A Chevrolet Volt Successor? That Looks Unlikely
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News of the Chevrolet Volt’s death predated an official announcement last November that the automaker would pull the plug on the PHEV, but we’ve heard rumors the automaker potentially had a replacement in store.
That’s likely not the case. GM President Mark Reuss told attendees at the automaker’s investor day conference last Friday that GM is finished developing hybrid powertrains. Instead, the focus will be on the final solution: battery-electric cars.
2019 Chevrolet Volt
“Hybrids are just countermeasures to an internal-combustion engine,” Reuss said. He added the automaker “can’t spend money to force the customer to carry around extra stuff they may not need.” Obviously, he’s pointing at the Volt’s backup gasoline engine coupled to the electric powertrain. The Voltec powertrain, a hero once upon a time, no longer makes sense in today’s market.
Rumors pegged GM to introduce a plug-in hybrid crossover to replace the Volt after its death early this year. However, with Reuss’ comments, it appears the Chevrolet Volt won’t receive a replacement the model deserves. While added longer ranges helps mitigate range anxiety itself, charging infrastructure remains a major hurdle to EV ownership. The Volt’s gasoline backup provided a fossil-fuel powered security blanket, for better or worse.
The news of no more hybrids at GM follows word that Cadillac will spearhead GM’s electric-car renaissance. The brand showed off an unnamed concept car ahead of the 2019 North American International Auto Show that previewed an electric SUV coming next decade. The SUV will ride on a new platform GM called BEV3—a scalable architecture that GM will employ across all of its brands eventually. The platform can underpin front-, rear- and all-wheel-drive electric vehicles.
Eventually, we’ll see nine of GM’s 20 planned electric cars by 2023 ride on the BEV3 platform.
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In China they still are selling the Buick Velite 6 which is a PHEV so they might mean only in the states or they may pull the plug (bad pun) on the Buick, too…
I had hoped they would just lift up the Velite 6 and sell it as the Volt SUV.
Now I’m not sure what the future is for the Velite 6. Is it even for sale? Last I heard it was postponed because the Chinese battery packs failed testing.
Now it wouldn’t surprise me if Velite 6 becomes EV-only and that becomes the Buick Electra SUV.
Yes, I said Electra. You can’t block me on Twitter twice, Mark.
Buick Electra, that’s a sexy name that deserves to be used again!
I think you’re right that it’s delayed yet if they decide to move forward with it, it’s still made in China (cheap) for China…
I refuse to buy an electric car until I can get good range, at a number of charge locations quickly. I think it’s extremely short sited to get rid of these stopgap cars. I can get 600+ miles of range in my Colorado diesel in 5 minutes at the pump, and blitzkrieg from Florida to Michigan with 1 fuel stop and a ton of caffeine. Not a single electric car can do that, or is expected to do that in the next 5 years. How does GM expect to sell electric cars to someone like myself? Last Time I had to be in Florida was during a potential hurricane, and I had 25 Gallons worth of Diesel in cans in my truck bed in case of fuel shortages and emergency evac. Again, what would I do with an electric car then, tow a huge generator with me, that I put fuel into?
That situation is exactly the thing that makes me laugh at people with electric only vehicles. What happens when there are extended outages? Hurricane country is always ripe for that. The northeast has also had issues in recent years, with hurricanes as well as early season heavy snowfall taking out large numbers of trees and power lines.
No power for a few days would be really inconvenient in a Bolt. Not so much in a Volt.
Not to mention anywhere in a non tropical climate is subject to ice storms during the winter. Michigan, where I live, was hit hard a few years ago. Electric vehicles only make sense if you have a garage to plug them in and a generator to supply electricity if the power is out
Generally speaking, very few households are a single vehicle household as most have reliable access to family members or friends ICE vehicle and that’s what used on long road trips or an emergency…If you have GM’s only EV, the Bolt EV, you have up to 238 miles of range (probably 33% less in the winter) but the idea is that your daily commute only consumes a very small amount of your total range…
Where EV do not make sense is when you cannot charge at home or work, I’m a part of that group since I live in a complex with deed parking spots and mine is far away from my meter…
That is what makes the Volt so outstanding, it is actually an EV in that an electric motor is always driving the wheels. The ICE when needed, drives a generator to keep a minimum of charge in the battery while the other electric machine (motor) drives the wheels. It is an EV whose battery is never dead, as long as there is fuel in the ICE.s tank. So on long trips there is no “range anxiety”.
But I agree, if you do not have easy access to a charging station either at home or at work, then any EV including the Volt, loses its appeal.
I’ve used my volt for a couple years now without a charging station. It plugs in at home and gets a complete charge in 8 or 12 hours depending on how much you trust your electric system.
I’m fairly sure that if I had a Tesla I couldn’t have done this. From what real world figures I can find, Tesla charges about 2mi range per hour of charge on a 120v plug, my volt did 4.5 mi per hour of charge.
It’s also like to know why electric car owners want to carry all those unused batteries around.. They are HEAVY.
You make excellent points!
If GM really wanted to market this car perhaps they would have contracted with area electrical contractors to cost effectively install 240V Level 2 chargers in interested customer’s homes. This could have been offered as a sales incentive. I was fortunate enough to already have a 240V outlet in my garage so I always had 4 hour recharges, which has worked out perfectly for me.
Tesla is sort of looking at this idea with their “Power Wall” concept.
No gasoline or diesel would be really inconvenient. Not so much on a horse.
There really were people who thought the automobile would never be able to replace hay burners.
Whether it sticks around for another 10 years, or 30, doesn’t matter; internal combustion isn’t forever.
Jonny B
I agree with you thats kinda like putting the cart before the Horse to go full on electric before having the charging sites with high speed charging. Its not like you can carry extra electricity when the power goes out.
You can carry extra electricity with the Volt, that is its beauty.
Exactly Jonny B. That is why I think hybrids are the way to go for the foreseeable future. When a new technology is introduced it has to be leaps and bounds better than what it is supposed to replace assuming the old tech is broken. For now fuel based sources have more energy. Until battery tech gets better I don’t see electric being viable for most people. Not taking into account all of the rare precious metals that it takes to make these batteries. I think for people to really want electric cars they will have be at 600-1000 mile range. Then people will start being interested in them. Also I do not agree that we need to build chargers everywhere. When the first cars came out they didn’t put pumps in front of buildings. So I do not see why electric vehicles need to get the pass. Just like gas people would have to be responsible enough to “re-charge.” I imagine somewhere down the line it may be common to see gas stations offering gasoline, hydrogen and a supercharger station.
yeah this comment doesnt really make sense when you think of the big picture of overall cost of ownership. 99 out of 100 trips you dont need that truck. i have both a truck and a volt, and guess what i drive my volt 9 out of 10 times. i get an average mpg over the 2 vehicles close to 100, and my repairs and maintenance have been cut to a fifth. your truck is costing you a ton of money. you’d be way better off buying a second hand volt and using it as your donkey, saving the important long haul trips or workhorse trips for the truck.
What a waste. GM has great, truly advanced tech that still will be useful for at least a decade and they applied it to a whopping two cars in the US — and one of those was the blink-and-you-missed-it ELR.
Volt owners *love* their car. They love how it drives, its tech, its quality, and how they barely use any fuel but it’s there if they need it. They are loyal and could have grown in number if GM would have ever advertised the vehicle and its tech. Yet GM never could be bothered to use it in other vehicles and grow the customer pie.
This is what drives me NUTS. The tech is perfect. I drive to work and back for pennies and use gas when I need to cross the state. I’m averaging 3000 miles a gallon in the summer months and 1000 in the winter. I love my Volt!
Now that my kids have outgrown the back seat and I have a dog that needs trips to the park; I need something larger. If GM we’re to put Voltec into the Buick wagon or one of their small crossovers – even if they lost half the range of the 53 mile volt – I’d happily fork over my money.
This is stupid and short sighted. I’ll happily go electric tomorrow if not for the price on the highend or the space on the lowend. No way in hell am I going to wait three years to buy and $80K Caddy with decent range, size and styling. Bolt is a hard pass for me. Where’s the 50K split-the-difference vehicle?
you need to talk to your politician who passed laws that said GM has to sell so many zero emission vehicles to get ZEV credits to sell PUs and large SUVs and the volt does not meet the laws. the govt has more to do with what you drive than GM
Amen. GM finally got the Volt right then they cancel it. Typical.
I certainly disagree with GM’s reasoning here! I too believe that until you can charge your car as fast, simple and conveniently and as an ICE car, all-electric cars cannot serve as full replacements for the traditional gas-powered car! The backup ICE is what makes the Volt such a great car! The Volt’s tech is still the perfect bridge between the two opposing powerplant sources until such super-fast charging capabilities become reality! The Volt tech simply needs to be refined a little more and applied to more than one kind of vehicle! Particularly an SUV/crossover and/or trucks!
So now they are going to “waste” money on all electric and self driven vehicles that currently make up a small slice of the pie and few buyers want or can afford. The Volt gave buyers the best of both worlds so it seems like a waste to completely give up on it totally.
The Volt was a nice idea and well engineered car that just did not work.
The trouble is this. People who really want electric today they are looking to buy full electric. The Prius is even being left in the dust by EV fans as it is not electric enough.
The other reality is Gas is not going away anytime soon outside places that legislate it out.
The idea of cheap EV cars that make a profit are still a ways away. The best thing to do is make specialty niche EV models that sell and make money much as Tesla has been doing. The S model is a major profit maker while the 3 not so much. Tesla did do a SUV but it fails due to the fact it was overly expensive to make and it limited profits. Also quality issues have not done it much good.
GM has made a major shift as part of their EV plan. They are now looking to move these models to Cadillac where at $80K they can make a very good EV but still make money on it.
Also note Al Oppenhieser has moved to the EV program this is a strong signal that GM is going to move into the performance market. The COPO EV Camaro was a strong signal of what market they are looking at.
The EV for many like the S are image cars. People buy them not to just save a tree but to be seen in an advanced car at the club. People will pay for that as we have seen. The S is getting very long in the tooth with no clear update coming. The new Taycan Porsche will also enter the fray and it will prove to be a hit in the image circles for no other reason than it is a Porsche one and EV car two.
The efforts and investments in the Volt were not wasted as much of the technology here has transferred to the regular EV programs.
Also while many missed it GM is investing with two other companies to increase the infrastructure to charge cars. This is a key part as not everyone can charge at home but also on the road no one wants to go way out of the way. But most of these cars like the Tesla never leave town to begin with.
As for storms be it a hurricane or snow storm. If the electric is out you are not getting any gas either. If the power is out you are not going to get anything out of the gas station with the electric pumps out. You had better have it at home in a can.
Now in my case I have a home generator that is becoming very common today. Power goes out the generator kicks in automatically and my home is at full power. If I had an EV it would be charging.
It is time to step back and stop choking on these small changes like the loss of the Volt and wait to see just what the full plan is. GM has just cracked open the door on their plans and there is a lot more to come. With their mix of profitable higher end EV models it will keep them making money while developing cheaper and better EV technology. Then the gas cars will still carry on making money.
So many people really have no clue how far along GM is on these systems due to the fact they are not showing their cards yet.
With the new gas CUV models and the number of EV models I expect Hamtramck and Lordtown to find new product.
Note their unions have been quiet and only been pushing for transfers to hold them till new product arrives. They appear to know something that has not been announced.
Hamtramck could be the perfect place to centralize the Cadillac EV programs. Lordstown could cover the small CUV models for Chevy and GMC.
So let just sit back and see just what develops. Losing the Volt is only the end of non profit hybrids the public has little interest in anymore.
A lot of fancy words but I don’t think you have any idea why Volt owners love their cars so much.
The loss of the Volt technology, if that is what is happening, is not a “small change”. It’s really not clear what is going to happen; GM has allowed the Volt to be classified as a PHEV, but it is not really a hybrid in the common definition of the term. So GM’s seeming announcement of the “death of the hybrid” worries Volt lovers and loyal GM customers who fear that they will have no American built equivalent to take it’s place. They, perhaps better that GM management, know that American suburban automotive infrastructure is not ready for EV’s or autonomous vehicles. It will take a lot more than “investing” in today’s pathetic charging facilities to even come close to what Musk has heavily invested in, but what Tesla owners, after the thrill of showing off to their friends at the CC, find is not really useful for long trips in most of America. So why announce the death of a good and well loved product before you are ready to “show your cards”? Is it all about stock price?
I hate to suggest that anyone is a troll, but your arguments seem to come right out if GM’s or perhaps UAW’s headquarters. I hope it turns out as good as you imply.
Good luck, Reuss. You’re wrong. Once again.
Going to all electric is OK if you are in a city like it was designed for . But what do you do if I want to drive to Florida every winter.
There is not enough charging stations and it takes to long to charge with the system they have today.
Hybrid is the way to go until the industry has the future technology with all electric vehicles.
In a city it’s awful unless you are referring to using it in the city and then returning home to the suburbs and your level 2 charger at your house.
I’m not convinced that Reuss’ comment means what everyone is deriving from it. He said they wouldn’t *develop* new plug-in hybrid powertrains. Doesn’t mean they won’t use or reuse the great one they’ve already got, and is still superior to every other plug-in hybrid on the market! They can adjust battery capacity for larger applications (like the new Trailblazer?), if necessary. Given they were able to get 25% more power from Voltec in the ELR than in the Volt, they already know how to bump power for larger applications.
We can hope, anyway. Discontinuing Voltec right now is clearly bad for GM fans who want practical EV. The Bolt cannot directly replace it, and new GM EV’s are at least 2 years away, including adequate, non-Tesla Level 3 infrastructure. So there are probably at least 100,000 Volt drivers out there who are going to abandon Chevrolet as a result, and probably never come back.
Yes you said it perfectly!
the volt is not a zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) so no ZEV credits they need to sell PUs and large SUVs where the money is to be made.
Volt was a AT-PZEV, it qualified for ZEV credits which is somewhat based on range…The demand was pretty weak and now with phase out of the federal tax credit, now was the time to pull the plug on it…That isn’t to say GM should have given up on PHEVs…
Makes me think of 2012 when Super Storm Sandy took out electric in most NY metro area for 2 weeks or more. My Company brought in temporary fuel tanks for Company vehicles. I worked for a national communication comp. What the neck would have happened if all vehicles were battery powered?
They’d suffer just like how the ICE did when the pumps were out during the outage. You can’t refuel your car if the pump won’t work.
There’s also batteries and gas-powered generators too.
West of the Mississippi River, and East the Rocky Mountains it is a long way to anything. All electric vehicles make near zero sense for private owners. Businesses might be able to make out with computed route programming for delivery use.
That is why the Volt exists! It is the perfect solution if you live in a suburban area but have to often take long road trips.
I want to start with comments by Scott3. You sound like a company man (GM) who does not drive or understand the Volt. To say that the car “just did not work” is preposterous! I have been driving Volts for over 7 years and that is 3 different models up to our 3 month old 2019. The car works every single day for us and pleasantly so. Unless we are on a long road trip, that is when we use our very nice ICE luxury sedan. I don’t mind admitting the loss of the Volt has me choked up. It’s not that I oppose change, it is because, as a Sr. Citizen, I could be dead before a bureaucracy the size of GM got their act together and gave us what we really need and want! A perfect example would be the Volt it’s self. Years of promises.
Mary & Mr. Reuss may be correct that hybrids are a thing of the past. I stand steadfastly with the Volt owners who still refer to their cars using the phrase that GM management gave us: Extended Range EV. That’s what it is, always an EV but not battery exclusive. Hybrids use and need their traditional ICE drive-trains when you push the pedal to the floor. Volts don’t because they are always an EV
I was pleasantly surprised to read the many comments from those of you who clearly love and understand the Volts. Thanks
The very fact that the Chevrolet Volt failed should tell General Motors Board of Directors two things.. CEO Mary Barra is a moron that needs to be replaced and that the EV market might be more challenging that first thought; a third idea to consider is building a Chevy Equinox with guts from a a Chevy Volt to test whether the concept would work as a CUV.
I’ve had the same thought on the Equinox. Thanks for confirming.
Look around people are in mostly two groups ICE or EV. Few are in the middle ground and if they are they own one of each.
Just look even here on this site how few own a Volt.
Just look to the comments here about if the power is knocked out you can’t recharge?
Well unless you store gas in a gravity fed mode you still need electric to run a gas station pump. This is why everyone raids gas stations before a hurricane as it could be weeks before you can fill in some areas.
Hybrids are not cheap nor popular anymore. The slowing sales on the Prius is a big warning things are in decline for this kind of product.
Please also note GM now is on a push with two companies to build more charging across the country.
To compare a Volt to the pathetic Prius is almost an insult and just shows how ill informed you are. One of Volt’s biggest marketing problems, thanks to GM’s total refusal to market this car, is that most people believe that the Volt is just an expensive Prius. I agree with Codilac, you sound like a GM/UAW company man; I suggested you might be a GM/UAW troll. If you are not please accept my apologies; but you really need to recheck/rethink your facts.
I saw very little advantage in the hybrids. We had one in the family for a year or so and it was disposed of quickly. I watched reports on new hybrids but they didn’t change my mind. And then the Volt became available and hybrids quickly became an afterthought. Who would want one when the Volt is available?
My 17 Volt is available if someone will take my lease so I can get into a Bolt, used are starting to get cheap enough for me now. Volt’s a great car but I’m like others : once you go electric you never go back….
But the Volt is electric! That’s why all Volt owners love it; all the driving advantages of an EV, but with no range anxiety. That hard 238 miles or whatever range the Bolt has will go quicker than you think! Unless you are a pure city-dweller, think before you trade down to a Bolt.
Much of the EV mandate seems to be coming from the Chinese government. As for EV in general, the new favorite fuel for power plants is natural gas. Rather than use natural gas to make electricity, why not fuel ICE vehicles directly with natural gas? Conversions have been around for years and surely the OEMs could make the things perform with good emissions and fuel economy. Cut out the middle man at the power plant.
I agree in theory, in fact, that would probably be more “green” than EVs with today’s power grid. But you probably have the same refueling infrastructure problems that EVs have.
I own a 2014 Volt since it was new. Have loved it, and rarely burn any gas. But having that for longer trips has been nice.
The only reason the Volt “failed” in sales was:
1. Too small, should have been an SUV.
2. Poor marketing. GM never taught people what it was, how it worked, and how much money they could save.
3. Cheap gas. If you compare it to a Cruze, it’s hard to choose the Volt solely on economics. Another reason it should have been a premium nameplate (Buick or GMC) and an SUV.
The argument that Voltec is too expensive is incorrect. The anti-Volt crowd likes to make it sound like the car has the full cost of an ICE powertrain and the full cost of a BEV powertrain. A Voltec powertrain only needs a battery that is about 1/4 the size of the Bolt battery. That’s 75% less, of a very expensive component. That savings more than covers the cost of a basic 1.5L ICE and a gearbox with some clutches. There’s a reason why Volt costs thousands less than Bolt AND has a much nicer interior. Because the powertrain is thousands less.
Thanks for pointing that out, I’ve always suspected that was true, but I’ve never seen the facts published to back it up. Perhaps a anti-Volt conspiracy to hide the truth and support Mary’s plan for the new “all electric” GM?