After last month we learned how the car behaved under the scorching Arizona sun, this week GM announced the completion of the 1,776 mile Freedom Drive, which took the Volt from Austin, Texas, to New York City.
The drive started on July 1 and was meant to both test the car's behavior on long journeys and promote it to the potential customers. The car reached New York on Independence Day.
“While our engineers are still working on our final calibrations, we could not have asked for the Volt to perform any better than it did," bragged Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director, global electric vehicles and Chevrolet Volt.
“The Freedom Drive proved the Chevrolet Volt can be your primary vehicle, whether you are commuting across town or across the country.”
The Volt will be initially launched in late 2010 in California. It will come powered by lithium-ion batteries which will give it a range of up to 40 miles without the use of the internal combustion engine, which will increase its total range to some 300 miles.
The first ever Volt rolled off the assembly lines in the beginning of April, with the US government showing its support for GM's program immediately. The Volt is part of the order for over 5,000 hybrid and electric vehicles placed with local manufacturers. The first 100 units of the car will thus be purchased by government agencies.
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