in fuel for a long time to come:
according to the EPA testing,
the Volt can drive 53 miles on
electricity alone and then after the
18.4-kWh lithium-ion battery is
depleted, the "range extending"
1.5-liter four-cylinder engine
(that operates as a generator for
the vehicle's motors) comes into
play and it has a combined EPA-
estimated fuel efciency of 42
mpg. (The electric-alone portion is
rated at a combined 106 MPGe.)
So, given the battery pack and the
range extender (which, incidentally,
runs on regular unleaded, not
premium as its predecessor
requires), Fletcher suggests, that
the median Volt driver will go
1,500 miles between fll-ups. No,
this doesn't mean that the Volt
has a ~1,500-mile range but that
they've determined that given
the charging behavior of the Volt
owners they've studied, based on
information accumulated through
OnStar, that's the sort of range they
go before they need to get to a gas
station, having availed themselves
of electricity along the way.
The total driving range for the 2016
Volt without the periodic electrical
q On the right is the frst-generation Voltec system. On the left is
the second-gen. Note the disappearance of those large, orange wires
in the second-generation car. This is because they've integrated the
Traction Power Inverter Module, it is no longer a stand-alone unit.
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AD&P; > December 2015 > FEATURE > The 2016 Volt: Achieving Efciency > Gary S. Vasilash