It turns out that's not correct. We're now told by Volt's engineering team that when the Volt's lithium-ion battery pack runs down and at speeds near or above 70 mph the Volt's gasoline engine will directly drive the front wheels along with the electric motors.
That means that for all of the all-electric or extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) hype GM's imbuing in the Volt, it's really nothing more than a plug-in hybrid vehicle. A very advanced plug-in hybrid, but a hybrid nonetheless.
Yes, but it is still a very different car than has been previously introduced. This minutiae is only going to affect the "insider" wars. The average consumer won't even know GM claimed this...unless a competitor tries to market this to their advantage. The question remains whether this is still the best and most fuel efficient vehicle on the market for its' price class.
And therein lies the rub: what is being glossed over by insiders is what I see as the most potentially damaging aspect of this: They lied about numbers the average consumer can understand. MPG has been beaten into our heads for the past several decades - everyone understands its significance to the environment and (most importantly) to their wallets.
Few will care about how the power train works or whether they were lied to about it. They WILL care about -and quite easily understand the difference between- 230 MPG and 30-40 MPG.
Regardless, This story caused me to facepalm, if I am allowed to use that term being over the age of 35...It will only give fuel to the anti-environment nuts who also happen to want just one more excuse to buy a foreign car...
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