is only a few years away; numerous research and development companies worldwide are working on advanced lithium-ion batteries.
Andrew Burke, a battery expert and engineering professor at the University of California, Davis, has three concerns about the Volt program: the life cycle of the batteries, their safety and their cost. He estimates a current 16 kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery pack (like that used in the Volt concept) would cost up to $16,000. Burke says that as of yet, "nobody has the perfect battery."
