Chevy Volt: Emissions-free 40 Mile Range Starting at $41,000

Chevy Volt: GM's 41,000 dollar answer to rising fuel costs. (Courtesy of GM.com)

General Motors unveiled the new Chevy Volt, a new breed of vehicle designed to go 40 miles on a single charge, producing no emissions and burning no gasoline. The Chevy Volt will create a new class of vehicle known as Extended Range Electric Vehicle, or E-REV, according to a General Motors press release.

The Volt will always use electricity to move the vehicle’s wheels, however it does come with a gasoline motor to run a generator should a owner decide to drive over the 40 mile charge limit. This gives the Chevy Volt a range comparable with most modern cars. This eliminates what Chevrolet calls “Range Anxiety.”

Chevy announced that it will make 10,000 Volts during the first year of production and pricing will start at $41,000. The volt qualifies for $7,500 in federal rebates bringing the price to a much more reasonable $33,500. Chevy will also be allowing people to lease the Volt for $350 a month, for 5 years with q $2,500 down-payment at signing.

Innovations

The Volt is one of the most aerodynamic cars Chevrolet has ever created, according to the company. This is a crucial aspect in designing a car with peak efficiency. The bank of batteries can be charged either off of a 120 volt or 240 volt power supply. Connected to a 120 volt outlet allows the car to be charged in about 8 hours, while a 240 volt source will do the job in about 3.

Other then the ability to drive 40 miles emissions-free, the most outstanding feature of the Chevy Volt will be the extreme low cost per mile to drive it. With gas costing $3.60 a gallon, the average cost per mile for a 4 door sedan is around 12 cents per mile. The Chevy Volt will be able to lower this cost to about 2 cents per mile. For those who only need to go the 40 miles that the batteries provide, their cost will be less than a dollar per day. The volt will be able to do all this while still packing 150 horsepower and a top speed of 100mph, says GM.

To add to its list of firsts, the Chevy Volt will also be one of the most customizable cars to be released by Chevrolet. Buyers will be able to choose from a variety of interior and exterior colors alongside many different trim levels. It will also come with options for touch screen displays so that drivers can control environmental settings, navigational features, the ability to plug USB based music devices into the sound system and even store their music on an on-board hard drive, and make hands free phone calls via bluetooth.