Chevrolet volt full#

It rides pretty well at motorway pace, and it doesn't make a fuss about bigger potholes around town either.

100mph is achievable, though the muted soundtrack's replaced by the slightly unnerving thrum of an engine doing entirely its own thing, as engine speed bares absolutely no relation to road speed. While sub-50mph is very much the Volt's comfort zone, it's not strictly an urban toy. That's 0.7 seconds slower to 50 km/h than the new Audi TT, and in complete silence. The world doesn't tumble out of the rear window when you prod the accelerator - 0-31mph takes 3.1 seconds - but it's endearingly pokey. And it's a fair old whack of torque to deploy: 273lb ft, to be precise. So, all the cerebral eco numbery stuff's pretty good, but what about the drive?īecause of the clever generator/full-time EV setup, the instant thrust that's endearing about watt-powered kit is always on tap. During a recent Alpine sojourn, we managed to get 81 clicks before the petrol engine kicked in - and it only took four hours from flat to charge on a 240-volt system. Because it doesn't rev beyond a few thousand RPM, you get colossal fuel economy and hyper-eco carbon credentials - 235mpg and 27g/km CO2.Ĭhevrolet admits that these numbers are best-case scenario - ie, rather optimistic - but not wholly unachievable. The other benefit is that the petrol lump works as a generator, not a direct engine.

Chevrolet volt full#

So you get the instant torque delivery of a full EV all the time but, because of the fossil-fuelled safety net, you don't have to purse your buttocks when the Low Charge warning light comes on (you get about 50 miles on electric power). But this doesn't drive the wheels directly - it fuels the electric motor, working as a generator. That means it's powered by electricity, but to compensate for the dismal lack of charging infrastructure, it's also got a 1.4-litre petrol engine on board.