The A F V

An amazing thing has happened in the auto industry.

The once largest and most powerful auto-maker, General Motors, has announced that it intends to build a new kind of vehicle. It is a plug in hybrid.

But more than that, it is serial plug in hybrid with composite materials and regenerative brakes. And it has an engine and platform that will allow it to use almost any kind of energy source-oil, natural gas, diesel, coal, nuclear, ethanol, bio-diesel, hydrogen, wind, solar, you name it, this vehicle can employ it.

It is a true All Fuel Vehicle.

It is the Chevrolet Volt.

The new platform, of which this car is the first embodyment of, will be called the E Flex. This platform could be the basis for many other vehicles and vehicle styles.

Here is the story from the Plug in Partners blog.

Detroit shocker: GM unveils plug-in hybrid-
and plans to build it

The Flint Journal
Sunday, January 07, 2007
By Todd Seibttseibt

DETROIT - General Motors unveils a shocking concept car today: the Chevrolet VOLT.

The VOLT moves GM toward a car driven solely by electrical components - yes, an electric car.But it's one that plugs in to a normal outlet to recharge and has a small engine on board. And those two features mean no limits on driving range because of battery life.

GM plans to exhibit the VOLT at the Detroit auto show, which opens to the public Saturday at Cobo Center. And the company says it will put the vehicle into production as soon as it can work out some battery issues.

"We're committed to doing this fast," said Jon Lauckner, GM's vice president for global program management." more

Perhaps what is more amazing, is how the plug in vehicle has gone from relative obscurity just a few years ago, to a vehicle that is now on the front burner at GM, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, and most of the other car companies.

Such vehicles can be very instrumental in bridging the gap between the transportation sector and the stationary generation sector and can, if employed in significant numbers, make the transition to a sustainable economy a real possibility.

The Chevrolet Volt will be a world class automobile that runs on wind power. Or it can run on the energy produced by your roof top PVs.

In reverse mode, it might charge your house or it might help the electric utility company meet its peak load. It is a storage device for the variable energy from the wind. It will help society more effective utilize our existing generation capacity.

This is not just an electric vehicle with a efficient onboard generator.

It is hope.

For it is an important step to the carbon freedom

that we will all soon crave,

And, it is a significant stride

towards a more advanced post petroleum world.




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