Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM
Detroit Free Press wants to know if the Chevy Volt is an E-REV, or what?
Click the photo for a high-res gallery of the Volt
In the AutoblogGreen green world, we're happy to call the Chevy Volt what it is, an electric car with a range extender, because we think you all understand what that means. I mean, you read all the details of the E-Flex platform that sits under the Volt (with updates), right? But imagine you're a Detroit Free Press writer and you've got to keep bringing news of this concept car to a general reading audience. What do you call the Volt? Is it a hybrid? Well, yes, by some definitions of the word. Is it an electric car? Again, yes, but...
So, to help the newsroom come up with a catchy and accurate name, writer Mark Phelan has a column out today where he goes through the possible contenders (hybrid, plug-in hybrid, series hybrid, electric car, extended-range electric vehicle) and why each isn't perfect. Phelan does make a good point that E-REV sounds good, it'll just take a while until everyone knows what the heck it means. If you've got a good moniker that you think the Freep should use, go ahead and share it with them (and us, of course).
Gallery: Chevy Volt Concept
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony Belding 8:42PM (6/10/2007)
The Chevy Volt, as described by GM, is a plug-in hybrid, it's a PHEV. It's the archetype, the apotheosis of PHEVs, it's exactly what PHEV advocates have been asking for. How can you call it anything else?
The Detroit News may or may not like the "plug-in hybrid" moniker, but so what? Nobody gave them authority to rewrite the language. Nobody gave that authority to GM either. It is what it is, and calling it something else only means you're trying to pull the wool over people's eyes. These terms already have well-established meanings (particularly thanks to advocacy groups like Plug-In Partners and Calcars).
And no, it's not "an electric car with a range extender" either. That is GM's weasel language, that's their spin. That makes it sound like an electric car with a magical little box of fairy dust that makes it go farther. I believe in calling a spade a spade, and calling a PHEV a PHEV.
I've actually overheard producers of yogurt whining that they can't call their product something else (apparently yogurt sounds "yucky" to many people) -- but there are truth in labeling laws in the food industry that prevent them from selling yogurt as something other than yogurt. If such laws existed in the auto industry, GM would never get away with calling the Volt an electric car. And if GM gets away with it, it'll only be because lazy or dishonest journalists give them a free ride.
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COINTELPRO 9:53PM (6/10/2007)
Plug-in hybrids is misleading label. Plug-in hybrids can be powered by an ICE engine and/or electric motor. This engine design is more complicated and less efficient than a Chevy Volt.
The Chevy Volt is a true electric vehicle since an ICE engine never powers this car.
The name they should use in the press is EV-R (Electric Vechicle - Recharger).
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Chris M 10:13PM (6/10/2007)
How about "Range Extended Electric Vehicle" or REEV? Or just call it the "Volt"?
All of this will be rather academic until GM actually builds the darn thing. GM better hurry up, or Toyota will trump them once again.
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Tony Belding 10:53PM (6/10/2007)
A hybrid, by definition, is any car that is operated from some combination -- any kind of combination -- of fuel and electric power. It's a broad term, it comprises serial hybrids, parallel hybrids, mild hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fuel cell hybrids, biofuel and flex-fuel hybrids. . . They are all hybrids, and the Chevy Volt likewise is a hybrid. One might even say it's the ultimate example of a hybrid, since it extends the duplicity of power all the way back to the operator, who can choose to fuel it with gasoline (including E85, as I understand) or grid power.
To be perfectly pedantic, the Chevy Volt is a "plug-in flex-fuel/electric series hybrid vehicle". That is a bit of a mouthful, and I don't think there's any need to spell all that out every time we talk about the car. My point would be that it's one kind of plug-in hybrid, and it should be called a plug-in hybrid.
I do think calling it an electric car is unfair to companies like Tesla, Phoenix, Myers, Miles and others who are creating genuine BEVs. If GM wants credit for bringing back the electric car, then they should build an actual electric car -- not a hybrid of any stripe.
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Joseph 11:06PM (6/10/2007)
E-REV?
What the heck?
Well, I don't think the car should be called a PHEV either. Technically it is a PHEV, but I thnk the term would confuse the public. (The same way CARB did with LEV, ULEV, SULEV, PZEV ect.) There's already parallel hybird, series hybrid, mild and full hybrid and blah blah blah.
I think the Volt should be called exactly what GM says it is: an electric car with a range extender. I mean, it does go 40 miles, which is comparable to some of the worst electric cars.
I do not think it should be called hybrid because the engine isn't mechanically attatched to the wheels. This may confuse some people. It does take a little bit of thinking to imagine a car that has an engine, but isn't connected to the wheels. Because of that, I think it is better to simply call it an electric car, with a range extender. And remember, having the correct technical terms isn't important when it comes to marketing a product; having a product people know and understand is important!
I might be wrong, so I think the best way to determine the correct term for the car is to have a survery. They'll try to explain how the Volt works to some people. To some they'll call the car a PHEV, and to others an EV with a range-extender. Whoever grasps the concept first using whichever term, will win. And that way the concept easiest to udnerstand will be chosen.
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PeakVT 11:57PM (6/10/2007)
"The Chevy Volt is a true electric vehicle since an ICE engine never powers this car."
If the Volt produced as a series hybrid then the ICE engine will never _directly_ power the wheels of the car. However, the ICE will occasionally power the wheels indirectly, after the electricity goes through a rectifier and chopper. Whether or not the Volt is a plug-in is a separate issue.
Thus the acronym for the most advanced vehicle would be ICE-S-PHEV (the Prius is an ICE-P-HEV - a parallel ICE hybrid), but like Chris said, who cares what they call it, lets see something on dealer lots already.
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Tony Belding 12:02AM (6/11/2007)
I don't think the term "plug-in hybrid" will confuse the public. I think what will really confuse the public would be calling it an "electric car" when it is not, in fact, an electric car. That makes it sound like GM is selling basically the same product as Tesla, Phoenix, Miles, ZAP, etc.
And that is exactly the kind of confusion that GM would like to create.
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Tim 9:59AM (6/11/2007)
It’s really pretty simple. I don’t understand why these geniuses in the media can’t sort it out. Then again….
Anyway, pay attention class. The e-Flex architecture is a 40 mile range Battery Electric Vehicle. Primary motive power comes from electricity and that’s the “e” part. It can be ordered with an assortment of available Auxiliary Power Units (that’s the “Flex” able part). I’m pretty happy with calling this car the e-Flex based Chevy Volt. There will be others like say, the e-Flex based Chevy Cobalt or (hopefully) the e-Flex based Chevy HHR (very cool). Now, if they really wanted fuel flexibility, they would use one APU for all e-Flex vehicles that could burn almost any combustible liquid… say a small turbine. Oh, they did that already. http://www.autoworld.com/news/GMC/Series_Hybrid.htm
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Mikael Johansson 12:39PM (6/11/2007)
EV with RE-ICE(flexfuel)
EV with RE-ICE(B10)
EV with RE-FC(hydrogen)
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Tim 12:55PM (6/11/2007)
I'd call it a scam. According to this September 1993 issue of the US Gov’t D.O.E.s Office of Transportation Technology’s HEV Technical Advisor paper... “After investigating both the Gas Turbine and the Stirling Engine, the choice of the HPU (Hybrid Power Unit) was narrowed to the Stirling engine.” GM completed this work in 1993! http://www.p2pays.org/ref/16/15287.pdf All about the batteries? There is so much smoke here, we can’t even find the mirrors.
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susan.kraemer 1:40PM (6/11/2007)
I prefer EREV as its just organised better mentally than REEV. Agree they should not call it a hybrid ev.I like GER EV gas extended range ev, so GEREV or even just a regular EREV is fine.
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Julia Pigworthy 9:00AM (9/21/2008)
How about ICEV (Internal Combustion and Electric Vehicle) as it correctly includes both OR either as the energy source for the car.
Will the low cost of maintenance for a pure EV be lost with the annual servicing of the ICE generator on this car? Doesn't this car simply add the maintenance costs associated with ICE cars to the extra cost of depreciating/maintaining the battery, less the cash saved one the lower energy cost per mile for commuting? A fast-charging pure electric vehicle allows us to unhook ourselves from both oil AND carmakers servicing costs, while the Volt helps preserve GMs engine servicing and parts industry, which is no doubt why this is the electric car they say people want.
They crushed the one they did want against the protests of willing purchasers. This car is a greenwashing patch up over the near-fatal wound they dealt to their perfectly practical high speed pure electric car.
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