Brooks was the only other journalist so far besides CNBC’s Phil Lebeau to test drive the Volt in generator or charge-sustaining mode and has written about it.

His brief article entitled Life After 40 tells us what we’ve been waiting to hear, but maybe not exactly what we wanted to.

Brooks writes:

Like other reporters, I had already driven Volt prototypes in the battery-powered mode, and they were predictably smooth and silent. But for eventual Volt owners, a crucial — and so far unanswered — question is how the car will perform when the battery’s charge is depleted and all electricity is provided by an onboard generator, driven by a gasoline engine, that has no mechanical connection to the wheels.

Then as he runs the car’s electric range meter dramatically down to the zero mark, the moment we’ve all been waiting for occurs:

With the dashboard icon signaling my final mile of range, I point the Volt toward a hill and wait for the sound and feel of the generator engine’s four pistons to chime in. But I completely miss it; the engine’s initial engagement is inaudible and seamless. I’m impressed.

Good so far.  He finds that as he pushed the accelerator, the sound of the engine didn’t change.

But later as he’s accelerating around the test track he gets a little shock that he calls disconcerting.

A few hundred yards later, as we snake through the track’s infield section, the engine r.p.m. rises sharply. The accompanying mechanical roar reminds me of a missed shift in a manual-transmission car. For a moment the sound is disconcerting; without a tachometer, I guess that it peaked around 3,000 r.p.m.

He asks GM’s Tony Posawatz driving with him what just happened.

“The system sensed that it’s dipped below its state of charge and is trying to recover quickly,” apologizes Posawatz. “The charge-sustaining mode is clearly not where we want it to be yet.”

Huh?

He goes on to write:

Immediately the engine sound disappeared, although it was still spinning the generator. A few times later in our test, the generator behaved in similar fashion — too loud and too unruly for production — but there is time for the programmers to find solutions.

So there we have it, the first reporter in history to write about the Volt’s operation in generator mode, and its a bit of a mixed picture.

It seem to go on flawlessly but throughout driving apparently has spikes of on/off engine roars that he finds disconcerting and unruly.

Though not exactly a happy report, he concludes:

Throughout my test, the prototype behaves admirably. At its current state of development, the Volt is an extremely refined vehicle.

Looks like GM has a little more work to do.  But then again the experience may be a bit subjecttive.  We’ll wait to see what others have to say.

Source (New York Times)

For many months we’ve discussed, debated, deduced, asked about and imagined what it would be like to drive the Chevy Volt while its generator is running.

This mode is so critical because it represent the first mass market application an electric car operating at the same time an on-board gas engine is running to generate electricity once the battery low point is reached.  We’ve heard for months the process has been under refinement but that GM executives and engineers were already quite pleased with the experience.

Phil LeBeau of NBC’s nationally broadcast Today Show became the first person outside of GM to have the experience and be able to report on it.  He was given an exclusive test drive of an advanced integration Chevy Volt prototype.

The report did give us some new observations and knowledge. You can view the two minute video at the bottom of this article.

We found out the driver side LCD screen tells how efficient one is driving by showing a traffic light symbol that changes from green to yellow when efficiency reduces.

Chief engineer Andrew Farah demonstrates it; when he floors the car he says “it felt really great wonder full and responsive, it was terrible for overall energy efficiency ”

LeBeau also says on the screen the MPG is demonstrated and for example while driving around the Milford proving grounds on his exclusive test drive it showed he was getting over 200 mpg.

The report also claims JD Power thinks only 50,000 electric cars will be sold in 2015, a far cry less than Obama’s pledge of 1 million or the several million hoped for by the Electrification Coalition

Also, for the first time ever the pedestrian alert was demonstrated.  The Volt is nearly silent and wont make artificial sounds.  Instead a driver activated alert will be available to let people know the car is nearby  The alert is activated by pushing a lever and emits a pleasant light horn-like chirping sound.

In his written report, Lebeau comments on the driving experience:

When you go from driving all-electric to running the gas-assist engine, the transition is disconcerting.

It needs to be smoothed out, and GM engineers know it.

When you’re driving on the gas assist engine, there’s no fall off in power, handling, etc. and perhaps I found it jarring because I went from the silent electric drive to hearing the engine. Whatever the reason, it needs to be improved.

The cars were driven for more than 9  hours and 300 miles continuously in a special effort to analyze their behavior, performance, and comfort on such a long drive in real word conditions.

Key personal in attendance on the drive included Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah, Volt vehicle line engineer Tony Posawatz, and advanced technology engineer Larry Nitz.

“Development drives are key milestones for every vehicle program,” said GM spokesperson Rob Peterson. “The extended seat time allows the engineers to experience every aspect of the vehicle – from ride, handling and performance to the comfort of seats. The drives also help uncover engineering issues that need to be resolved before the vehicles are put into the hands of customers.”

“Having the capability to drive several 100 miles in a day is a significant advantage for the Volt team too,” said Peterson. “Remember, the EV1 team needed to be trailered to areas like Pikes Peak or Pennsylvania for testing, or trailer a small generator to extend the vehicle’s range.”

Lead engineer Andrew Farah wrote the following observations about the drive:

HVAC comfort is good, and sound quality in the NVH (noise, vibration, handling) vehicle is excellent.

We have uncovered a number of minor issues with some of the gauges and displays. Up-level sound system makes XM really sound great!

City traffic in Pittsburgh was just what we were looking for after the rolling grades outside of town. On the way in, we all put the transmission selector into the “L” position and this worked as intended in the stop-n-go conditions. At speeds under 35 mph, you can basically drive with one foot because of the heavier regenerative drag as you fully release the accelerator. It is smooth and blended. Seat comfort evaluations are also being conducted. We have our top 3 comfort configurations from previous activities. So far, the top choice seems to be clear, but there is still some work to do.

This was the longest continuous real world drive to date the Volt development vehicles undertook in a single outing, and illustrates how the Volt is capable of doing what no pure battery EV could do.

Besides providing the engineer with valuable data on how to make the cars as perfect as possible, it also produced some very cool photo ops.

Meanwhile GM also announced it was investing over $200 million to upgrade several production facilities in preparation for building the Chevy Volt and Cruze.  In particular, the engine plant in Flint where the 1.4 L Volt engine-generator and 1.4 L turbocharge Cruze engine will be made was allocated $202 million.

She recently had the chance to drive a pre-production Volt out among a fleet of seven cars to Knoxville, Tennessee.  Cattelan also noted she has previously driven pre-production and mule Volts in cold Canadian winter conditions, high altitudes in Denver, and the scorching heat of Death Valley, and through it all “we have not found any surprises,” she wrote.

Cattelan says that the “twisty, winding roads” of Knoxville are particularly a place where “you really get to see what a car is made of.” And in that place she said of the Volt’s performance from a driver experience standpoint “we are happy with the results.”

She explains it was in those mountains of Tennessee that GM worked to “calibrate how the Volt’s battery energy, fuel efficiency, and drive quality work together in real world conditions.”

She explains that a car must give back to the driver what he or she would expect, and the Volt is no exception. It must feel right and respond intuitively. She says it should have the same feeling both in EV and charge sustainting mode, should climb hills as needed and if its 95 degres outside “take the heat.”

In all these ways on those mountains the Volt lived up to her expectations.

In an almost poetic fashion she writes:

As I stood next to the Volt on top of a mountain last weekend, I felt overwhelmingly enthusiastic about its capability.

I’m confident that Chevy Volt drivers will feel invigorated like I do by its exciting, smooth, quiet, and fuel-efficient performance.

I imagine there’s a lot of people just waiting to get their chance to see for themselves, myself among them.

Source (GM)

The car is a 2 seat prototype, or electric powertrain-converted standard MINI Cooper. It has a 35 kwh lithium-ion battery pack (28 kwh usable), 205 hp motor, a 100 mile range, top speed in excess of 100 mph, and 8.5 second 0 to 60 time.

When I last wrote here about it I was still waiting for installation of a 240 V home charger and was getting by on a 120 V portable unit which took about 33 hours to charge the car.

I now have the 240 V, 32 amp wall charger in my garage and the UL certified proprietary charging coupler cord (see above).

Having this unit has made a tremendous difference for me. When I arrive home at about 25% state of charge, it only takes about 2-1/2 hours to recharge. I still charge at work on the 120 V unit anyway.

The car continues to perform well. It is fast, crisp and quiet. There are minor fan noises and an occasional odd smell when first turned on, but it is a very capable car, jumps briskly when called upon and handles quite well.  Interior creature comforts are a bit spartan.

I can say I very much enjoy doing most of my daily driving without the use of gasoline. It does get weird sometimes. Still when I pass my usual gas stations I am compelled to think about pulling in to refill, but smile from ear to ear when I realize I don’t have to. Its kind of like waking up from a bad dream.

In practice, I have found with my usual high speed air-conditioned and almost all highway driving style, effective range is from 75 to 85 miles, not quite the 100 that is claimed. There is little doubt though that with lower speed conservative driving 100 miles of range is doable, and indeed there are reports of some MINI E drivers getting more than 100 miles.

I took the car on a 12 mile course that I use to test hybrids with hypermiling techniques. On that course I’ve achieved 82 MPG with the 3rd generation Prius, 62 MPG with the 2010 Honda Insight, and 57 MPG with the 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid. With the MINI E, using those same methods, the projected effective range based on my energy use over that distance was an unimpressive 92 miles.

An important observation about range though is that I suspect people will never fully utilize it, even if it was 100 miles. This is because there is clearly a psychological concern about needing some kind of safety buffer for returning home which seems to be at least 10 miles for me. No one wants to get caught out with a dead battery.

In fact, I think this factor will be a significant limit for BEVs in general and something that the Volt will not have. There will never be a worry about squeezing out those last couple of EV miles in the Volt because if you misjudge, the gas engine will just go on.

The MINI E has two annoying quirks. One is a built-in 1 or 2 second delay or lag that occurs when one first steps hard on the accelerator from a stop. The other, which is downright dangerous, is that the car will pop into neutral with a loud bang if the accelerator is suddenly floored while at cruising or highway speed.

I have come to believe that these flaws were purposely built in. They are in effect punishment to the driver who tries to punish the battery. The initial lag is common and even GM put it into the Volt mules that were test driven. It is to prevent screeching the wheels with torque by the overzealous driver (journalist).

BMW has not admitted they cooked-in the neutral pop, but haven’t responded to my emails about it. There are multiple reports about it by other MINI E drivers. After a few experiences with it, due to simple negative reinforcement-type Pavlovian conditioning I (the driver) never floor it anymore. This was the result I think BMW wanted as it is less abusive to the battery.

Production cars will not have such harsh tactics.

A major problem with the pure EV is the 100 mile limit.  I am able to use the car for essentially all of my daily 56 mile commutes.  It becomes a 3500 pound garage ornament, however, when I need to take longer trips.  At least once a month or more I have to go to an airport, a distant concert, beach trip, or some event that goes beyond 100 miles.  People often say, just rent a car for those occasions, but let’s face it, that is extremely inconvenient especially after one has paid a significant amount of money for their car.  This is another area I believe the Volt will strongly outmarket the pure EV competition.

In the end, the MINI E is a rough-around-the-edges but highly capable fun car.  Driving electrically is thrilling and very rewarding.  Being able to charge quickly is important.  Pure EV limitations are significant.

[UPDATE: Some commentators claim the neutral-pop is not found in all mules.  I just received the following email response from BMW spokesperson Nathalie Bauters: In speaking with our engineering team, we would like the opportunity to investigate the problem you have experienced with your MINI E. Would it be possible for you to bring in your car so that we can inspect it? ]

Originally this vehilce was set to debut under the Saturn brand in 2010 but due to the brand’s sale, that was changed.  It was then slated to appear as a Buick compact crossover, another plan that was recently shelved due to customer feedback.  The car will still launch in late 2011, but the brand and design remain unknown.

The mule I drove remained in the original Saturn VUE skin (shown above).  You can drive along with us in the video below.

It uses an 8 kwh LG lithium-ion pack pack, which is essentially half a Volt pack. The mule car was at this point highly refined, though only about 90% production intent.  I was told the instrumental panel will be slightly changed from what was displayed in the mule.

The final car will have a silent start though the engine went on at start in the mule.  It contained a 3.6 L DI 270 hp engine and two 55 kw electric motors, utilizing a power-split engineering architecture significantly enhanced by the large lithium-ion pack.

The car drove off very silently though a thrust of the accelerator brought on the roar of the gas engine.  It was capable of 40 mph top electric speed but it was tough to get above 25 mph pure EV with acceleration.  In theory, the car could go 10 miles as a pure EV under 35 mph.

Components were changed from the original 2-mode VUE, in particular the engine and inverter were changed and modifications to the transmission and electric motor were made all for the purpose of reducing cost and increasing efficiency.  In fact the Volt’s inverter is used.

GM would not release a target price at this time.

I found the electric acceleration solid and quiet as GM had paid special attention to the noise and vibration of electric motor

Notable was the very smooth transition to engine on, and also well done was the fact that there was no shudder when the engine turns off.

This design and concept is significantly different that found in the Volt.  The PHEV is not an EREV.  Operation is almost always a mixture of gas engine and electric motors to allow generous power and maximum efficiency.  Though like the Volt, GM wants to discharge the battery as much as possible on each trip.  I was told the aim of the car is to try to discharge the battery in about 20 miles.

The car differs from traditional power split hybrids like the Prius.  Here there’s a second mode of operation to gear down the traction motor for bigger vehicles.  It uses a power split architecture and both electric motors are working almost all the time.

Also with two modes it is possible to both have an efficient electric drive and operate the engine efficiently.

In operation, the ICE follows the load and does not only run at certain RPMs and even though the car weighs in at 4500 pounds with its battery, it still has a lot of power.

In the end, the car clearly does what its supposed to do, and does it well.  And for those needing the power and size of an SUV and desiring a plug and double the fuel economy of traditional SUVs, this car may be the answer.  GM expects it to be the first commercially available plug-in hybrid SUV produced by a major automaker.

To our surprise, in the middle of the event, suddenly Frank Weber pulled up in a pre-production Chevy Volt integration vehicle fresh off the assembly line.  Presently there are about 30 of these IVers built out of a total of 89 that will be completed in roughly 6 weeks.

Though we were not permitted to drive the car, nor experience the generator mode operation, Frank did give some journalists test rides.

I was afforded the shotgun position and had two additional riders in the back seat including Sam Abuelsamid from Autoblog.

The experience of actually sitting in a bonafide running fully functional and operational Chevrolet Volt was an absolute pinnacle of the incredible long 2-1/2 year journey I’ve been on since this site began in January 2007.

To all those thousands of naysayers who said it couldn’t or wouldn’t been done, I guess you were wrong.

Below you can enjoy my high-def video of the experience.

First of all the car was sharp and sleek, and the interior was dazzling. The LCD displays were bright and high definition. There was plenty of room on the passenger side, and Frank Weber at about 6′4″ seemed to fit into the driver side without difficulty. The two journalists in the back were comfortable as well. As Sam put it “The Volt is considered a compact, but in spite of the sloping roof-line, it still felt surprisingly roomy. Both leg and headroom were more than adequate for this journ’s long-torsoed 5′10″ frame.”

Acceleration was startling. The car took off like a rocket even with all four of us in it.

Amazing as well was the absolute silence. Clearly the final design and soundproofing has had remarkable results compared to the mules. This was simply the quietest electric car I’ve ever been in.

It was smooth and nimble and did not feel weighted down.

It took quick turns with certainty.

Frank even said there was a bit of a delay programmed into the instant torque so that the final production cars would be even quicker, and would have better ride and handling.  Hard to believe.

All I can say is no one will be disappointed with this car, destined to become, if it hasn’t already, the next American icon.

Right now it isn’t really possible to walk into your local dealership and pick up an electric car, although you can get your hands on one with a lot of effort and money.

What we do have at our widespread disposal are state-of-the-art hybrids.  Though GM for example has applied hybrid technologies to its large trucks like the Chevy Tahoe, and that serves its purpose, I feel focusing on the small light sedan and optimizing it for efficiency make the most sense to me.

From my work here on GM-Volt.com not only have I been given and continue to get unrestricted access to GM executives and engineers, but I enjoy access to executives and vehicles from all the automakers.  A particularly fun perk is getting one-week test drives in some of the latest cars.  I took this opportunity to test drive two of the latest mainstream hybrids, the 2010 Prius and the 2010 Insight.  I will have the 2010 Fusion hybrid next week.

I compared the Insight and Prius side by side on several parameters, and offer a video of my impression at the end of the post.

I found the Prius to outperform the Insight in all areas but price.  It is faster, more powerful, more solid and better handling.  It has better interior space and technological nuances.  Mostly importantly it got tremendous fuel economy.  On a 6.5 mile course I was able to achieve 92.5 MPG in the Prius, with reasonable driving style and moving safely with the flow of the traffic.  On another 12 mile course I obtained 81 MPG.  The Insight could only achieve 62.5 MPG on that same course.

The Prius beings at $22,000 and the Insight at $19,800, making price the only parameter the Insight did better.  Recent reports indicate Honda is scrambling to put out a mid-cycle engineering upgrade to the new Insight to address its shortcomings.

At the end of the day however, neither of these cars can be compared to the Volt.  Though I have yet to drive the production model it will clearly be faster, more powerful, quieter, cooler and more high tech.  Most importantly it will drive 40 miles without the use of any gas at all.  Yes it will at first be more expensive, yet after rebates at $32,500 a Volt is only slightly more than a fully loaded Prius which is $31,770.

GM granted an interview with Farah to Automotive News who got some new nitty gritty details.

Farah was asked what it was like to step on the accelerator while the engine generator was running. “You get immediate response from the foot pedal,” he says. “Because the Volt is always driven electrically, you don’t even notice the difference there.” He also explained for the first time that at that point “the gasoline engine’s rpms then follow.”

Farah noted that because the engine isn’t directly connected to the foot, “it is one of the things we continue to tune.” He said “there is an expectation of what happens when you put your accelerator to the floor in the way the car sounds and feels. We’ve got the feel.”

“We’ve got the feel of a sports car,” he said. “The sound part and the way the engine plays into that perception is one of the areas we have to work on.”

Asked about vibration, noise, and harshness Farah said “we still have some work to do,” but that during his ride he was “very pleased with the first steps.”

“It was great,” he added.

Farah noted that the team is using “liquid applied sound deadener” and that in the front of the dash and glass there is “packaged-in sound suppression items,” that are also being tuned to perfection.

Farah says that during EV driving he is not aiming for the car to be “Cadillac library quiet,” because it might be “disconcerting” to drivers. He is focused on minimizing wind noise and conducted road noise.

He said transition from computer model to real car went very well although not absolutely perfect. He noted the team had a minor “interference with the instrument panel that we didn’t expect.” But that was corrected and “off we went.”

Asked if the car feels heavy because of the battery at its center, Farah said there are advantages and disadvantages to it. An advantage he explains is that the battery “lowers the center of gravity of the car” which is good from a handling perspective. However, he added the weight is not without detriments, but that his team is “taking the best of the advantages.”

In terms of what work lies ahead at this point Farah said “This is really just the beginning of all the final tuning. We are at the 50 percent point. Fundamentally, we’ve got everything directionally correct, but now we’ve got all the tuning yet to do.”

Source (Automotive News)

With the sheer novelty of the first drive behind me, I figured I could get a better feel for driving the car. Since I’ve also had the chance since then to drive the Toyota Prius and the new Honda Insight a driving comparison, albeit limited, might be in order.

Volt wins hands down.

The Volt mule is one sweet car. The pep and power of the smooth, refined, and quiet Volt motor can’t even be compared to the straining whine of the hybrids’ small combustion engines as they try to pull those cars up to speed. The Volt is in a different league altogether.

The Volt mule is heavier, less aerodynamic, and lacking the suspension tuning the actual production Volts will have. Yet despite these restraints, the car still handles marvelously.

The power and spirit was refreshing. I also found I could rip around curves with certainly and solid grip and hug. The Honda Insight handles pretty well though feels lighter, the tallish Prius seems most tenuous around curves.

One could sense the weight and bottom-heaviness of the Volt mule due to the 400 pound T-pack in the center. Although slightly unusual feeling it also gives the driver the benefit of a low center of gravity and even weight distribution which provides confidence in road handling.

Round two in the Volt mule was as inspiring as the first.

GM still will not allow experience of generator mode, but GM VP Jon Lauckner explains these mules were built for testing the propulsion system’s performance, not how the car interfaces with the driver. There is not even soundproofing in the mules. Thus there really is no point for GM to share a subpar generator mode experience that does not realistically represent how the actual car will behave. When the integration vehicles, which are 100% production intent Volts, hit the test roads soon, journalists will come back to experience all of the car’s functions.

I also suspect no one will be able to meaningfully compare the Volt to the Prius or Insight because the driving experience is so radically different and so far superior in the Volt.

Even aside from the fact that the Volt can be driven for 40 miles without gas, it is truly in a different league altogether than any hybrid sedan on the road today.