General Motors’ shift from an internal combustion engine-producing company to one that makes electric motors is sputtering. EV sales are up, but growing slower than expected. The company’s next-generation Ultium platform, in particular, isn’t meeting expectations. GM’s new electric trucks and SUVs seem perennially delayed — or full of buggy software.
I think I have an easy solution to a lot of these problems: bring back the Chevy Volt.
Remember the Volt, GM’s scrappy Toyota Prius fighter from the mid-2010s? The company was lauded when it first came out in 2010 as a prescient bet on vehicles with electric powertrains. And it was undeniably a very good hybrid. The first-generation model got 36 miles of electric range before the gas kicked in, while later versions would get a whopping 53 miles of electric range.
Honestly, it sounds like you do a lot of driving and a full-electric car would save you a lot! I can understand not wanting to put all your eggs in one basket charging at home, but if you also have an ICE car you won’t be totally stuck by an extended power outage or whatever. Give full-BEV some thought. Eventually you realize you don’t need to charge anywhere but home, aside from road trips and rare power outages. The only times I use public charging within 50 miles from home is when it’s free (who am I to turn down free juice?) Plus, as far as power outages go, an EV is an asset: my car doesn’t support vehicle-to-load (V2L) or anything, but I have an inverter I can plug into the 12-volt battery that can run a fridge for a few days or so.