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By Alex Cattelan, GM Powertrain Assistant Chief Engineer, Voltec Electric Propulsion System
Driving the twisty, winding roads of Knoxville, Tennessee, you really get to see what a car is made of. That is why I was there last week putting the Chevrolet Volt electric plug-in vehicle through its paces.
As we all know, it’s not enough that a car have the technical engineering to operate seamlessly, but it has to have the right feel, too. The vehicle reaction needs to be intuitive to the driver. Whether driving in pure electric mode with a charged battery or when the engine kicks in to sustain battery charge, the car must always have the same responsiveness that a driver would expect from any great vehicle. Push on the throttle, the car speeds up. Drive a steep grade, the car makes the climb. The thermometer outside reads 95 degrees, the vehicle takes the heat.
It’s my team’s responsibility to ensure that the drive performance of the next generation electric vehicle is meeting expectations. To do that, our team drove 7 test vehicles from Milford, Michigan, to the mountains of Tennessee to calibrate how the Volt’s battery energy, fuel efficiency, and drive quality work together in real world conditions.
Right now, our focus is on the driver experience, and I have to say we are happy with the results. After testing the Volt in cold, winter conditions in Canada (my home country, by the way), in high altitudes in Denver, in hot climates in Death Valley and now in Knoxville, we have not found any surprises. A baseline has been established that we can use to fine tune further development, and considering our tight deadline, the results have been very good. Cabin conditions and under-hood temperatures all stand up to the heat and grade challenges put to the battery pack. System testing to date verifies that we can properly balance vehicle requirements such as drive performance, drive feel, thermal conditions and efficiency. Everything we are doing proves the Volt is right on track.
This is a whole new ballgame from the past EV experience. We’re developing a unique vehicle architecture, and it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to make decisions based on things we have never done before. As I stood next to the Volt on top of a mountain last weekend, I felt overwhelmingly enthusiastic about its capability. I’m confident that Chevy Volt drivers will feel invigorated like I do by its exciting, smooth, quiet, and fuel-efficient performance.
I have always loved nature and to have the opportunity to have a real global impact by making greener cars makes me proud. There’s a revolution underway, and I am part of an effort that will be causing an upheaval in our entire industry over the next 50 years.
For now, I look forward to hitting the open road again – but this time on my Suzuki GSXR 750 motorcyle. Somehow, I suspect my upcoming vacation to Georgia along some of these same roads will be somewhat less exciting - since nothing will top the experience for me of cruising along in a high performance electric car.
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exit the door aperature easily, without twisting yourself into a pretzel. The Volt should be designed
with a door aperture to permit seniors and people over 6 foot tall to enter easily. We still own a
2002 Saturn Station wagon. A fine vehicle to drive, but difficult to get in and out of. I wrote Saturn
several times about the difficulty of getting in and out, and I observed no change in the design of their smaller vehicles. Where is Saturn now? I believe that the reason so many truck type vehicles are sold is because of the ease of exit and entry. If the Volt is built with a higher roof line and thought put into a customers entry in the vehicle they will sell many vehicles.