[ad#post_ad]The extensive road-test journalist reviews of the Chevrolet Volt have begun to pour in.

In this case Popular Mechanics took home an unsupervised Chevrolet Volt to test drive for 3 days and 900 miles, and has become the first publication to determine the Volt's fuel efficiency when in extended range mode.

GM has held to their promise it wouldn't be be them to who told the world these numbers.

First some new official facts: the Volt's size is a 105.7 inch wheel base and 177 inch exterior length and it's weight is 3790 pounds.

The PM driver found the car library quiet inside, and could get it to accelerate from 0 to 60 in the as-promised 8.82 seconds. Top speed was electronically limited to 101 mph at which they found it "tracks like it's made for the Autobahn."

The car braked from 60 to 0 in a "quite good" 118.97 feet, surprising for its newly exposed portly weight. They noticed though it had an odd quirk of stopping with more force as the car slowed.
They found the ride comfortable and refined and noticed the tuned power steering lightened considerably as the car slowed.

It was noted the generator went on without being recognized but at times a revving could be heard, that like a CVT did not seem mated to the driving situation.

The reviewer could test mountain mode in the places he drove, but could get a quote from GMs top EV engineer. “In the mountain mode," said Larry Nitz. “the Volt zips right up Loveland Pass in Colorado at over 70 mph."

It was perceived that some interior plastic seemed a little less luxurious than a car this price should have but that the exterior styling was excellent. "At least Chevy's designers penned an aggressive body that's a clean brake (sic) from the usual jellybean hybrid," he wrote. "We'd buy the car on looks alone." The author said the car actually looked more aggressively than its performance was capable.

Now to the question we've all been waiting for.

The reviewer took the car through three full recharge cycles. He was able to get 31, 35, and 33 miles of EV range, for a total average of 33 miles. This included one drive of 78 MPG highway in which the 33 mile range was achieved.

The driver specifically determined fuel economy after the battery was depleted and while in extended range mode.

"In the city, we recorded 31.67 mpg and achieved 36.0 mpg on the highway," they wrote.

In the end the reviewer found the car a well engineered car that was surprising refined and capable of being a primary vehicle that does not restrict the driver to a fixed  EV range. "Consider the Volt a well-engineered first step on the path to electrified vehicles," he wrote.

Tomorrow I will have my chance to test this out. Remember your mileage will vary.

Source ( Popular Mechanics )
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