![]() ![]() ![]() The figure of 235.4mpg is based on the NEDC test, which involves a low-load drive over a short distance. Will you enjoy 235.4mpg in real life? It depends on your driving pattern, but it’s probably impossible for most people. This equates to emissions of just 27g/km CO2. The Chevrolet Volt has an official combined fuel economy of 235.4mpg. Our winter test also showed that the heating takes a long time to warm up. The gear selector could also benefit from markings on the top to show you what gear you’re in (it does show you next to the lever and on the dash, but the top of the lever is a more intuitive place). The designers of the Volt dashboard should study the interior of a BMW 3 Series to learn how to put together the perfect driver’s interior environment from an ergonomics point of view, and they should learn about choice of materials from Audi. The trouble is, you never seem to quite get used to the right amount of pressure required to activate the buttons. To make matters worse, they’re not conventional switches which click or which give you some other acknowledgement when you push them, instead the entire panel is comprised of touch-sensitive buttons. This is a tall plastic section of the interior which features a mass of buttons that all look the same and which don’t appear to be grouped in any logical arrangement. There’s one thing that spoils the driving experience of the Volt and that’s the dashboard’s centre console. The battery does contribute to a fairly hefty kerb weight of 1732 Kg. In situations such as when negotiating long sweeping motorway slip roads, the Volt handles well, remaining flat and stable, helped by its battery contributing to a low centre of gravity. The steering doesn’t have much feel, and the brake pedal takes a bit of getting used to compared to a more conventional car. There are no gears or clutch, and this makes it easy to drive in cities, which is further helped by its light steering. There’s even a Sport button which gives you improved responses. Because it’s an electric car, it has 100% torque at any speed (with a maximum of 370 Nm), so acceleration is strong and linear. This is the case whether it’s using its battery or its petrol engine for propulsion (although you can hear the petrol generator revving away at times). ![]() The Chevrolet Volt is a quiet, refined and comfortable car to drive. Another slightly unusual feature is the luggage compartment cover, which is nothing more than a flimsy piece of material stretched over the top of the boot. This results in the Volt being a strict four-seater. ![]() The battery sits in a ‘T-shape’ under the rear seats and up the centre of the car, where the transmission tunnel would normally be found. It’s best to do this if you’re driving down the motorway into an urban area, as it would make sense to use the zero emission capability when you arrived in the city rather than on the motorway. This makes the car run on its petrol generator rather than staying in its electric default mode. You can also select a mode called ‘Hold’. For most people this makes it a much more useful car than a pure EV with a finite range, such as a Nissan LEAF. If you want to drive further then you just fill up with petrol, assuming you don’t have time for a 4 hour recharge of the battery. If you used all the energy stored in the battery, then the car would swap to its petrol generator.īoth technologies combine to offer a total range of over 300 miles. You then have an official range of up to 50 miles on the battery, without needing any petrol. The idea is that you plug the Volt into your electricity supply overnight (preferably using a dedicated charger, which the UK government now pays 75% towards) and recharge the battery. Although the petrol engine is a 1.4-litre unit from a Vauxhall Astra, it doesn’t power the wheels (or the battery) it’s used as a generator to provide energy to the electric motor. The Chevrolet Volt is instead an Extended-Range Electric Vehicle, which means that it is an electric car at all times, with assistance from a petrol engine when the battery becomes depleted. A hybrid, such as a Toyota Prius, is primarily a petrol-engined car (or a diesel-engined car in the case of a diesel-electric hybrid), with an additional small battery and electric motor. The Chevrolet Volt is often referred to as a hybrid, but this isn’t technically correct. The Chevrolet Volt is an extended-range electric vehicle So we thought it was time to reacquaint ourselves with the car, this time with a Chevrolet badge. We’ve driven the Vauxhall Ampera extensively, but we’ve never done an official review of the Chevrolet Volt, which is essentially the same car as the Ampera, but with a different badge. Home | Green car news | Car reviews and road tests | Car Reviews and Road Tests |Chevrolet Volt ReviewĬhevrolet Volt Basic Specifications of Chevrolet Volt Electric Cars on Sale in the UK in 2022. ![]()
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