Chevy Volt Concept - Has The Toyota Prius Met its Match?

No, just a Concept vs. Mass Production. Toyota is currently working on the new Hybrid System also.

What "new" system might this be?

yeaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! more promises GM cant come thru on. good thing we love disappointment!

Gogo, if you ever want anyone to take your supposed design expertise seriously, you need to use more mature language than ugly POS.

I thought the first-gen Prius was hideous; the current model is just offensive.

gogo, you must be a FAILING design student. NO one here has ANY respect for your "design" opinions.

oooo lookie GM wants to play in the hybrid game now. Looks like they fininally gained some sense and realized their previous stance on hybrids was ill conceived. Well, i welcome more hybrid cars to the market regardless of who is making them.

technically, this is an electric vehicle since there is no linkage between the gas engine and the drive wheels. the gas engine is used only as a generator to recharge the batteries.

ooooo lookie, your obvious bias against GM just nullified your comment.

I love how Toyota is slammed repeatedly on this site for its hybrid technology, but when someone (GM, BMW, VW) comes along with a concept that takes the technology to its obvious amazing potetntial, they are heralded as the next coming. Where's all the diesel talk now??

And of course we have the requisite 009 misleading headline, comparing a production vehicle (in its 4th year now) to a concept.

Your missing the point. The point is that Toyota has billed "hybrids" as the ultimate way to save gas and save the planet and GM is the FIRST company to step and say that they are actively pursing plug in technology...this is far more advanced, cleaner, and more fuel efficient (during long trips) than the Prius. Basically GM just one upped Toyota. However, if Toyota beats GM with a plug in Prius...well..shame on GM.

there's ALREADY a BUNCH of plug-in prius hybrids.

granted, they don't come from toyota like that....YET.

aftermarket kits easily make priuses plug-ins. ONLY a matter of time before you get 'em from toyota like that. and far LESS time than the general'd be able to do it.

According to my calculations in only gets 80 mpg in all electric mode.

That is still an amazing number. But you're right how do they come up with 150

as mentioned, GM voodoo math.

There is a few things to consider regardless of actual milage. plug-in energy... comes from where? coal burning power plants, and they are not clean obviously. 2nd... you still have to buy the electicity. 3rd... the batteries are expensive, this car wouldn't be cheap.

Obviously the cost of charging the car (for 6 1/2 hours) versus paying gas would be cheaper over a long term duration. Your right in saying the the burden would be transfered to another industry, but hell, at least we wouldn't be so dependent on foreign oil!

Agent009 you suck you should not be a Agent

Agent009, your are excellent, keep up the good work.

All of you so called experts, let me clear what GM is saying. GM is saying that most people daily commutes is less than 40 miles per day and if you charge the battery (maybe overnight) for 6 and a half hours, your good for another 40 miles. So if you use the car just for work, you would never have to buy gas.
Now if you take a long trip, the engine would start after 40 miles just to recharge the battery and with the 12 gallons of gas onboard, the car would now do 50 miles per gallon with a total distance of 650 miles.

About time someone did a plug in hybred! Those lithium ion batteries will be old teck soon.Toshiba/sony (one of them?)is working on a quick charging batterie.Minion3d- good points! If everyone had a solar panel at home or a wind generator that would be clean energy!How about solar paint with regenerative brakes! I think it would be even better with more range in electric mode.I want this teck in the Jeep Rubicon unlimited!

At least spell "hybrid" right when you're posting. Geez, the moment I saw that, you lost your credibility.

I agree..zero cred.

HYBRid! Spelling ability does not sum up ones knowledge of vehicles! @#@#@ I am not looking for a litarary award.S4cabriofox1 . And Davidthadle go Japanese you won't be sorry! Do you really love Benz or do you really enjoy the loner cars better? lol

right on, truckmen!

there are MANY geniuses who don't always spell perfectly. let those dimwit dolts nitpick. you display FAR more intelligence in your posts.

LOL, what idiots.

Is this story supposed to be a joke? All Toyota hybrids already can run on battery alone. But not last for long though due the limitations the NiMH battery.

I don't believe for a minute GM will actually produce the volt. Its an attempt by GM to improve public perception, nothing more. But I do thank GM for pointing out this concept to the japanese, who will produce it.

Toyota will develop a car that runs on cheap college binge drinking beer. A 1.5 liter 'Natural Light' combustion engine, With flex fuel capabilities (runs on pee). Now America will encourage drinking and driving, because its green.

YOU EDEEOTS!!!!

GM already designed, executed, and patented so many electric tech specifications that they actually put a car out there!!!! The EV1. A California 0 Emission Vehicle. CARB ironically reversed course when this model proved a success and others from detroit/japan were close to distribution. BUT REMEMBER GM did the best with the EV and did it more than 10 years ago... GM sucks...? Perhaps, but for so many reasons we hardly know.

CARB, the greatest ball busters ever for emissions, ironically reverses policy to allow 'dirtier air.' Ironically encourages the theme that EV's are in fact counterproductive to reducing pollution (coal fired powerplant electricity). Ironically the lead board member recants his theories established through doctorate studies, recants two years of work to produce CARB's 0% mandate. And wow, ironically it is then determined by CARB that the electric powered 130 mile range of a single GM EV1 is not enough for a commute to work.

Oh and finally, a much higher capacity battery is tested and r&d'ed in desert heating trials (by GM) and found to have over 200 mile capacity per full charge. Then Chevron decides to get in the car business and buys the technology and subsequently the GM EV1 is yanked off the showroom floor... oooh, and all lessees cars are demanded and destroyed.

BIG OIL? Btw, the EV1 could outhaul many hi output V6's in the day...

true, pollution is shifted to the power generation plants.

but as alternative sources become more developed and widespread, there WILL be net gains in clean air and overall efficiencies.

already, wind generators are competitive with coal on a cost/kwh basis. ZERO emissions. only moderate noise (and landscape?) pollution.

plus, EVERY vehicle that doesn't exploit regenerative braking is JUST DUMPING ENERGY that could otherwise be made use of. just one 60 - 0 stop generates enuff heat to cook a breakfast.

You people do know that the Volt has only one motor driving the wheels, and that one moter is electric. It has a very small IC engine, who's only purpose is to generate electricity for the batteries. In the future, that small gas engine could be replaced by a hydrogen fuel cell. And the Volt has a range of about 650 miles, with that little electricity gererator feeding the batteries.

Check out news and videos of the <a href="http://www.chevy-volt.net">Chevy Volt Concept Car</a>

http://www.chevy-volt.net