For all that the electric cars have to
offer, the general public tends to be wary of them. Regretfully, the detractors of electric cars are not to blame, for, in their present guise, these cars pose more problems than providing solutions for a better world. However, GM have trodden a different path. After more than three years of planning and obsessive research, the company’s first plug-in electric car is ready to go on sale this month as a 2011 model. Naturally, a lot of expectations are riding on this car. 
GM have packed enough cutting-edge technology under the Volt’s hood to make the car a serious contender for the most advanced electric vehicle in the world. Foremost among these is a bank of batteries hidden innocuously under the body. Developed by GM in conjunction with Compact Power Incorporated (CPI) of Detroit, these 220-cell lithium-ion packs weigh 170 kg each and store a maximum charge of 16 kW/h. But, in reality, GM have incorporated a software that limits the maximum usable power to 8.8 kW/h in order to extend the battery life to an astonishing 10 years. The Volt is also liquid-cooled and heated, unlike any other electric car or hybrid that relies on air to do the same.
At full charge, the Li-ion pack powers the Volt for the first 64 kilometres – a distance significantly longer than the average American’s daily commute – after which a small 1.4 litre petrol-powered four-cylinder ‘range-extender’ engine kicks in. Most of the power from this 75 PS engine is sent to the electric motor for locomotion, while the rest is used for charging the batteries. How much of power should go to which work is decided by the ECU, depending on the state of the battery charge and the power demanded by the driver at the moment. Thus, the Volt is not exclusively an all-electric car, but the first of a new breed of hybrids with an internal combustion range-extender engine.
