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DETROIT – As their business revolved around the financial turmoil in the early 2000s, General Motors executives came up with an idea to counter its energy-consuming image and pave the way for future transportation: an electric car endowed with power. a gasoline powered back-up system traveling anywhere.
At the 2007 Detroit auto show, they unveiled the Chevrolet Volt concept car, yet they did not know if they had the technology to make a major step forward in the field of battery vehicles.
It took nearly four more years, but the first Volt – a longer-life version of a plug-in hybrid – was removed from the assembly line in late 2010. GM hoped its customers would be ready for a car that can travel 38 kilometers. electricity before the arrival of a small internal combustion generator.
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They were not. On Tuesday, the last Volt was built with a small ceremony in a Detroit factory that must now close. Sales have averaged less than 20,000 per year, which is not enough to support the costly approach.
The Volt was not the first electric car, but it was the first to overcome the anxiety generated at a reasonable cost. GM's limited-life EV1 came out in the 1990s and Tesla released its Roadster over 200 km in 2008 for more than $ 100,000.
The Volt was one of the first plug-in hybrids, many of which can only cover about 20 kilometers of electricity and have not gained popularity among consumers.
Yet the Volt served a purpose. This has led to advances in lithium-ion batteries similar to those that power smart phones and computers. But such progress finally led to the demise of the Volt, as GM and other automakers developed fully electric vehicles that could cover an additional 200 km per charge.
"Although it's a financial loser, it did what was planned," said GM's retired vice president, Bob Lutz, who oversaw the production of the Volt. "We considered it a stepping stone for the full electric, which was totally out of reach because of the astronomical cost of lithium-ion batteries at the time."
GM now has the Chevrolet Bolt, which can run 238 miles on a single charge, and has promised many more electric vehicles in the future.
The Volt has developed a loyal fan base, many of which are unhappy with the company for erasing the project.
Richard Winters, a 65-year-old doctor from Poteau, Oklahoma, said the Volt was still useful in areas like Oklahoma and Arkansas, where electric vehicle charging stations are few. He bought his first Volt in 2016 for the 120 km round trip from his home to the Arkansas Hospital where he works.
Last year, he bought another, an upgraded model that can run 50 kilometers in electricity before the gas generator starts. As he can recharge at work, most of his travels are on battery. Winters regularly travel 1,400 miles between gas stations, which he likes. And it only costs $ 1 of electricity to charge the battery, he said.
The winters had always wanted an electric car, but like many of them, he was afraid of running out of juice and going astray. "When the Volt came out, I was happy," he said about his almost unlimited reach.
GM, he said, should have spent more to promote the car. "I was really surprised by the lack of marketing," he said. "I would not have an electric car if I did not have this gas engine."
Originally, the Volt was to be an elegant and futuristic five-seater vehicle designed to hold a battery and a new three-cylinder engine to produce electricity, said Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst at Navigant Research. But because of GM's financial problems, the project was scaled down and became a modified version of the Chevrolet Cruze compact car with only four seats and many GM vehicle parts, he said.
"They have made tremendous progress with this car, but it's not all that it could have been and certainly not what they had imagined when they unveiled the concept, "said Abuelsamid.
Even if it would be nice to continue producing the Volt, GM had to stop producing it, in part because of changing consumer preferences for SUVs, he said. The company also lost money on every volt, money needed for research on autonomous vehicles and more advanced electric cars, he said.
"This is not the right vehicle for the market today," said Abuelsamid. "It does not really make sense to continue like this, as much as you want, it's probably best to give up."
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