What a car feels and sounds like: GM refining Volt driving experience
2011 Chevy Volt - Click above for high-res gallery
We don't have to tell you how important the Chevy Volt is to General Motors. The plug-in electric car's success or failure is likely to be seen as a crucial indicator of GM's post-bankruptcy prospects in the eyes of many followers. This being the case, it's not surprising that automaker is practically throwing everything it's got at the project. According to Chief Engineer Andrew Farah, the Volt team is currently working on getting the sound and feel of the driving experience just right. Speaking to Automotive News, Farah said:
The engine, not being directly connected to the foot, is one of the things we continue to tune. We don't want it to be discomforting to people. There is an expectation of what happens when you put your accelerator to the floor in the way the car sounds and feels. We've got the feel. We've got the feel of a sports car. The sound part and the way the engine plays into that perception is one of the areas we have to work on.Clearly, creating a plug-in car with mass-market appeal isn't as simple as bolting an electric motor and a bunch of batteries into an existing chassis. People have come to expect certain things to happen as an automobile is driven, and GM needs to find the right compromise between zero-emissions technology and time-honored driving dynamics. Further complicating the issue is the tremendous weight of the car's T-shaped battery pack. Farah explains:
Here's the thing to remember: When you put the battery in, it actually lowers the center of gravity of the car. There are a thousand reasons why heavy is bad, but a few why it is good. And so we are getting those advantages of the good heavy, and the disadvantages we are managing.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Volt
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Alex 5:19PM (7/06/2009)
I hope they don't add extra engine noise just to make the car feel like people expect. I like my cars silent.
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Sean P 9:10PM (7/06/2009)
If they do, I hope it's synthetic and we're given the option to turn it off. Otherwise I'm certain mass hacking will ensue. :)
Nixon 4:42PM (7/09/2009)
I hope it DOES make noise. And I hope I can hack it and replace the stock soundtrack with my own soundtracks. I'm thinking of starting with something out of the movie "Chitty-chitty-bang-bang" at low speeds and at idle, then shifting into "Bullet" under acceleration. And using some sort of starship sound at highway cruising speed. Should mess with some people's heads....
win39 5:16PM (7/06/2009)
There is that phrase, "mass market appeal" Here is a flash: a car with a projected $40,000 price is not a mass market item. By that reasoning Cadillac CTS with an MSRP of $36,500 is truly a people's car. Cadillacs and an even more expensive model that is really, despite all the hype, is a hybrid car with Chevy nameplates and a Chevy look will not save General Motors. Nor will many people be tempted to choose between a Volt and a Cadillac for the same price. They will just roll their eyes and walk away to a less psychotic manufacturer.
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bvz 6:54PM (7/06/2009)
The idea behind the volt is, and always has been, to be a learning project. The actual car may be too expensive for mass market appeal. The lessons learned and technology developed, however, will make their way into less expensive products down the road. This roadmap applies to all new technologies.
And a little prediction: Assuming they don't completely screw it up, I think GM will sell every Volt they can build. It won't be about price. It'll be about perception.
downtoearth 6:02AM (7/07/2009)
win39:
> There is that phrase, "mass market appeal" Here is a flash:
> a car with a projected $40,000 price is not a mass market item.
Please don't simplify things and fall for typical Volt fallacy.
Chevrolet Volt will be MUCH CHEAPER TO RUN than any other ordinary car. It will save money on fuel, repairs and maintenance. Saying how expensive Volt is to start with and omitting its huge total costs of ownership advantage is silly.
When fuel reaches 4$/gallon (and it inevitably will), people will start crapping their pants. Volts will be blasting forward.
rayme 6:59AM (7/07/2009)
bvz : Really? IVolt a learning project? I don't think that is how they want the public to perceive it and buy their ginea pig...
I love the irony that it seemed they got all right with the EV1 and it seems like the Volt is all the way back down the ladder from what GM knows about electric cars.
jwer 9:54AM (7/07/2009)
The average price of a new car hovers around $30K and has for years. The Volt with subsidies ($7500 tax credit) will be about $32,500. Sounds pretty close to me.
gorr 7:31PM (7/06/2009)
Im predicting that this car will never hit the market and if it hit the market then it will be a flop and gm after having depleted his subsidies will close. This is just not the way to build a serial gasoline/battery electric car, LOL. They made the mistake to put a big, costly and weighty battery along a costly and weighty ice plugged to a weighty electric generator. This is just a political car. To do a serial hybrid it take a small battery along a small gasoline electric generator. This car is almost a ton too heavy, LOL, LOL.
The subsidies and manufacturers crocked association between them is killing the green car market. Goverment actually subsidizing all petrol technology and again is paying gm to prove that we cannot go electric. Gm and usa goverment are the principal petrol protectors. they work exclusively for petrol and taxmoney and lauph of their constricted consumers.
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why not the LS2LS7? 9:11PM (7/06/2009)
Small batteries don't give enough useful zero-emissions range to justify the car.
usbseawolf2000 11:44PM (7/06/2009)
MiEV has 100 miles range with the same 16kWh battery capacity as the Volt. The penalty for the Volt to look and drive like a gasoline car is too great. The chief engineer is saying we want it. NO! That's the wrong path.
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ufgrat 12:26AM (7/07/2009)
Read or watch Jeremy Clarkson's reviews of the Prius and Insight. While it's true that Clarkson has a pathological hatred of "green" cars and American cars in general, one of his complaints is that he doesn't want to sacrifice drivability (the "x" factor he's referred to on more than one occasion) for "green".
The Volt has to be a car that an average person can get into, and not complain about it being slow, or difficult to steer, or feeling like it's been made out of used milk containers. Being able to sit at a light, look at the car next to you and think "Yeah-- I can get around him. No problem." will absolutely not be an issue when the car is bought-- but it'll be factor in whether or not the driver *enjoys* driving the car.
Also note that the MiEV is tiny (21 inches shorter than an Aveo) looks decidedly "odd" (from a generic American point of view), only gets 100 miles without air-conditioning AND in "eco" mode, AND costs more than the Volt...
I'm not sure this is the car GM should be learning from in an American market.
Now, the EV1... some of the same engineers are working on the Volt. Like Andrew Farah, for instance. I seriously doubt that Exxon came in and brainwiped him, so it's almost certain that anything useful they learned on the EV1 is being applied to the Volt.
DasBoese 10:02AM (7/07/2009)
The Volt uses only about half of its battery capacity to prolong battery life and provide a safety margin in charge-sustaining mode.
Your complaint is basically that it's not a BEV. Look, you're enthusiastic about EVs and that's dandy, but understand that you are not the target demographic for this car. They're not making it for environmentalist BEV fans, they are making it for green-minded and cost-conscious, but ultimately average people.
Nozferat 3:47AM (7/11/2009)
I'm not quite understanding the part of drivability and being green.
So what are you saying? That the current Prius 0-60 of under 10 seconds and decent handling and cornering are not acceptable? We all need sub 5 second cars to survive and be men?
Clarkson is a moron and entertainer at best. He drives around in 400 HP cars all day long that pump out 3-4 times the pollution of an average economy car and he doesn't want to give up drivability?
Do you see how stupid that really sounds?
usbseawolf2000 11:48PM (7/06/2009)
"The lessons learned and technology developed, however, will make their way into less expensive products down the road."
What happened to the lessons learned from GM Precept and EV1? I hope the Volt goes down the road you described.
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DasBoese 10:10AM (7/07/2009)
The lesson learned from those projects IS the Volt.
pinili 1:36AM (7/07/2009)
Fisker suggests . . . saying only, "It's a Chevy."
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Noz 2:42AM (7/07/2009)
This car is obviously targeted towards a bunch of sissy-Marys who can't "adjust" to driving a vehicle with no sound.
Grow some fuzz people.
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Alan 4:11AM (7/07/2009)
Regarding the sound - I certainly don't want to pay top dollar to find it making an engine noise in EV mode. However I think what they might be concentrating on is trying to dampen the sound of the ICE when it kicks in, I'm guessing for efficiency it will have to run at a constant RPM most of the time, which would be pretty noisy when standing, they're probably working on the software so that unless it's absolutely vital the engine will decrease and increase RPM as the vehicle comes to a stop/pulls off. Or maybe the ICE will only kick in when travelling at speed so as to mask the noise. I don't think there's any need to get too excited about what they're doing, sounds like they're just tweaking and polishing to try to make the experience as unsuprising as possible.
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Dave 8:18AM (7/07/2009)
From what I've read in the past, the lack of engine noise makes an EV sound awful.
An ICE creates white noise that masks the sound of windshield wipers / washers, AC compressor, power steering compressor, tire noise, wind noise, suspension noise, etc.
It will also be disconcerting to listen to the constant sound of the genset which will probably be running at a constant 3600 rpm to produce AC power at 60hz. The sound could get really tiring after a while - varying RPMs tend to add to the driving experience.