Electric car charges into Alamogordo

[Ella20110307]

Efren Alpizar drove clear across Texas and through most of New Mexico last week.
Nothing special about that, right? It is when you make most of your trip on nothing more than an electrical charge from a wall socket and nine gallons of gas.
Alpizar, who arrived at Desert Sun Motors in Alamogordo last week driving a 2011 Chevrolet Volt, is an product trainer for an independent company that contracts with the General Motors in testing new technologies.
Alpizar made several stops along his journey from San Antonio, Texas, to Alamogordo he also stopped in El Paso, Las Cruces and Roswell, in a Chevrolet Volt. The anticipation of the car's appearance at Desert Sun was evident as several employees rushed out the door to take a peek at the electric plug-in hybrid as it rolled into the parking lot.
If they were expecting a "futuristic" looking car, their hopes were dashed when the Volt pulled into the lot. It looks like any other standard vehicle on the road.
The car can travel between 25 to 50 miles on a 16 kWh lithium-ion battery before the vehicle's built-in gas generator not a combustion engine kicks in to recharge the battery system. The generator starts, Alpizar said, when the car's battery reaches 22 percent. The generator stays on long enough to recharge the batter to 80 percent before it turns itself off and allows the Volt to cruise down the highway on only electric power.
"The generator helps maintain a minimum charge," Alpizar said.
The car also has what
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is called a "parasitic draw," meaning it collects energy from various parts of the car and sends that energy to the electric motor.
Motors on each wheel collect kinetic energy used while applying the brakes and also sends it to the battery system. The same applies for traveling up steep inclines, such as a mountain.
A recent trip to High Rolls in the Volt yielded no typical engine noise as it would have with a traditional combustible engine.
"It's pretty quiet," Alpizar said.
Alpizar said the generator requires premium-level fuel because "it burns better and doesn't get stale" from inconsistent use.
The car is charged via a 120-240 VAC residential outlet, which means no external charging station is needed.
The plug-in to the vehicle is located slightly behind the front driver's side wheel, just forward of the door, and resembles a typical gas tank.
"The vehicle will never overcharge," Alpizar said.
Alpizar said the infrastructure needed to maintain the car is in place in only limited locations around the country. For example, he charged his vehicle during an overnight stay at a motel.
"I asked the motel staff for an extension power cord and plugged it into the wall outlet in my room," he said.
He said many business and national restaurant chains along the East Coast are building "recharging stations" where Volt owners can recharge their vehicle while shopping for grabbing a bite to eat.
"I think you'll start seeing more of these recharging stations as the car becomes more popular and is more widely used," he said. "It's just not there right now, so you do what you have to do."
Theft of the vehicle's power power cord also could become a problem and replace traditional "siphoning" of gasoline.
But the "brains" of the car it's completely loaded with high-tech gadgetry and digital screens that help the driver maintain optimum driving conditions is so highly developed that it will alert its owners, via e-mail or text message, when the vehicle is abruptly unplugged from a power source.
The car's top speed is 100 mph. It is priced at about $40,000, but Alpizar acknowledged that people who would typically be interested in the vehicle is a small, but growing, population.
"This vehicle is for the environmentally conscience," he said.
At the moment, the Volt is only available in select regions of the country - California, Washington, D.C., Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Austin, Texas. Wider availability for the remainder of the country won't happen until summer 2012.
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