NBC2 News Online - Review: The Chevy Volt

Volt is an electric car with a gas tank.

You may have heard of it. Chevrolet, the division that will sell it, has been teasing Volt for a while now.

Essentially the Volt works like this: Plug it into a regular 110 outlet for 8 hours to charge a 6-foot battery pack that runs between the front and rear seats.

With 220, it’s good to go in 3 hours. The lithium ion battery pack then has the moxy to travel 40 miles purely on electric power.

What to slog from Seattle to Portland? No problem.

Once that battery is depleted a small 1.4-liter gas engine kicks on to run a generator that provides the juice to take Volt the rest of the way to the Rose City.

Important to note, the gas engine is not connected to the wheels in any way like a hybrid.

It only runs a generator. Volt is not a flying car but it’s a neat idea.

Will Volt charge up using the generator? Kinda, sorta.

When the load on the generator is light, say during coasting, braking or waiting at a stoplight, that electricity is diverted to the batteries.

It doesn’t make financial or ecological sense to have the gas engine running simply to enrich a battery.

What will be the equivalent MPG if Volt is running at extended distances using the gas powered generator as its primary power source?