I usually review a car after I've had seat time in it; but this is a little different. I heard all the hype about how dangerous these are, supposedly. But, ever since this past winter, these have caught on like wildfire. They're quiet, they move along quiet nicely, and after sitting in one at the auto show, I really have no complaints.
Equipped with a 1.4L gas four cylinder, and a battery-T giving a 350 mile range, the Volt seems fairly practical--and it is. Around town, it runs on the battery alone, hence its quietness. They really are "silent" cars, so to speak. The only noise these emit is the tires and road noise, and since these really aren't built for spirited driving, those levels are kept to a minimum.
GM has had many tries at producing a world-beating fuel-efficient car. Remember the J-Body? Yep, that was a "world car". The 1980s Opel Kadett, too, was a world car. Besides being sold as an Opel and a Vauxhall, it was also sold as a Pontiac Lemans for the US market. Now the Volt gets a crack at GM's famous strategy of rebranding. Sold as the Chevrolet Volt here in the states, it will be sold in Europe as the Opel Ampera, the Vauxhall Ampera, and the Holden Volt for Australia. So will it work?
So far, the Volt is outselling the Nissan Leaf by a huge margin. And unlike the Nissan, homes don't need a $25,000 charger built onto the existing electrical/box of the residence. GM has done its homework, and it shows.
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