POLITICO: The Chevy Volt — manufactured by bailout recipient General Motors, championed by President Barack Obama and touted as a solution to global warming…
From Rush Limbaugh to Mitt Romney, critics on the right have tried to turn the electric-gasoline plug-in hybrid car into a synonym for Big Government overreach. Fox News business anchor Neil Cavuto recently called it a “Fred Flintstone car” and the “dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”…
But the Volt also has passionate supporters who want the right to embrace it — starting with former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who famously called global warming a “crock of sh—.” … (more)
EDITOR: “According to SAE’s definition the Volt is a hybrid vehicle, due to the combination of an internal combustion engine and electric motors, and its configuration can be referred to as a plug-in hybrid.[10] The Volt operates as a purely electric vehicle for the first 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 km), after which it functions primarily as a series hybrid, as the internal combustion engine acts primarily as a generator to power the electric traction motor. When the initial pure EV battery capacity drops below a pre-established threshold from full charge and while the Volt is operating in series hybrid mode, the Volt’s control system will select the most optimally efficient drive mode to improve performance and boost high-speed efficiency.” Wikipedia
