GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

General Motors has launched a new YouTube video they are calling How the Volt Works.

It is the latest effort in a series of short and simple videos that attempt to explain the virtues and values of the Chevy Volt to people new to the idea.

A previous video showed a cut out paper Volt travelling though a cartoon landscape, and tried to explain why an extended-range electric vehicle was better than a pure EV.

The Chevy Volt song and dance, as it came to be known thanks to, well this site, was a simple yet catchy tune and acompanying remarkably absurd dance routine targeted ast school age kids and played in the LA Auto Show.

So poorly received universally, that act will surely never be seen again, and it is speculated may have led to the re-assignment of the Volt marketing director who was responsible for it.

Now we have another neat 2:47 clean, simple and spartan video, showing the car and a cheerful clear-speaking female narrator. The basics of the car is explained.

Certainly for the regular GM-Volt.com reader the content of this video is nothing new, but we can analyze the effort. Though we realize the value of the Volt, it is critically important that GM succesfully explain this unique variety of vehicle to the average consumer suich that they can distinguish why it is superior to both hybrids and pure EVs.  This education may be essential in enabling the mass adoption of EREVs.

Do you think this video achieves its goal?

If you are reading this post, please watch the 3:39 minute video below. After watching the video please share it with everyone you know either by email, Twitter, facebook or any other means.

This is a micro-documentary I have produced that strives to send a clear message to everyone who sees it why they might want to drive an electric car.

You may not agree with everything in the video, but hopefully there is something in it for everyone. You might not think its great or even very good, but at least its better than the Chevy Volt dance!

If we can get this video to “go viral” there’s a chance millions of people could get this message.

If you are the creative type, feel free to make your own.

Thanks for your support.

Famous comedian and car enthusiast Jay Leno had the chance to check out and test drive an advanced Chevy Volt prototype earlier this month in California. He was given a tour and test drive of the car by its chief engineer Andrew Farah.

The video has been posted over at Jay Leno’s Garage and can be viewed at the bottom of the post.

Jay seemed pleased and impressed with the car. He is a particular fan of electric cars, and owns a 1908 Baker electric that he gave Farah a ride in, and showed off a 1916 Owens Magnetic that is actually a gas-powered electric car. Leno also liked his EV-1 which he pointed out Farah was an engineer of.

Farah went through with Leno the basic premise of the Volt’s 40 mile electric range and unlimited gas driving ability after those electric miles were depleted. He explained how the car has both a D and L mode, with the latter producing more intense regenerative drag for one-pedalled driving, and a normal and sports mode with the latter giving an extra 30 horsepower.

Th effect of cold weather and accessory load was discussed. Farah agreed these would reduce range, and stated “everyone will get a different amount of range,” based on these variables.

Jay got into the car and looked over the interior, and noted the car was actually pretty big. Once driving he said “all you hear is the wind and maybe the tires.”

He said it was “eerily quiet yet strangely familiar”

When directly confronted by Leno, Farah admitted the Volt weighs 3900 pounds.

In the end Leno told Farah, “you’ve done a wonderful job on this car.”

“I really think this is the breakthrough car,” said Leno. “And its American technology and it was developed right here in Detroit.”

“Take one for a test drive,” he advised his audience. “I think you will like it…pretty cool.”

The Volt represent a rational intelligent first step away from petroleum for the country in that it will operate without any gasoline for most people’s daily driving needs.

We realize another of the car’s tremendous values is its gas range extender which ensures that the car’s utility isn’t limited either as it is in pure EVs.

The car also breaks another important paradigm, performance.

Today’s hybrid cars still use gas, and frankly do not perform very well.

The Prius has improved through its three generations, but the car still takes about 10 seconds to get from 0 to 60 and doesn’t have a “sporty” feel by any stretch of the imagination. And for the new Honda Insight, lets not even go there.

But the Chevy Volt clears those hurdles with gusto.

Powered to give a 0 to 60 feel in the mid 8 second range, its instantaneous torque makes it seem like a typical 6 cylinder 250 horsepower sedan. Top speed is an electronically limited 100 MPH.

In this GM-produced video you can observe Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah taking a “hot-lap” around a course set up in LA at the Dodgers Stadium parking lot. Its the same course I test drove the car (only not so fast).  As GM spokesperson Phill Colley likes to say the Volt, ” burns some rubber without burning fuel.”

I witnessed this drive in person and came away impressed.

Yup, this video is cooler than the Chevy Volt dancers, but sadly won’t get as many views (Volt Dance is around 300,000 now).

How important is performance to you in an electric car? Is it all about not burning gas or do you want more?

As many here are aware I had the chance to test drive an advanced Chevy Volt integration vehicle last week.  Read the full report here.

I took the car for a 50 minute spin around a parking lot course with a top speed of around 50 MPH. Though the testing environment was somewhat limited, and the car not fully refined, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and came away extremely pleased and impressed with the vehicle.

I can hardly wait until I have one to call my own, which I hope won’t be too long in the future.

Below is the edited video of my test drive. Hopefully it might let you feel a little like being a passenger in the back seat. You will hear some interesting banter among myself and the two other GM occupants, Chief Engineer Andrew Farah in the front seat and Vehicle Line Director Tony Posawatz in the rear. The filming was done by a fourth occupant, a GM social media staffer who I am grateful to for his help.

There are quiet periods which allow you to hear the generator.

Many other journalists and other people of influence got the chance to drive the car that day and others and all the reports have come back uniformly glowing.

I recently participated in a segment for the NBC Nightly News in the New York tri-state area. The piece is also being nationally syndicated.

The main thrust of the story was to illustrate how electric cars have already arrived on the streets and that in fact now is just the tip of the iceberg.

The reporter and I tooled around in my MINI E electric car and we discussed why it is important to me to drive on electricity.

I also took the opportunity to explain the concept of range anxiety and the value of the Chevy Volt.  According to BMW’s Rich Steinberg only two out of 450 MINI-E drivers have actually run out of charge to the point of needing to be towed, but also points out the car has a limp-home low power feature when for when battery level becomes critically low..

You can watch the video segment in the viewer below:

There is also an accompanied written story by the reporter Brian Thompson here.