The first above-the-line national campaign for an electric car has been launched in the USA: slap bang in the middle of one of the most lucrative pieces of ad real estate: the World Series of Baseball.
The campaign focuses on that old chesnut amid the EV dabate: ‘range anxiety’.
We had been pretty excited by the potential for low slung phatness when GM revealed the Volt concept (above). The production car, however appears rather dull (below). We suppose it’s typical case of concept bravado being compromised by market realities.
GM has gone to great lengths to differentiate the Volt (which it calls a range-extended electric vehicle), from battery-driven plug-ins like the Nissan Leaf by accentuating the Volt’s greater range.
According to press releases the Volt provides an electrically driven range of between 25 to 50 miles. Beyond that a small internal combustion engine drives a generator that keeps power flowing to the electric motor, which can also be used to turn the wheels.
The Volt’s electric range is, in a sense, only limited only by the amount of gasoline in the tank. Bit of an enviro-riddle that, but we think we understand.
Nissan claims a range of 100 miles for their battery driven baby, the Leaf, on the other hand. problem is, once the Battery runs down, there’s no choice but to find a plug point.
