Chevrolet Volt

The Beans

General Motors has shelved work on the factory earmarked to build the engines for the Chevrolet Volt, but still claims that the plug-in hybrid will appear in showrooms by the end of 2010 as promised. I will believe it when I see it.  The decision comes as cash strapped GM struggles to shift the growing mountain of petrol guzzling suv’s and other V8 fuel guzzlers that North American buyers are now refusing to spend their hard earned money on.  Meanwhile, GM officials are hoping that Barrack Obama throws them a bone or two in the coming weeks, once he’s settled into his new comfy big house.  Mr Obama had hoped to move in quickly but there are rumours of delays as whitehouse staff struggle to remove 8 years worth of Bush family pebbledashing from 35 bathrooms in the big white house.   GM and Chrysler have also stated ‘if the current economic downturn continues, they would be flat broke and doing ‘elephant impressions’ on the whitehouse lawn in the not too distant future’.  Their cries fell on deaf ears, as the US administration appears to be in no rush to pull them out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves. GM says it had no choice but to shelve work on the the factory in Flint, Michigan, where GM were planning to build the 1400cc turbocharged engine designed for the Chevrolet Volt hybrid. The Chevrolet Volt was intended to be the catalyst in GM’s efforts to reinvent itself as a modern company that builds fuel efficient cars. But with the economic crisis or credit crunch as some have labeled it (a recession to the rest of us), there is no money available for that project right now.

A Turbocharged Battery Charger?

The Volt is by far GM’s most important project and a huge leap foward over conventional hybrid technology as it relies entirely on electric propulsion. The petrol engine exists only as a charger the lithium ion battery pack as it approaches depletion. The car is capable of a 40 mile range in pure electric mode and deliver 3 digit fuel economy figures. I can’t help but wonder why they would need a 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine to charge a few batteries? There are similar engines already fitted to several conventional small cars here in the UK car market, namely the VW polo 1.4TSI, and VW extract 140 bhp from that 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine and it hits close to 130 mph? and while its reputedly fuel efficient, its hardly the model of high fuel economy, and certainly not what you would expect to see being utilised as a battery charger? But I suppose that with the vast majority of americans driving 5 litre V8′s for the last 60 years, it probably seems like a small engine to them? I’m going to stick my neck out here and throw out a guess that the 10 Horsepower diesel engine in my lawnmower would be perfectly capable of charging a large battery bank in a relatively short period of time. It seems to me that the high powered petrol engine has more to do with pleasing Texan Oil Barons than producing fuel efficient motor cars, but then i’m a naturally suspicious person with an unhealthy dislike of oil companies. GM insiders say that development of the Chevrolet Volt will continue and they hope to see them rolling off the production line before the start of 2011 as previously announced. Now I know what you’re thinking already, “That might prove a little difficult without a factory to build your engines in?” or “I think it goes without saying that if you’re serious about making engines, you need an engine factory?” Well it turns out that General Motors already builds that particular 1.4 litre turbocharged engine in their Austrian engine plant, so they could just send a few over if its really neccesary. That bombshell makes this article rather pointless really, and now i’m wondering why I’ve even bothered to write it.

Conclusion

Bring on the electric cars GM, we were ready for them 80 years ago, that’s how long it’s taken you to catch up! For those of you waiting to buy a chevrolet volt in 2010, 2011 or maybe 2012?, let’s hope that whitehouse staff get to the bottom of the George W Bush pebbledashing problem soon, and Barack Obama gets to move in before Dub’ya makes off with what’s left of America’s valuables. In the meantime, i’m off to build myself a new generation diesel hybrid, now that GM’s told me how to do it.