GM Says Voltec Plug-In Hybrid System Fit Only for Compact Cars

The Chevy Volt MPV5 Concept

Let's face it, GM really does not want to produce electric vehicles. They are on record as saying the Volt will not be produced in numbers significant enough to affect their overall fleet mileage rating. Indeed, their intent is to produce only 2000 Volts this year and 10,000 for all of 2011. There is a sign up list for the Volt that totals nearly 60,000 signatures, which will take GM five years or more to fulfill.

Now, GM is already bracing the public for more bad news. The massively expensive Voltec drive system will only work in compact cars the size of the Chevy Volt. No Camaro Voltec or Silverado Voltec. Indeed, not even an Aveo Voltec as the Aveo is too small! In other words, the Volt and MPV5 may be the only two models utilizing Voltec. Seems to be a waste of research and development to limit this technology to so few automobiles.

From MotorTrend:

General Motors may be keen to apply its Voltec plug-in hybrid systems to vehicles other than the Chevy Volt, but its range may be limited. According to Alan Taub, GM's head of global research and development, the system is best suited for compact vehicles, like the Volt itself.

"With battery technology as it currently stands, extended-range vehicles that are larger than the Volt -- like luxury sedans, trucks and SUVs -- aren't really possible," Taub told Autocar. "They would simply be too heavy to be efficient."

Conversely, Taub says the system won't appear in vehicles smaller than the Volt, which rides on the automaker's compact Delta platform.

"Voltec won't really package in a much smaller car than the Volt, either," he noted.

For the time being, expect future Voltec offerings to either be based heavily upon the Volt itself (like the rebadged Opel/Vauxhall/Holden Ampera), or the Volt's compact underpinnings. The Volt MPV5 concept, unveiled at the Beijing auto show, applies the plug-in hybrid system in a slightly larger vehicle, but still has its roots off the Delta platform. The concept is very similar to the Orlando compact crossover GM is developing, which will also utilize the Delta architecture.

Larger plug-in hybrids could, however, use a version of GM's 2-Mode hybrid system. Before it killed the brand, GM was working on developing a plug-in hybrid version of the Saturn Vue 2-Mode Hybrid, which utilized a scaled-down version of its 2-Mode system, mated with a 3.6-liter V-6. Although that model was cancelled before it could reach showrooms, GM has indicated its powertrain -- and possibly the plug-in variant -- will appear in a future compact SUV.