The Chevrolet Volt is the first plug in hybrid vehicle announced by General Motors in July 2007. This announcement fundamentally changed the landscape of hybrid cars! It got all the other auto companies into a race that was basically for the benefit of the consumer in the end!
It got all the companies to release highly efficient versions of their existing models and when that was not enough, they started using Hybrid ( battery plus engine) technology to improve fuel efficiency even further. In the meantime all of them were developing plug-in hybrids of their own. As history has it, the Nissan Leaf, the Tesla Roadster and other cars beat GM to the finish line but the most anticipated car was the Volt due to numerous press releases as well as unofficial news leaks made by the company which kept the car in the spotlight for so many years.
Now that the car is in the market, it has been surrounded by another controversy. This time it is shown that this car is not a TRUE plug-in hybrid meaning that the batteries do not always power the motors that turn the wheel, at high speeds the engine also powers the wheels rather than just power the battery. Now this a serious PR blow to the company and a blow to the ego of loyal fans. As far as I am concerned it really doesn't make much of a difference as you get an extended range hybrid just like the Prius models and the engine kicks in only at the higher speeds of 70 mph!
Although this car is far away from being launched in Pakistan, it will be available through unofficial channels like the Prius is also available here. Also I have heard that the Pakistan Government currently has no tax on Hybrid vehicles which , if true, is a major plus point! The impact that I think this will most likely have in our country is that, the efficiently designed engines will pass down the product lines into the Pakistani models and help relieve the fuel load by a lot!
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