FOCUS
Chevy Volt I The Chevy Volt...And Its Role In Policing
ARTICLE SUMMARY
The mandate from the mayor to the
chief to the feet manager: ���Put some
Chevy Volts into high-profle police
service���just do it.��� So, here is what to
expect from one of the most interesting
and controversial vehicles of our time.
MORE INFORMATION
www.chevrolet.com/volt
www.chevroletvoltage.com
www.gm-volt.com
www.homecharging.spx.com/volt
A lightning rod for controversies,
contradictions and conservation
BY JOHN BELLAH AND POLICE
FLEET MANAGER STAFF
I
ntroduced for 2011, the Chevy Volt is an Electric Vehicle. It uses a lithium ion battery to power the electric
drive motors. However, the Volt is also an Extended
Range Hybrid. It uses a gasoline engine to power a generator that produces electricity for those same electric
drive motors. Except for the rarest situation, the Volt is
strictly driven by electricity, either from the main battery
or from the generator.
What separates the Volt from other plug-in electric vehicles is the over 300-mile range made possible by the backup gas engine. In Normal (battery-only) mode, the Volt
18 Police Fleet Manager Jan-Feb 2013
will go 35 and 38 miles on a fully charged battery. Headsup: That 38 miles goes by faster than you might think!
If the travel is longer than this, the gas engine starts and produces
electricity from the engine���s generator. Tis electricity then powers
the Volt, and not the gas engine. Te gas engine extends the driving
range by about 325 miles. Combining the battery-supplied electricity and the gas engine / generator-supplied electricity, the Volt has
a driving range of more than 350 miles.
Te Volt blurs the line with defnitions of what a plug-in hybrid
means. Te Volt is not a plug-in battery electric vehicle, since it has
a gas engine that can operate a generator to produce electricity to