This still surprises some people, who continue to think of GM as the company that “killed the electric car.” Well, movie titles to the contrary, the electric car is far from dead at GM. And my friend, the filmmaker Chris Paine, would be the first to tell you that.
The truth, of course, is that we have significantly expanded our commitment to electrically-driven vehicles at GM, and are now in the midst of an extraordinary transformation.
GM is moving from a company that, for 100 years, has been based on mechanically driven automobiles, to one that will eventually be focused on electrically driven vehicles. This is a big deal.
The Volt is powered by our exclusive Voltec electric propulsion system. When running off its battery, the Volt operates as a traditional battery-electric vehicle. In this mode, it has a gas-free range of up to 40 miles – which is more than the average daily commute for three-quarters of Americans.
And when the driver of a Volt needs to go farther, the car’s engine-generator kicks in, seamlessly, to produce enough electricity to power it for another 300 miles. The engine-generator eliminates the “range anxiety” of electric-only vehicles – the fear of being stranded by a depleted battery
Source: theautochannel.com
