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For car owners who are worried about gasoline prices hitting $4.00 or more in the coming months and years, there may be some cause for rejoicing. General Motors debuted their own concept car in January of 2007 and in April of the same year, touting the Plug-in Chevy Volt as the new car that will send all heads spinning and gasoline companies into literal oblivion.
Even though there is no official release date for the concept car the year 2010 is looking good. The technology that will be responsible for this all-electric car, called the E-flex system, will be worked on and improved by GM engineers so that consumers will have a vehicle that they potentially won't have to buy gasoline for.
The main design of the E-flex system that General Motors has announced involves flexibility. The Chevy Volt's power will mainly come from a battery pack of lithium-ion batteries that will be used to power the vehicle. On a full battery charge, the Plug in Chevy Volt will be able to travel up to 40 city miles.
Assuming that is the average daily mileage of a normal commuter, some drivers may never need to fill up on gasoline again. However, for those trips that require more than 40 miles, the Chevy Volt will be able to use a combination of the electricity from the batteries combined with gasoline, E-85, or even a hydrogen fuel cell. But even needing to go that far of a distance, the capacity of the Chevy Volt just may be able to get 150 miles per gallon because of the decreased need for gasoline.
This would not only have a negative impact on gasoline companies, but car owners could potentially save thousands of dollars just by driving the Plug-in Chevy Volt. Furthermore, this automobile is being designed so that any car owner will be able to afford one.
When the Chevy Volt concept car was introduced in Detroit, Michigan, in early January 2007, the car was only able to obtain about eighty miles per hour. However, only three months later when it was introduced in China, GM had improved the Chevy Volt so that it was able to obtain a speed of 120 miles per hour.
If General Motors could improve the Chevy Volt that much in only a span of three months, the amount of improvements that could be made to the concept car in the next few months could be even greater!
General Motors also has another goal, however. That goal is to standardize some of the features and components of other electricity-driven vehicles in the automobile market so that other car's batteries and engine systems will be interchangeable with the E-flex drive-train system.
By doing so, many positive implications could be made by manufacturers, consumers of the electric automobiles, and even auto repair businesses. General Motor's goal to have an all-electric vehicle could just come alive within the next few years and consumers will definitely be ready!