I really want to purchase this car. However, I want to make sure that the 'diesel extender' will be able to power the car on long distance trips.

Imagine I am trying to drive down the coast 600+ miles. At highway speeds, given that the volts generator does not produce the power needed at peak use, will I risk running out of charge completely? I want to make sure that under normal driving conditions, this couldnt happen. What would happen if you were needing to travel a good distance in the mountains, where more energy is needed going up? would the generator still make enough power?

One other question... The 40 miles per charge. Is this to be an average figure? in other words, it would be possible to go 50 under some conditions, conversely it would be possible to only get 30 during other conditions?

Thanks!

They plan to have a 3 cylinder gasoline engine capable of delivering 53KW with the generator. This is far more than cruising down the highway at 75MPH requires. The only time you will need more power is during transient relatively high acceleration or mild acceleration on high grade. Mountain is a concern that GM believes their battery/genset combo is sized well enough to keep the same level of performance throughout operation. If executed properly in the final product, your concern will be with running out of gas not battery.

Battery range is targeted to be 40 miles worst case and at end of battery life. You should get significantly more under certain conditions and especially in early life of the battery. Given the advantage of regenerative braking, in city driving with light braking you could be able to get well more than 50 miles of all electric range.