The screen organizes and displays a wealth of information clearly and accurately, with vehicle speed represented in large, easy to read numerals above all else. Those nostalgic for the old kit can give it up. GM has also opted for a complete LCD gauge cluster in place of any standard dials. Here's hoping that little trick begins finding its way to other products soon. There's no fumbling around or craning your neck in an attempt to find switchgear stashed behind the steering wheel. Mounted just north and to the left of the shifter, the button is at perfect thumb level. We do have to give GM praise for the location of the vehicle's start button, though.
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Hard, dark plastics abound as far as the eye can see, and while they're nicely grained, they do little to make drivers feel any better about the vehicle's lofty price tag. Unfortunately, in what must have been a quest to skimp on weight and cost, GM built the cabin of the Volt with materials that would be more at home on a humbleĬobalt. A large LCD touchscreen handles everything from climate, navigation and audio information to data on the vehicle's state of charge and efficiency, and the interface is perfectly intuitive. At night, excellent back-lighting makes the small text labels somewhat easier to translate. The center stack is awash in capacitive-touch controls that are simple to navigate if not difficult to read during daylight hours. Jump inside and it's even clearer that you aren't driving a run-of-the-mill internal-combustion mule. The vehicle's tall, abrupt Kamm tail rear takes some getting used to, especially with its slit brake lamps and somewhat awkward spoiler, but the design does have the effect of differentiating the Volt from the rest of North America's roadgoing hardware. Our tester came with 17-inch chrome-clad wheels that added a splash of style to the judicious use of chrome and piano-black plastic along the window line. Only the low-slungĬorvette rivals the 0.287 Cd of the Volt.Įven with all of its slippery concessions, the Volt is an attractive enough vehicle. The front fascia is appropriately swept into the hood and fenders with wrapped projector headlamps and a shield grille help to give the electrified four-door one of the lowest drag coefficients of any vehicle GM has ever produced. At 177.1-inches long, the Volt is around four inches shorter than its platform mate, the compactĬhevrolet Cruze, and 1.5 inches longer than the current generation Prius. Toyota came up with for its battery-assisted wonder child. GM were confined by the laws of aerodynamics, which means that the production Volt wears a shape that's very similar to what Unfortunately, nearly all of the brawny build of the Volt Concept never quite made it to the production world. The concept was downright muscular and served as an excellent counterpoint to the econo-blob styling of the Recall, that vehicle was a stylized dream that wore a vertical nose, high belt-line, chopped roof and massive wheels for a look that was, in a word, awesome.
It's been four years since General Motors first pulled back the sheets on the Thanks to the trailblazing efforts of the hybrid fleet, more and more Americans now associate efficiency with electric power, and General Motors has given rise to what could possibly be the perfect evolutionary species to bridge the gap between hybrid and full-electric motivation – theĬontinue reading Review: 2011 Chevrolet Volt. At the time, there just wasn't any land in sight for the electric movement. The company infamously birthed the EV1 in the mid-'90s only to find that its high costs of development meant the short-range electric couldn't keep its head above water in a sea of relatively cheap fuel prices. Those same laws of luck and fortune dictate which automotive traits will survive into the future and which will be left to be bookmarks of curiosity in the mechanical fossil record. One misstep to the left could have been all it took to eradicate entire lines of Homo sapiens progress. Generations of ancestors for not being squished, drowned, beaten, eaten or stabbed before cranking out offspring that would further the human race.
At this point in history, our entire species can thank Had our primordial ancestors evolved legs and lungs while the entire globe was still awash in warm sea water, they would have gone belly up and we might have never made it to the top of the food chain. There's something to be said for being at the right place at the right time. 2011 Chevrolet Volt - Click above for high-res image gallery
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