Holden Volt Reviews

Retired rock band manager Chris Brown lives in Santa Barbara, California and calls himself an "early adopter'' so it was no surprise that his choice of wheels is a Chevy Volt plug in hybrid.Chris says he has owned plenty of vehicles in his 55 years but the Volt takes the cake."I thought it would be pretty good by the spec' sheet and when I moved to Santa Barbara, I decided to fully embrace my new, more relaxed life and go green with the Volt,'' he said. "But the ownership experience has been much better than I expected especially the fuel mileage and performance. I have put petrol in the tank only twice since buying the Volt in February this year and that was only when I was going down to LA for business.''Chris paid only US$34,500 for his car after the Federal Government slipped him a $7500 tax break with the purchase. Then on top of that, he says running costs are so negligible that it doesn't even register."I plug it into a domestic socket at home in the evening and it's ready to go the next morning. And besides, if I forget, the petrol engine will kick in if the charge gets low to recharge the lithium ion battery.''Chris said service costs are minimal basically because there isn't much to service.Volt is what is called a "range extender'' hybrid in which the car runs predominantly on electric power stored in its battery pack with a 1.4-litre petrol engine acting as a generator and acceleration booster if needed. The petrol engine hardly ever starts in general running around and then only for short bursts.Volt actually has two 55kW permanent magnet electric motors that give a range on electricity alone of up to 80km. Total range is well over 600km when the petrol engine generator kicks in. The available range on stored electricity is registered on a bar graph in the instrument console.Volt is no slouch and is capable of attaining a top speed of 160kmh and of accelerating from 0-100kmh in 9.0 seconds. It is the most practical electric vehicle currently available and the most fuel efficient with combined consumption of 2.5-litres/100km. And if you have solar panels on your house, running costs could be zero with minimal greenhouse effect. It looks good too, certainly not like a kooky cockroach as is the case with some other hybrid cars.Chris Brown invited us to take his car for a drive last week in Santa Barbara and it was a real surprise package.Firstly it has excellent acceleration off the mark right up to freeway speeds and there's only one gear which is eerie especially with no noise. There's plenty of kit inside including leather upholstery, Bluetooth, cruise, climate control, voice control to some functions, Bose audio and a 30 gig music register. It has a cyber space style dash with info panels in front of the driver and festooned down the centre console.The ride is comfortable and there's room inside for five at a pinch. It has a five star crash rating.Volt is manufactured in Detroit and has been on sale in the US since December 2010 but won't make it here until the end of 2012 at the earliest.Local pricing is unavailable but the European Volt (Ampera) goes for the equivalent of $58,000 so expect something similar here ... pity because Volt is a game changer given accessible pricing. Hopefully the federal government will start offering ``carbon'' incentives to Volt buyers as they do in all other countries where it's sold.

The car of the (near) future is up and running in the USA, and heading for Australian showrooms early in 2012. The Chevrolet Volt is the world's first workable electric car, and one that ends the new-age fear of 'range anxiety' with a hybrid system that turns the Prius world upside-down.The Volt runs on battery power but has an onboard petrol engine that works as a generator, providing a potential range of more than 600 kilometres and ending the fear of a running 'dry' beyond a plug-in socket.Holden is an early adopter and plans to have the Volt in its range as soon as possible, although a pricetag estimated in the $60,000 range means it will not be for everyone.But 'range extender' technology could be a widespread hit, providing plug-in city driving and the chance for long-distance trips using gasoline top-ups along the way. "The Volt can be your one car, your only car," says Mark Reuss, former head of Holden and now leading Chevrolet in the USA.The Volt is only a Corolla-sized, four-seater small car but it is packed with technology and GM's engineers have even done an impressive job on driving dynamics. It's not a sports car but it's not as dull as a Prius. The Volt has gone from a great idea to a potential game-changer car in less than 18 months, with the first production cars about to be delivered in the USA.VALUEIt is impossible to rate the Volt without a showroom sticker. The price is likely to be around $60,000 in Australia and that will be costly by any measure. But more and more people are turning to green power and an electric car that can also take a Sydney-to-Melbourne run makes a solid case, with the Prius now priced from $39,990.The Volt comes with a bundle of value-added stuff in the 'states, including roadside assistance and satnav, as well as a 160,000- kilometre, eight-year warranty on its lithium-ion battery pack.TECHNOLOGYThere is a vast amount of technology in the Volt but its foundations are all Cruze. The GM compact car provides the foundation and the engineers and futurists do the rest.The heart of the Volt is its heated-and-cooled, 198kg battery pack. It's so big that it's shaped in a tee and steals space between and around the cramped back seat. There is also a 1.4-litre petrol engine in the nose that's responsible for charging duties any time the battery gets severely depleted, or when there is a need for sustained heavy pulling power.GM originally denied the car ran on anything but electric power but now concedes there is one situation - overtaking under full power beyond 110km/h - when petrol power can briefly turn one wheel. A lot of work has gone into tiny details in the Volt, from its lightweight entertainment system to a horn that gives a polite 'toot- toot' if you nudge the turn indicator stalk.It's intended for warning work in parking lots and should be fitted to every car. The outcome is simple: GM says the Volt can hit 160km/h and has a 0-100km/h sprint time of less than 9.0 seconds, while happily running with similar range to a petrol-powered car.DESIGNThe Volt is designed for minimum drag and that means a relatively sharp-edged body that's not unlike a Prius. Stylists have tried to dress the shape but it's still no beauty.The interior is semi-futurist with a range of digital dash displays, including one that shows how you're driving on an efficiency scale, but with a conventional T-bar shifter to select forwards and reverse. The cabin also has some bright colour trim pieces and leather trim is available, but it is very cramped in the back seat and the hatchback roof glass needs a lot of sun protection to shield people in the rear.GM has two frontal treatments for the Volt - the Chevrolet corporate look and a much more adventurous design for the Volts sold as an Ampera in Europe - but otherwise it is fairly bland and sensible.SAFETYThe Volt comes with the usual stuff, including eight airbags, ABS brakes and stability control. GM says the location of the battery pack provides the best possible protection in a collision, with systems to prevent anything nasty escaping or causing a problem in a crash.In America the car is also protected by OnStar, which uses a back-to- base alarm system in the event of a crash, although this is not currently available through Holden in Australia.DRIVINGMy first drive in the Volt was exactly a year ago, and it was effectively just a lap of the block at GM's technical centre in Detroit. This time there is more than 90 minutes of driving, on freeways and city streets, with a much better chance to know the car. The Volt fires up easily and, despite an icy winter chill in Detroit, the cabin is soon warm without stealing much battery power.Heated seats help. Pulling into traffic the response is seamless and acceleration is good. The car easily matches or betters other cars in city conditions, and pulls out swiftly to merge onto a freeway.Cruising at 110km/h is easy and the car is quiet and relaxed. But the lack of engine and driveline noise means you hear other things, like squeaking trim pieces and some thumping and crashing from the rear suspension. The Volt rides as you would expect for a car in the Mazda3-Corolla class, although it takes time to adjust to the artificial brake feel and the steering is a bit over-keen at times.Generally, the car matches expectations or does a bit better. There are a number of different driving modes and switching to 'sport' sharpens things, as well as providing more regenerative braking. So you only have to lift the accelerator to get a significant slowing.To check the cut-in for the petrol generator engine I deliberately drain the battery by flicking to the 'mountain' mode, which boosts battery reserves. The cut-in is noticeable but the small four is quiet and there is far less noise than a normal car.All-in-all, the Volt makes a strong second impression. It drives nicely, delivers on its electric promises, and is far more than just a science experiment. When Holden gets the Volt it is going to change the hybrid game and make life very, very difficult for Toyota with its Prius and Camry. It also promises the sort of range and peace of mind that electric car shoppers already crave.VERDICTA hybrid hero that's surprisingly good to drive. 9/10WE LIKE: Electric drive, sporty(ish) handling, engine response WE DON'T LIKE: Cramped back seat, likely price, delivery delayCHEVROLET VOLTPRICE: Estimated $60,000ENGINE: Electric motor with 1.4-litre petrol generator engineOUTPUT: 111kW RANGE: 40-80km (electric), 600km (range extended)EMISSIONS: Zero (electric drive)

It's hard to believe the Chevrolet Volt was born in less than half a day.  The hybrid hero of what was, until recently, the world's biggest carmaker is such a good idea that I expected it to have been created after years of painstaking research and smart thinking in a top-secret laboratory in Detroit.  It's an electric-drive car that uses a second onboard energy source to top up its giant battery pack. So it's a hybrid, but not as we know it.One genius at GM sketched the whole thing on a single sheet of paper after being quizzed by car chief Bob Lutz about the corporation's response to the Toyota Prius.  "We reclaimed the electric vehicle from the scrapheap of history. Now the prize is within sight," says John Lockner, vice-president of planning at General Motors.He, and everyone on the Volt team at GM starting with Lutz, have plenty of reasons to be optimistic as the countdown continues to the first Volt production car in November.  After driving the car I am also a fan. It is the single most important new car I have driven since the Honda FCX Clarity, another all-electric car that uses hydrogen from a fuel cell stack to create its electricity.DRIVETRAINJust like the Clarity, and unlike the Prius, the Volt is fully electric. Its petrol engine never turns the wheels and only fires up to re-charge the giant 200-kilogram battery pack that fits in a giant T shape along the centre console and below the back seats.The Volt will run for 64 kilometres on battery power — compared to two kilometres for a Prius — and once the 1.4-litre petrol motor goes to work it will run for as much as 600 kilometres between stops."It's the only electric vehicle that can be your only vehicle," says Andre Farah, chief engineer on the Volt.  I have a full-day dip into Volt-land during a visit to the Detroit Motor Show that covers everything from the basic vehicle concept to the advanced battery laboratories.  It's all done at GM's giant technical centre close to Detroit and culminates in a short drive of the car.DESIGNSo, what about the basics? The Volt is based on the GM Cruze, which makes it a compact car with a hatchback tail.  It looks a little like the Prius and the Honda Insight hybrids because of the rules of aerodynamics, which dictate an optimum shape for the body, although GM has tried to make it a little more sporty.It's a four-seater only, because of the battery, and trying to get much detail on the car is a waste of time.  GM is keeping its secrets until sales start in November this year, although it will all be common knowledge by the time the Volt hits Australia in 2011.  The GM people will not even reveal the size of the petrol tank, or the workings of the transmission system, or the performance or economy figures.  It will not be cheap, with a US base price of about $40,000 - probably $60,000 for Australia.DRIVINGThe Volt is a landmark car and drives extremely well.  That is a big call after less than five minutes at the wheel, and about 15 in the car in total, but the idea of an electric car that can do a Forest Gump and "run, and run, and run" is brilliant.As a driver, the Volt is as simple and easy as any electric car.  Hit the 'start' button, wait for the right lights, then select D and go.  There is a lot of funky stuff in the Volt, from its weirdly shaped shifter to a dash display that rates the economy of your driving, but the basics are solid.GM detuned the performance for the journalist preview, yet the car still gets along fairly niftily with a full load onboard.  It's not as sharp as a petrol car but much better than a Mitsubishi iMiev or Subaru Stella electric car.The steering feel is just like a Corolla, the braking is not as jerky as a Prius, and the quality on the pre-production drive car is good.  It's tight for space in the back, and there are only four seats, and I worry about sun exposure from the big rear hatch.  For me, as well, it's not the best looking future car I have seen.But the Volt is another window on the future and it lets a big breath of fresh air blow over the hybrid world.  Now I cannot wait for a real drive — something like Melbourne to Sydney.