A Detroit based news crew was recently allowed a quick peek into the design studios of the new plug-in hybrid car Chevrolet Volt by General Motors.
The Chevrolet Volt project was started in 2006 by Robert Lutz, Vice Chairman of Product Development and Chairman of GM North America when he learned about the Tesla Roadster, a high-performance electric sports car.
Following the results of the wind tunnel tests on Volt which proved the design was anything but aerodynamic, which is an essential characteristic for efficiency, Lutz joked that the engineers have probably put it in the wind tunnel backwards and got less wind resistance. What makes the design unique is that the gas motor is only used to charge the batteries, not to drive the wheels directly.
Volt is designed to run only on electricity from batteries for up to 40 miles. A small combustion engine connecting to a generator resupplies the battery, increasing the range of the vehicle to 640 miles on highway.
GM plans to release the car into market in 2010 with a pricing of about $30,000 and plans to release over 60,000 cars for the inaugural year.
