It's late, it's odd-looking, and it's causing a rift in the General Motors faithful, but the upcoming Volt looks like a truly advanced, environmentally friendly car, unlike the pretenders Detroit has been trying to fob off while they get their act together. While GM calls it an electric vehicle, it's really a
hybrid: It plugs into the wall to recharge, but also has a 1.0-liter gasoline engine, not connected to the drive drain, to recharge the battery underway. Have a look at the discussion over at AutoblogGreen.com.
This is neither a zero-emissions car nor an energy-neutral car, of course, because it takes power either from a remote powerplant or its own gasoline engine to keep it running. But it's a giant step. As we said over on AutoblogGreen, "DC electric motors can put power to the wheels virtually instantaneously. If this motor is big and torquey enough, and the rubber can stick, this car might put to shame the muscle-car and SUV mentality that has been driving GM marketing and product development for so long."
~ Doug Logan, New Energy Watch
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