Powertrain aside, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt is fairly ordinary. Indeed, GM is reportedly trying to use as many off-the-shelf components as possible to offset the costly batteries and related systems in an effort to keep delivered price reasonable. That's why the Volt shares a platform with conventional GM compacts and will likely be built alongside some of them in the company's Detroit-Hamtramck plant. Cost concerns also explain an orthodox coil-spring suspension with front struts and a simple twist-beam rear axle located by trailing arms. Appropriate for a "volts-wagon," the steering is electrically operated, albeit designed for minimal power consumption. The brakes are electro-hydraulic, with "by-wire" activation and a normal fluid reservoir for antilock control and antiskid/traction control.
GM unveiled the production Volt during the company's 100th anniversary celebration in September 2008. Against the low-slung 2007 concept, which insiders nicknamed the "Electric Camaro," the production model has a longer, smoother nose and greater windshield slant, but is otherwise similar, especially in back. Some observers feel the Volt bears a family resemblance to the midsize 2008 Chevrolet Malibu and it does have a similar "twin-cowl" dashboard. GM says many of the exterior changes were made to reduce air drag and thus maximize driving range. The concept Volt was apparently drawn without much regard to aerodynamics, and proved very disappointing when tested in the GM wind tunnel. Company Design Chief Ed Wellburn claims the final design reduces the concept's drag coefficient by 30 percent, and a statement by Bob Lutz implies a value of around 0.25, impressively low for a four-seat sedan.
More recently, GM has displayed Volt variants for markets other than North America. Australians will be offered a Holden-branded right-hand drive Volt that looks little different from the now familiar Chevy. Europeans will be able to buy the Opel Ampera, a lightly restyled Volt. The Ampera will be sold in the UK by Vauxhall.
It's clear that GM views the 2011 Chevrolet Volt as a potential game-changer for the entire auto industry. After all, the E-Flex architecture is designed so that the gas engine can be replaced by a hydrogen fuel cell, once those are ready. But it's equally clear that GM is throwing all the money and resources it can at the Volt program just so it can one-up Toyota with an extended-range electric car. Yet the Volt is unlikely to make money right away, and GM could even be forced to subsidize the price to pump-prime the market. Later on, of course, the Volt could pay off big in both prestige and profits, much as the Prius has for Toyota.
In any case, GM knows it will eat a lot of crow if it misses its deadline, which could happen if there's an unexpected delay with the batteries. But all involved express confidence that the Volt will be on time, if not on budget. As Bob Lutz recently told Wired magazine: "November 2010 is our internal target. We are holding the team's feet to the fire...[T]here is no doubt you'd like to be able to leapfrog Toyota and come out with a car they aren't ready to do. There's nothing magic about the technology. Two or three years after the Volt is introduced, everybody will have something like it. We'd just like to be first for once... If we pull it off successfully, it can really put us back at the top of the heap of automotive technology instead of being called laggards that are being left behind by the Germans and the Japanese... If it doesn't work, it's not fatal. But if it does work, it will be sensational..."
Maybe so, Bob. We shall see.
A Notable Feature of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt
The Volt may have a very different powertrain, but GM wanted to make it drive like any other Chevrolet. For example, although there's no transmission per se, the Volt will have an ordinary mechanical shift lever on the center console, which GM says was chosen to help conserve power versus an electrically operated selector, as on the Prius. For the same reason, windshield wipers, air conditioning, stereo, and other accessories have been redesigned so they will also drain less juice than those in conventional cars. Though such "redundant systems" add to development costs and thus sticker price, they reflect GM's desire that consumers see the Volt as no less practical than any other car.
