Inside the Volt

Electric car or MP3 player?

With the unveiling of the Chevy Volt today in Detroit, the world (read: your ever-lovin' friends in the media) had a chance to check out the car's interior, an aspect of the extended-range electric vehicle that's been lost in the noise over the car's range, cost, timeliness, purity and, more recently, its exterior.

We at Up to Speed had a chance to check out the interior firsthand today and ask a few questions while we were at it. General Motors went to great lengths to make sure it drives like a regular car, said Ed Welburn, global design director for the company. "The first time people are going to drive a Volt, they may be a little intimidated by the technology. They shouldn't be. All the controls are in the same location."

That's true, but the Volt still manages to look pretty different. Without a doubt, this car is aimed at the youngsters and their po-pomo tastes. The first thing that caught our eye was the dashboard. With shiny white plastic everywhere, it looks like an iPod. In fact, said Welburn, it was "somewhat inspired by the iPod and other very new industrial product design."

The consumer electronics feel extends to the instrument panel, where instead of the normal gauges, drivers have a digital screen that, Welburn said, can be programmed to suit the driver's tastes, with an assortment of information (speed, battery charge, outside temperature, etc.) Nearby is another video screen in the usual place navigation screens go. According to Welburn, it's probably for navigation.

The gear shift is funky -- in a good way. We think it was taken from the cars in "Tron." Wide and thick, in park it's nested in the dash area, and then is ...

pulled back to put the Volt in drive or reverse.

Meanwhile, each door panel has a big curvy plastic inlay, shaped like a "potato chip" (Welburn's words) that will be available with a variety of designs. One possibility is that buyers could send in images and GM would produce custom plastic inserts. Another possible option is removable inserts so that drivers could switch them out to suit their mood -- or something. As far as we can tell, there's no flower vase, a la the VW Beetle.

Another interesting aspect of the Volt interior is the fact that it's a four-seater. That sounds like any four-door sedan, but those are actually five-seaters. This car has no middle seat in the back, since the car's 400-pound lithium Ion battery is a hump running down the middle of the car.  Instead of a middle seat, the Volt has cup-holders. This strikes us as inconsistent with the generally young-feeling design of the rest of the interior: Where are teenagers going to make out with each other? (And does this spell the end of the "bitch" seat?)

Unlike the prototype Volt, this one doesn't have a glass roof. According to Welburn, that was a weight issue, as glass weighs more than steel. But it was also a matter of preserving battery life. Since the air conditioning will run off the battery, it's important to keep the interior as cool as possible -- and a window to the sun doesn't help. On that note, the car includes heated seats; that would seem like an excessive drain on the battery, but Welburn said it should cut down on heater use, since less energy is needed to heat a person's tush than the car's entire interior.

The Volt is frequently compared to a Prius, Toyota Motor Corp.'s killer app that has been giving GM headaches for years. Like the Prius, this car is a four-door hatchback with weird and sometimes hard-to-see-through dual panes of glass. Like the Prius (and unlike the Honda Civic hybrid) it has folding rear seats that make for a big storage compartment.

But unlike the Prius, the Volt has a rather low roofline. According to Bob Boniface, who headed the Volt's design team, "in a Prius you can wear a bigger hat." GM has not released total interior volume yet, but Frank Weber, global line executive for GM's extended-range electric vehicles, said cargo volume is 300 liters, which is equivalent to 10.6 cubic feet. The Prius has 14.4 cubic feet.

But it doesn't look like it was designed by Steve Jobs.

--Ken Bensinger

Photo: The Chevrolet Volt is unveiled at a General Motors centennial celebration in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Photo of Volt interior courtesy of General Motors

Comments

[douglas1728]

No go for me, sadly. I HAVE to seat 5. I was an early user for high mileage cars, that mostly were a disappointment. English Ford, Pinto, Geo. Just plain wore out, from the inside out, with the motors going ping, quickly. Interior plastics broke off left and right, horn rings popped out, door handles broke off, sunshades likewise. Here is hoping this one does a LOT better than those. I also simply CANNOT spend 29-32,000 for a car so the larger ones are out of my range, and the smaller ones are......welll SMALL.

[James Alesi]

Looks Great , Get it in the show room asap.

Do not worry if it is not perfect. America will be forgiving and supportive. (i.e. the Prius is not perfect but it exist)

Do not forget to partner with Solar, Wind, and other means to recharge around the Home/Office.

GM you are looking Greener in every way.

www.jamesalesi.info

[tom]

It's all about the batteries, which are not even in this car yet. As far as the design GM probably could've put the electric hybrid setup in most of the vehicles they make today. Does GM actually have any competitive advantage when it comes to this technology? These batteries were not developed for GM exclusively and could be placed in just about anybody's electric vehicle.

[ralph]

how come nobody is talking about the battery charge time, the range, the consumption.... all the things that this car is.!??!?!

[Larry Butler]

How many thousand will a GM dealer want for the proprietary battery pack, which MUST be replaced, a consumable item.

Reference - A plastic heater knob for a '96 Caprice is $16.38 PLUS more if you want the metal snapring!

Will $8K or $10K be out of reality?

[Jerry McAnnally]

The Prius is coming out with batteries on the roof to help with the air conditioning. I just bought a Prius and I am guite happy with it. I will buy a Volt when it gets up to par and I can. I am getting about 47.3 on the latest tank of gass on average driving. I hope the Volt can do the same or better.

[JR]

It looks a lot better than a Prius. I won't be caught dead in a Prius but this car actually has some style.That plus it's a plug in hybrid with a much longer range and shorter charge time makes it interesting. The Li batteries in this car are significantly more expensive but all hybrids are going that way because they're far superior to lead acid or Nih batteries in every way. We'll see but I like what I see so far. As far as hybrids go, there's really only one that sells in big volume and that's the Prius because it's a decicated design. The hydrids that are based on an existing model aren't selling very well at all.

[luis helfer]

Evidently this car is the start point of the next generation, good for GM and good for America.

[Magic Dog]

Unfortunately, GM will be bankrupt and out of business before this car is produced.

[PW]

This will fail like all other American cars. Americans invented the cars, but the Japanese are reinventing them. I think America's rich car history has kept them from imaging what a car can be instead of what it is. "General Motors went to great lengths to make sure it drives like a regular car". Of course it's suppose to drive like a car. Of course you want that, but to have that as mantra stifles the imagination. Stupid Americans.

[robertr]

To JR and other who don't like the Prius ...

Rent one for a couple of days ....55 mpg with my wife and daughter in the car ...
I spent a week with one ... first thing my wife said when we were done driving it ... she wanted one .
And I own diesel VWs that beat almost every other car around as it is. Plus they run on biodiesel from waste oil

I did like the Insight 8 years ago - I used to get 65 mpg in LA.

[CK]

Ridiculous, impractical looking thing, and nowhere near ready. What this is is a marketing gimmick, that's all. Typical GM fluff. All they make is junk, and even their junk is too little too late.

[pagoff]

Typical of GM's design philosophy to make a practical car "flashy." The design turns off half their customers.

It's been part of what's wrong with GM for years. Remember the Aztec and the many unsuccessful attempts at a buick van.

[Steve]

I reallly hope the best for this vehicle and GM because it is their last hope before they hit the wall. These morons could of owned the market by now and basically invented the electric car. If they treat this one like that debacle this will be the end of GM. Get Who Killed the Electric Car.

[JT]

Good-looking? Not from the outside. "It looks like a GM car."
Too bad.

[HK]

-STILL a Chevy...
No way, no how, no US made vehicle for me...

[Pablo]

Too bad California won´t let many of the other Euro diesels in. My new Mazda 3 Diesel with 140 hp gets 55-60 mpg and goes like hell. We even have different choices in the quality of the diesel we can buy. I know we pay roughly 30% more for fuel but when I get almost twice the milage, my costper mile is less than someone who gets 30 mpg in the states.

By the way, I live in Madrid, diesel 1.19 Euro per liter as of this morning.

[muD]

Unfortunately this will be a $25K hatchback with a $45K price tag. Once every celebrity and large Sierra Club donor have bought one, how many will they sell? It cannot compete on features with the other cars in their price range and they cannot compete on price with the Prius, Civic hybrid or the new Honda Insight to be released at about the same time. For what they want you could buy a Prius/Civic/Insight for distance driving and an EV conversion for city driving.

I love the idea, but I don't see how it makes financial sense unless gas goes to $20/gallon.

[Todd]

Yeah, I can see a normal person that works at Home Depot or Yoshinoya affording this car. LOL

Pie in the sky, good luck!

[lost in windy]

I still have not heard any info regarding the range of this vehicle. I think this will be important to know as this is a plug in vehicle. Also the price of this vehicle is important. As it is in the 40K range, this has to be a more upscale vehicle than a Prius and appeal to a different class of person. I would hate to be on route to Vegas and oh my gosh there no plug on the catus to plug up my Volt. In other words a 200 mile range in no good to me. Also what is the recharge time. Just a couple of important issues,

[James Duff]

I'll pay whatever for this car, because I love potato chips. Like how Pringles are perfectly shaped, each one. I always put them in my mouth ths same way. I kinda twist them in so that it runs the long way across my tongue. But seriously, GM's got something here: Ipods, potato chips and foreign-made batteries...now that's American!

[r.starr]

What happened? I was so looking forward to finally seeing a General Motors car with great design. The Volt . . . What a terrible dissapointment. How did GM get to such a lump of bad design when it had a fabulous concept car? Too bad for GM.

[dindetroit]

umph, umph, umph! im sure most of the bloggers that are "hating" the volt, are mccain supporters. country first?!? toyota has raped and pilleged our country, our jobs, our unions. they could care less about you. they wanna run your weak dollar back to japan. this car is alot more than just being "green" or having a status symbol. this car is about an american institution. this car is about jobs, a good solid middle class life. yeah we(gm) used to make crappy cars. buy one now, youll change your mind. ala cadillac?!? the dealers here in detroit were over run with calls for the volt. one person got into a bidding war and offered 100,000 bucks to a dealership. lutz has well over 40,000 orders and not one has even been built. sorry guys, i think they have a winner. it will be reliable, it will be right for the market. it has the potential to sell in the millions. right here, at home. in america, in michigan(we lost 600,00 jobs in this state alone), around the corner from my house, in detroit. where we take pride in union built american, selling american, buying american. come back home, try it!