After months of anticipation, I finally got to test drive the Chevy Volt. I went to the Chevy car show at the Indianapolis Speedway on Saturday, May 28, 2011. The place was bustling with people and activity. The process to test drive the Volt was easy: simply register, take a breathalyzer test, sign some forms and wait. The line was not very long. It took less than 10 minutes, and I was behind the wheel of the new Chevy Volt.
The first thing you will probably notice when you get inside the car is how easy it is to start. Press down the brake pedal and push the start button. The engine makes no noise. Instead, the display panels simply light up. Starting the Volt is like turning on your home computer. Shift into drive, depress the brake pedal and you are off. Everything is digital. The screen in front of the driver displays all your information from speed, range, even tire pressure digitally. The information is presented in a very intuitive manner. Speed is displayed as an actual number. I also like that the screen shows the number of miles of driving remaining. The screen between the driver and the front passenger displays your entertainment info, climate control energy usage, navigation etc. A nice little feature that I noticed is the buttons on the steering wheel to control your Bluetooth phone, allowing you to take a call without taking your hands off the wheel. Putting a call on speakerphone will be even more enjoyable considering how quiet the car is. The Volt has a great audio system, with XM radio, Bose speakers and a USB port for an iPod. The car handles quite well. While the car is not luxurious, it is quite comfortable. During my test drive, I asked the Chevy representative who was with me in the car, what the difference is between electric driving and gas driving since I noticed from the icon on the front screen that I appeared to be in gas mode. The Chevy representative explained to me that the car is always electric because the electric motor turns the wheels. The gas engine simply generates extra electricity when the battery runs low in order to extend the range of the vehicle. So, there is no difference at all in driving performance between when you are on battery power or using the gas engine. Towards the end of the test drive, we reached a stretch of road that is long and straight. The Chevy representative instructed me to press down on the accelerator. I was pleasantly surprised by the acceleration in the Volt. While the car is not a sports car, it definitely has good acceleration. As an electric car, the acceleration is different than in a traditional car. Electric motors deliver instant torque so when you press the accelerator, instead of revving up to a maximum acceleration; you get quick acceleration right from the start. I enjoyed the little kick as the Volt sped up. The test drive was over pretty quickly. Before I knew it, I was making the final turn back to the starting point where the next person was eagerly awaiting their turn. But driving the Volt even for such a short period of time was a real thrill.
The Volt is a marvel of automotive engineering. I believe it is a bridge between the traditional car, even the hybrid and the all-electric cars yet to come. The traditional car has power and range. We can drive for hundreds of miles on a single tank of gas. But with gas prices heading up, it is becoming more and more expensive to drive a gas engine car. Hybrids are a step forward because they use less gas but they still require gas. On the other end of the spectrum, electric cars are a clean mode of transportation, using no gas at all. They are also convenient and quiet to drive. However, electric cars are not able to offer the driving range of a gas car, having a battery range of 10 to maybe 40 miles on a single charge compared to the hundreds of miles of range in a gas car (upcoming electric cars like the Tesla model S will offer much greater driving ranges but the technology is quite expensive). So, many people worry that an electric car will not be able to take them where they need to go. The Volt offers the best of both worlds. It is an electric car offering 35-40 miles of gas free driving. Simply plug in your Volt to any power outlet to recharge the battery. It will take several hours to fully charge the battery but this should not be a problem if you plan the charge times when you are at work or at night when you are sleeping. There is even an app for smart phone users to help them monitor their Volt's charge times. If your daily commute is less than 40 miles, you should be able to drive gas free for a while. But the Volt will not give you range anxiety because if your battery is low, the gas engine will quietly kick in to generate extra electricity to keep you driving for an extra 300 miles. Thus, the Chevy Volt gives you the advantages of both an electric car and gas cars but without the pollution or noise. The Volt is not for everyone of course. It is not a high end luxury car nor a super sports car but it was never designed to be those things. And, the Volt would be small for some families, with only enough seating for 4 people. But the Volt is an immensely practical car, allowing short and long commutes with great gas economy, in a comfortable, high tech and quiet ride. The Volt is a stepping stone into the future!
You can see my pics of the Volt and the other Chevy cars at the show here:
