Green Focus: Hybrid - Chevy Volt

The Chevrolet Volt is a hybrid built by General Motors. In the United States, the Volt has been rated as the most fuel efficient compact car with a fuel engine. This vehicle has won awards from previous years. 2009 the Green Car Vision, 2011 Green Car of the year as well as a few others. The volt uses a lithium-ion battery which weighs 197kg and has 288 individual cells arranged into nine modules. It also uses a small 1.4L 4-cylinder petrol driven engine that has 80hp, this powers the 55 kW generator used to extend the range of the Volt. The vehicle also charges the battery using regenerative braking. Using the battery alone will give you 61 km’s before any fuel is used. The range of the vehicle when the battery has a full charge and a full tank of fuel is 611 km’s. The car has a top speed of 160 km/h. It can accelerate from 0-97 km/h in 9.2 seconds just using the electric only mode and it can reach the same speed in 9.0 seconds by using the fuel engine assisting the propulsion. There are four operating modes. 1. Single motor electric which runs purely on battery power. 2. Dual motor electric which has the secondary motor engage when travelling at high speeds; this reduces the speed of the main motor. 3 Single motor extended which will start the petrol engine when the battery reaches its minimum charge level. 4. Dual motor extended which is the same as the single motor but used again in dual configuration to give greater efficiency at higher speeds. Standard features include four wheel ABS, LED daytime running lights. It has a 7 inch LCD screen which is configurable. Also the Volt has keyless access and keyless push button start as well as having a remote vehicle starter. Bluetooth and also a navigation system along with DVD and MP3 playback as well as voice recognition. Available options are for a rear view camera, a parking assist package and heated front seats. There is also an mobile app which allows you to access vehicle information. You can check the fuel efficiency along with the current range. It also lets you see the charging of the vehicle so you will know how long until the battery will be fully charged. You will also be able to control features like locking or unlocking the doors and will also be able to remote start the vehicle. When driving at low speeds in the all electric mode, the Volt emits hardly any noise when travelling along so it has an electronic warning sound system which can be activated manually. This is called (Pedestrian-Friendly Alert System). If car rental companies in Sydney and other major cities do start to move their fleets to vehicles which are all electric or a hybrid like the Chevy Volt then this would reduce their carbon footprint as well as helping to reduce their maintenance costs for their fleets and the need to refuel their vehicles. This would also reduce the cost for car rental in Sydney.