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http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technol...836/story.html

Never mind that its exterior isn't as avant-garde as the underlying technology deserves.

Never mind that a few interior trim bits -- notably the plastic on the inside of the rear doors -- are not up to snuff in car that will cost as much as a BMW 3 Series (General Motors Canada has yet to price the Volt, but it costs $41,000 U.S. south of the border).

And pay no mind to the nascent scandal that sees Edmunds.com proclaim "GM Lied: Chevy Volt Is Not a True EV."

Essentially, the entire kerfuffle comes down to this: In very specific circumstances -- cruising at 110-plus kilometres an hour after its battery has run down -- the Volt's onboard 1.4-litre range-extending engine can directly drive a generator that does drive the wheels. So, yes, to the absolutist, the Volt is not a pure EV. It matters not a whit.

What matters is the following: Despite my repeated attempts to be as profligate as possible -- full-throttle acceleration from stoplights, air conditioning going full blast and even unnecessarily turning on the seat warmers -- the Volt I tested eked out 42.1 miles (67.8 km) in pure electric mode.

That's more than the 40 miles (64.4 km) General Motors has been promising since the car's inception, more than the rumoured 48 km of electrical range some naysayers have been spreading over the Internet and, most importantly, more than most North Americans typically drive in their daily commute. This means the Chevrolet Volt -- like a true EV -- will consume no gasoline during regular use.

What sets the Volt apart from its EV competition -- the Nissan Leaf, BMW's Mini E and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV -- is that, once its main battery depletes its supply of excitable electrons, the Chevrolet doesn't become a proverbial boat anchor and require eight hours of recharging before continuing on its way.

For those needing a refresher on Volt technology, once the 16 kilowatt-hours of lithium-ion battery power are depleted, the onboard 1.4L Ecotec gas engine fires up and, as GM's engineers are even more adamantly pointing out, powers a generator that feeds a big 111-kW traction motor without ever being connected directly or indirectly to the wheels -- with the specific exception noted above.

The Volt certainly feels, drives and responds like a true electric vehicle.

For instance, the electric motor is all but silent. There's no gear whine, no buzzing and, naturally, no exhaust roar. And, contrary to expectations, there is no real acclimatization process needed. Within minutes, the Volt's silence turns from eerie to normal and, perhaps even more surprisingly, welcome.

Indeed, one of the reasons why the Volt requires so little acclimatization is that it feels so normal. Despite being tied into the electric propulsion system, the brakes feel completely conventional, with none of the lurching common to the regenerative braking systems found in all hybrids and EVs.

That competent comportment is backed up by more than adequate acceleration.

The traction motor's 111 kW translates into 149 horsepower, which, in and of itself would provide decent if not scintillating performance. But as electric vehicle proponents eagerly point out, an electric motor's advantage is its prodigious low-end torque. In the Volt's case, 273 pound-feet is available from zero r.p.m. The result is an acceleration time to 100 kilometres an hour in less than nine seconds. Again, this isn't scintillating by Ferrari or Corvette standards, but it is perfectly in line with acceleration times of the conventional family sedans the Volt hopes to supplant.

If you're looking for a comparison for the Volt's performance, think Chevy Malibu V6. Ditto the handling, which, despite the Volt weighing in at a fairly hefty 1,715 kilograms (the batteries alone account for about 200 kg), feels light and responsive, if not outright sporty.

The most impressive aspect of the Volt's comportment is neither its power nor its handling but rather the sheer sophistication of its entire drivetrain. This is a complicated automobile, possessing no less than three clutches, a set of planetary gears, two electric motors (one doubling as a generator), a gasoline engine, a huge battery pack and enough computers and electrical subsystems to control a space shuttle.

Yet they all work together in a seamless syncopation that is the envy of any other electric car I have tested. The most impressive thing about the Volt is that, when the main battery is finally depleted, it is almost impossible to tell when the gasoline engine has fired up to start producing electricity. There's absolutely no lurching from the drivetrain and, unless you're cruising at some seriously supra-legal speeds, even the gasoline engine is eerily silent.

I know, because when the battery charge meter started indicating imminent gas engine startup, I eliminated all other sources of noise. I turned off the stereo and air conditioning system and even shushed the other occupants in the car -- and I still couldn't hear that little Ecotec internally combusting.

Need further proof of the Volt's bona fides? After the main battery ran out of errant electrons at the 67.8-km mark, I needed to travel an additional eight kilometres to reach our final destination, a total -- that I only add for emphasis -- of 75.8 km.

So, regardless of purity of design or the semantics of whether it's an EV, an extended-range electric vehicle or even a glorified hybrid -- as the headline-seeking Edmunds.com contends -- the Volt is an amazing accomplishment and by far the most practical and accomplished alternative to the conventional automobile yet.

Yet again, GM is the leader of electric vehicles.

VOLT > LEAF