GM bids to reclaim its green crown with new electric concept

“An electrically driven car from General Motors? I’m shocked – truly shocked,” joked GM product chief Bob Lutz as he took the wraps off the Chevrolet Volt, GM’s latest bid to re-establish its eco-friendly credentials in the US.

GM surrendered a lead in alternative fuel vehicles that it gained a decade ago with the GM EV1 electric car, a technology it later abandoned. A documentary film called “Who killed the electric car?” last year lampooned GM for not developing the EV1. Since then, Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda have claimed GM’s green crown with their hot-selling hybrid cars.

The Volt attempts to redress the balance. It’s an electric car, but its batteries are recharged on the go by using a small onboard constant-speed 1-litre engine that runs on low-emissions E85 ethanol fuel, giving the car a range of 640 miles and making it practical for long-distance journeys – something the pure electric EV1 couldn’t achieve.

Volt’s lithium ion batteries give it a range of 40 miles without needing to use the ethanol engine, which makes it suitable as a commuter car for most users. “More than half of all Americans live within 20 miles of where they work,” Lutz said. “In that case, you might never burn a drop of gas during the life of the car.” The Volt’s batteries can be fully recharged in six hours by plugging it into any power socket.

It could form the basis of a production car early in the next decade. GM is also developing a fuel cell version of the car using a similar propulsion system to that used in the Chevrolet Sequel fuel cell concept car.