GM puts video of the Chevy Volt up on YouTube
GM has put up a video of the Chevy Volt concept in "action" on YouTube. The video shows a woman unplugging the Volt in her garage and then driving off. The car moves under its own power, but just. Read our follow up questions post for more information on what the Volt can actually do right now.
Update: I just got word from GM that the video was created as B-roll footage for broadcast outlets to use in their own reports. It wasn't actually posted on YouTube by GM, but rather by a media outlet. Keep in mind, though that this video was shot shortly after this concept was constructed and it's not yet fully representative of anything. When the car pulled onto the stand at Cobo Hall it wasn't making the kind of noise that is audible in the video. The hand cut treads on the concept tires will always generate a lot of noise too, especially when everything is quiet.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sorin 8:20PM (1/27/2007)
Wow, that's truly pathetic. That actually seems louder than my Jeep, and my friend's Prius has better acceleration running on just the electric motor. This reinforces my view that (unfortunately) GM's E-Flex and the Volt are more about flash than substance. I'm convinced Toyota will get this PHEV concept into production well before GM ever would (though I would not mind being proven wrong). There are no overly complicated technical barriers to a high performance electric car, and range is just a matter of price per watt for light weight / high density batteries. Just look at Tesla Motors.
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crm114 8:59PM (1/27/2007)
Looks like they're running about a 6hp motor in there right now.
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Peter 10:24PM (1/27/2007)
Okay, this is GM killing the electric car once again. If they were actually trying to sell the car, they would (a) avoid using the least interesting-looking soccer mom in the world as the actor (b) at least fake some speed! I'm well aware that they claim battery technology has to "catch up" to the concept, but there's no reason for them to skimp this much on the concept model. The EV1 had 100 times the zig of this thing, and it's already a dinosaur by today's standards.
Tesla managed to put an electric engine that accelerates faster than a Lamborghini in an Elise frame - GM might be on a bit more of a budget for this one, but they can do better than a golf cart motor.
Pathetic. Another red herring.
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Brett 11:11PM (1/27/2007)
Any car with a fully charged 12V battery and a starter motor could do what they demonstrate the Volt doing in this video.
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Michael 11:25PM (1/27/2007)
They should pull the video until they can fake some excitement.
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Harry 11:39PM (1/27/2007)
The car was rolling downhill most of the time.
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Michael 11:52PM (1/27/2007)
If you want to see an electric car with some excitement check out the white zombie:
http://www.plasmaboyracing.com/videos/PIR%20sept.24%2005%206th%20run.MOV
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a54 12:23AM (1/28/2007)
Geez, you guys are haters.
The lady drove the car slowly because someone was filming it. That's the reason she drove to the end of the cul-de-sac and back.
Please, remove the hate from your posts.
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Michael 12:21AM (1/28/2007)
or this one against a corvette:
http://www.plasmaboyracing.com/videos/BlowoffCorvette.mov
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Ralph 1:58AM (1/28/2007)
Looking at this video as one of the general public my first reaction was "Interesting design, but my gosh, that thing is so slow!". Although GM may have intended this video as a showcase of the vehicle's design as well as proof that it can move under its own power (within the setting of a typical suburbia neighborhood), I believe that they should have waiting until they had some footage at more than a snail's pace. The general public still perceives electric vehicles as slow ...and this video, unfortunately, just reinforces the stereotype. It is beyond me how large companies like GM, with decades of PR experience, make such blunders...
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John 3:08AM (1/28/2007)
Wow, that is seriously bad. I want very much for this car to succeed, but this is the worst possible thing you can do to keep it from succeeding. Better batteries won't take care of the noise. Why even take the risk of leaving a very bad first impression of the Chevy Volt on it own steam with the public? To me this shows the Volt is no engineering feat.....just another concept car with flashy bodywork and no substance under the hood. Taking a current Prius and modifying as a plug in is far more impressive. Imagine the howls of laughter at Toyota's head offices after seeing this video.
To me, this video shows either:
1 - The Chevy Volt is purely a PR piece and GM never had any real intentions in making it a serious product.
2 - The PR department at GM is inept beyond belief and the Volt is much more undeveloped than anybody ever thought.
3 - GM is serious about the Volt but nobody noticed the powertrain development had been subcontracted to one of GM's divisions in China which borrowed the powertrain from this vehicle. http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/shineverchina/product-detailHfnELMmgWrQq/China-Children-Car-YG-012K-.html
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Bob Seeley 11:50PM (1/28/2007)
This is really bad. I think I'm going to be sick. I had such high hopes for the volt. This video is the absolute worst thing that Chevrolet could have put out on the Volt. Oh my. So sad.
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CM 10:51PM (2/02/2007)
I can understand having an average suburbanite unplug the car and driving it round the cul-de-sac. Not everyone wants to go drag racing against a Ferarri.
But that noise! Electric cars should be inherently quiet. The horrible noise sounded like bad gears or really bad bearings, and does not bode well for GMs engineering prowess.
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hannah doten 3:43PM (7/08/2008)
Relax! That sound was just the mainspring unwinding. The batteries will run an electric motor to rewind the spring at traffic lights. Pray for red ones.
grant 1:33PM (1/29/2007)
It sounds like the thing is able only to function in "limp home" mode as discussed in the recent article. It's an embarrassment.
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Kevin 1:13PM (1/29/2007)
Wow! I'm with everyone else, that soccer mom is totally flooring it! Golly its slow :)
Its not like this is a TV commercial or something...
Simmer dan na
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Tim 2:20PM (1/29/2007)
This is a CONCEPT, not a demonstrator or production model. This Volt concept is designed specifically to showcase the E-Flex technology. The Volt is just the icing, not the cake. The E-Flex architecture is what is important here. This Volt has just enough hardware for it to move around an auto show under its own power AND NO MORE. I believe this film was designed to be used as part of an auto show presentation with background music so that people could better visualize the E-Flex concept in use and get excited. The E-Flex production models with the new tech will be far superior to the EV1s in every conceivable way. I do, however think the Volt concept is beautiful and I have been waiting FOR YEARS for someone to come up with this idea!! Opinions vary, but I want a Chevy Volt E-Flex. WAY TO GO GM!! You can still make America proud.
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Matt 4:17PM (1/29/2007)
Did GM trash all their R&D on electric cars when they killed the EV1? It looks like they're starting from scratch with this one and hoping that no one will remember how fast, quiet, and superior their own EV1 was. Ridiculous.
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Tomas 9:07PM (1/29/2007)
This could have been a much sleeker video with even slightly better craftsmanship. Cars move slowly in promos/commercials all the time. As Dave Chappelle says "everything looks better in slow motion" Close up shots to show the design and the hot suburbaness, and even the cheapest royalty free music in the bin would have made a world of difference. Whoever produced and released this underestimated the power of internet message boards.
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