General Motors released the production model of its plug-in electric car in Detroit this morning. They call it – The Chevy Volt
– and it came out in honor of GM’s 100th anniversary.
According to www.chevrolet.com, the Chevy Volt is a series hybrid that runs on a lithium battery. The cool thing is that once you get it in your garage, you should be able to use a regular household plug that’ll fully charge your car in about six hours. What this does to your electric bill, I cannot say, but what a zero-emissions vehicle can do for the environment? Lordy!
The site says 75% of Americans live within 20 miles of their job site, meaning they should be able to make it to work and back without emitting anything. Should someone need to drive further, there’s also a three-cylinder gas engine that can recharge the battery and gives the driver another 600 miles. The car can run on both gasoline and ethanol, and in that situation, it gets up to 50 mpg.
Chevrolet is finishing up testing of lithium batteries under different circumstances, so the Chevy Volt should be available to the public by 2010.
Word to Your Mother E 