Shocking potential for the Chevrolet Volt

General Motors looks to be working on a breakthrough technology, as shown on the Chevrolet Volt concept revealed last week in Detroit. Much more than a car, the Volt represents a fresh, new concept in carmaking.

GM has enormous engineering resources, yet a century-old, car-building legacy limits its ability to bring new innovations to market. The Volt, and the 2002 AUTOnomy concept, may present an opportunity to develop and build a car from a clean slate.

To understand the potential, let's look beneath the sheetmetal: A plug-in serial hybrid, like the Volt, is essentially an electric vehicle with an on-board generator that can charge the batteries. The generator can run on whatever fuel is available locally. This form of powertrain makes it easy for cars to be built that run on different fuels: gasoline, diesel, ethanol, natural gas, or even hydrogen fuel cells. Some cars could be built that don't use a generator but have extra battery capacity. Since world demand for fuel is rapidly rising beyond what any one of these fuels can meet by itself, this flexibility allows for evolution over time and configurations for local markets.

The immediate benefit is that a plug-in serial hybrid could travel up to 40 miles in city driving on battery power before the generator would have to start and burn any gas at all. I have found previous series hybrid concept cars have felt weird to drive. After a short trip, the batteries lose their charge, and the generator starts revving hard to recharge them--sometimes just as you're coming to a stop. According to GM engineers, the Volt's generator is designed to run at just 1,500 to 2,500 rpm--a much less ear-splitting level.

According to federal statistics, 78 percent of Americans live within 20 miles of work. That means many commuters could drive a Volt all week without ever starting the engine or burning a drop of fuel. All they'd have to do is plug the car in at night.

Currently electricity sells for the equivalent of about 75 cents per gallon of gasoline, according to the Electric Power Research Institute. This kind of savings could be a big incentive for plug-in buyers.

It may make sense nationally, as well. Power plants crank out a lot of power at night that currently goes unused. And the sources of clean electricity, such as hydro-electric and wind power, are more diverse and environmentally friendly than the current sources of clean liquid fuels.

From emission cleanliness to flexibility, the Volt represents an intriguing vision for future vehicle design. Many carmakers have promised new technology and never delivered, though independent analysts confirm that the Volt represents feasible technology that may be just a few years away, We'll delve deeper into the Volt in a future blog post.

--Eric Evarts