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Some info:Originally Posted by petrified.rabbit
those are very good points, i do have a question, maybe someone saw more factual info? i thought this car was 100% electric vehicle, but the gas engine was only used as a generator to recharge itself while driving? anyone hear / know for sure?
the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will be a compact 5-door sedan with front-wheel drive, four-passenger seating, and an external footprint like that of Chevrolet's conventional Cobalt compact car.
E-Flex differs from existing hybrid systems that use a battery-powered electric motor as an adjunct to an internal combustion engine. Instead, the gas-fueled engine serves as a electricity generator and battery charger and is not connected to the drive wheels. Technically speaking, the Volt is thus an electric vehicle (EV) as well as a "serial hybrid." The Toyota Prius and similar vehicles are termed "parallel hybrids."
The 2011 Chevrolet Volt will be one of the first retail-market vehicles to use state-of-the-art lithium-ion (LI) batteries instead of the older and more common nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) type.
Sony LI batteries that made scary headlines by causing some laptop computers to overheat and even catch fire. The batteries in the 2011 Chevrolet Volt are thus expected to be quite safe, though they, too, must be kept within a specific temperature range. The Volt has a separate liquid-cooling system for that purpose
The battery pack itself, rated at 16 kilowatts/hour, comprises more than 220 separate cells wired in series. That means the failure of any one cell disables the entire array, though some existing hybrid vehicles also have this flaw. The Volt pack is about six feet long and weighs a hefty 375 pounds.
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