The introduction of the 2013 model year Chevrolet Volt brings an increase in the car’s pure-electric driving range by three miles (4.8 km) for a total of 38 miles (61.1 km), compared to the 2012 model’s 35 mile EV range.
Consequently, the 2013 Volt’s miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) will increase from 94 miles to 98 miles and the total range, including extended range operation through the use of the gasoline engine, will be 380 miles (611 km).
General Motors says it achieved this by making some minor changes to the material composition of the battery cell chemistry, which resulted in improved performance and durability.
“The best way to explain what we’ve done at the cell level is to compare it to a cake batter recipe,” explains Bill Wallace, GM director of Global Battery Systems Engineering..
“Sometimes if you use more sugar and less vanilla you get a better tasting cake. We’ve done some work at the cell level to modify the ‘ingredients’ to make a better end result,” he adds.
The company’s engineers also enlarged the total storage capacity of the battery from 16 kWh to 16.5 kWh, and expanded the state-of-charge window to use 10.8 kWh of the total battery energy – up from the 2012MY’s 10.3 kWh.
A downside of these improvements is a slight increase to the Volt’s charge times, with a full recharge using a 120V taking 10.5 hours and a 240V charging unit, up to 4.25 hours.
