With the much anticipated Chevrolet Volt, GM has hit upon exactly the right solution to the problem of how we are going to power our cars.
The hybrid Volt uses electric motors to turn the wheels, with energy being stored in Lithium Ion batteries similar to the ones in an ordinary laptop and a petrol engine to keep it topped up when you are away from a socket. It has enough power to travel 40 miles on battery power alone. This is enough to cover most daily journeys and a recharge using a standard 240V power supply takes around 3 hours.
The clever part is that the battery can be charged on the go using the 1.4 litre petrol engine. It doesn’t power the wheels and only acts as a generator to charge the batteries. This gives it the same kind of range as any normal petrol car and addresses the main problem of driving electric vehicles, their pathetically short range.
Internal combustion engines run most efficiently when kept revving within a set range. This rarely happens though as in order to accelerate we need to cycle through the gears, constantly changing the speed of the engine as we go. Using the engine as a generator means that it can find its sweet spot for efficiency and stay at that speed all the time.
And remember this is just the start. The next generation will probably give you 100 miles between charges (how many people do more than 100 miles in a day?). The on-board combustion engine will become smaller and even more efficient and after a couple of generations will likely disappear altogether as superfast charging batteries become mainstream. These will take just as long to charge as we take to fill up with petrol today.
Of course it will take huge infrastructure investment to build the charging stations and the electricity capacity to power it all but it will be worth every penny if it can take away our reliance on middle east oil.
World peace AND clean air, surely that’s a goal worth chasing?