Officially: the Chevrolet Volt Charge Hybrid is stopped on March 1, 2019 – forerunner

Make a list of the United States The best-selling hybrids, hybrids and electric cars end up with the Chevrolet Volt in fifth place, with three Teslam models and the Toyota Prius before. No bad location, so.

Between January and October of this year, 14,718 Chevrolet Volts were sold in the United States. Thus, GM's hybrid hybrid achieves better sales than the Chevrolet Bolt (13,882) and Nissan Leaf (11,920) electric cars and has sold nearly three times more cars than the BMW i3 (5,271). True, it's very far from the Grand Tesla Model 3, which has sold 95,882 cars over the same period, but it seems unfair to call Chevrolet Volt for a flop of sales.

Yet General Motors takes it the decision to ask Chevrolet Volt. On March 1, 2019, the last car is being built in Hamtramck's Detroit facility. The reason for the closure of Volt was synonymous with profitability. And, probably, sales will fall further next year when state subsidies for hybrid vehicles and electric cars in the US will be removed or completely disappeared.

Although the Chevrolet Volt is a steep end, the second generation has only been built since 2015, but the hybrid is an important precursor to GM. In the fall of 2016, GM announced that it has delivered its 100,000 Chevrolet Volt to the United States and approximately 150,000 cars worldwide.

The large volume makes the Chevrolet Volt one of the three most important models – with the Tesla Model S and the Nissan Leaf – in terms of reducing fuel consumption. According to GM's calculations, the savings realized were 232 million liters of gasoline (2016).

The Volkswagen Volt series began mass production at the Hamtramck factory in Detroit in the fall of 2010. However, for several years, GM has let the public participate in the development work and has provided the "flavors" appropriate to maintain its interest. In Europe, the first generation of Chevrolet Volt was sold in parallel with the twin model of Opel, Ampera. The first Chevrolet Volt arrived in Europe in November 2011.

Second generation The Chevrolet Volt arrived early in the Detroit sedan in early 2015. Sales began in the fall, starting in the 2016 model year. The Chevrolet Volt was then upgraded in all areas with better battery life, faster and more efficient performance, as well as a reduced battery giving a car 100 kg lighter.

In Europe, the Chevrolet brand is terminated, with the exception of the Camaro and Corvette. But he came here a little more Volt for a few years. In Sweden, 55 copies were registered by the first generation of Chevrolet Volt (2011-2015), as well as by one of the second generation Volt (2016-2019). The sister model Opel Ampera (2012-2015) is a bit more common in Sweden, with 168 cars registered.

Chevrolet Volt has a Four-cylinder internal combustion engine of 102 hp, but it is not located directly on the drive wheels, but is used to charge the battery pack when it reaches a certain level of charge. According to the American measurement standard (which is more accurate than NEDC and WLTP), the volt range is 80 km before the internal combustion engine runs. The fuel tank is enough for a total range of almost 70 miles.

GM would not really call the Volt for a hybrid vehicle, but the Voltec system and the term "E-REV" (Extended Range Electric Vehicle). If you're within range of the battery, it's actually an electric car with integrated range extender. GM also built a twin model in the form of Cadillac ELR, which however failed in total and was built only 2,697 units. A vintage car, already today.

Have both A combustion engine and an electric propulsion system simplify the "double cost" for the automaker. Although the cost of the battery remains relatively high for an electric car, the cost trend curve is trending downward. In Europe, hybrid hybrids are easier to motivate because they are the only way to meet the increasingly stringent requirements for CO2. But in the United States, the situation is different and gasoline being much cheaper, it is difficult to calculate fuel savings.

For interested historians, it should be noted that the closure of the predecessor of the Chevrolet Volt is not "the first time" for GM. During the 1990s, GM developed the EV1 EV1 series, built in 1996 in 1999-1999. EV1 became the first electric car produced in series and was filled with innovative ideas.

But even this time GM fought for cost reasons and took over (almost) all the EV1, rented. In order to avoid storage of spare parts, all EV1 were scrapped. Some copies were saved at the museum.