Chevrolet VoltAge

Today I had the opportunity to award the winners for Year Two of the EcoCAR Challenge, a three-year engineering competition where we asked 16 university teams to design, develop and implement powertrains that minimize fuel consumption and emissions.  This is certainly not an easy task, and luckily, these students were eager to roll up their sleeves and dive into this complicated challenge.

Over the past two years, they’ve spent countless hours developing innovative technologies that were recently judged in more than a dozen technical events at the GM Desert Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona and San Diego, California.  These tests are the very same ones that any GM launch vehicle would undergo.  GM believes in developing advanced powertrains that reduce dependency on petroleum, improve fuel economy and lower emissions - which is why the students could explore a variety of solutions including electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cells.

Chevrolet Volt. Electric when you want it, gas when you need it.

Note: The 2012 Chevy Volt offers an EPA-estimated 35 miles on a full charge based on 94 MPGe [electric] and an additional 340 miles with a full tank based on 35 city, 40 MPG highway [gas]. Actual range varies with conditions.

The Chevy Volt is unique among electric cars because it runs on two sources of energy. You have an electric source – a battery – that allows you to drive gas-free for an EPA-estimated 35 miles. And there’s also an onboard gas generator that produces electricity so you can go farther. So if you want to drive using only electricity, you can. If you want to drive using electricity and gas, you can do that, too. Feeling all charged up? Check out what this current Chevy Volt driver has to say about his unique driving lifestyle…

Adam Meltzer’s life is anything but predictable. With three jobs and plenty of running around to do come the weekend, he says he relies on his Volt to keep him moving and motivated. “In Los Angeles you spend a lot of time in your car. If your car is not comfortable, it’s like working in an uncomfortable desk chair with a bad computer screen,” he says. Luckily, he loves his ride. “Before this car I didn’t even like driving. It was something I had to do.”

Chevrolet VoltAge isn't just focused on the upcoming Chevrolet Volt - it also is focused on the broader topic of the electrification of the automobile. This Friday at 2 p.m. EDT, we will be holding a live chat with Christopher Borroni-Bird, GM's Director of Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts and one of the authors of the book "Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century."

Want to tour across California in a Chevrolet Volt and experience that state’s best organic and sustainable farms, wineries, food producers, breweries and urban gardeners? Follow Jerry James Stone as he makes discovers some great spots in the golden state.
 
Jerry is a food and wine writer for Discovery Channel and NPR Northern California. He's also the main recipe developer for TreeHugger's Green Wine Guide. For the next 20 days Jerry will be traveling across California in a Chevrolet Volt and blogging about his experiences with both the amazing food he will be enjoying and the sustainable practices he will be learning about, including the Chevrolet Volt. We will be sharing his blogs right here on ChevroletVoltAge.com. Along with his writings, Jerry will be taking plenty of pictures and, from time to time, providing us with video of his tour.
 
You can learn more about Jerry here. Keep checking back on VoltAge for updates on his tour.