GM makes an electric car called the Chevy Volt. Unlike a Tesla, for example, the Volt is fairly low-priced. It also differs from electric cars in that does have a gasoline motor. However, unlike hybrid cars, it doesn’t use gasoline to power the engine. Rather, gasoline is used to generate electricity. In other words, the car always runs on a electricity, but it has an on-board gas-powered electric generator to power the electric motor when necessary.
The battery basically lasts 38 miles, which means you can go back and forth to work, or school or whatever without ever needing gas. In this way, the car becomes more like your cell phone. Charge it overnight, use it during the day, plug it in at night when you get home. Whenever you do go somewhere the gas engine allows for approximately 340 miles on a full tank of gas.
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In a lot of ways, this really is the best of both worlds. Mostly you drive an electric car, but if you ever need to go far, or can’t recharge for whatever reason, there is always a gas station around that you can use to keep going.
GM Volt Recall
GM is issuing a recall for the Chevy Volt. If you are wondering what is wrong with the cars, that is the interesting part. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the cars. There are no parts that need replaced, no service that needs done to make sure the car drives safe, no repair of any kind.
Instead, because the Volt is an electric car, it is silent when you park it. In other words, it sounds like it is off. Now, for some reason, car makers seem to think that electric cars shouldn’t use keys to turn it on and off. The Volt is no exception. Instead, you push a little blue button.
And, here is where the “problem” comes in. It seems that in some cases, drivers forget to turn the car off. Again, when parked, it is silent because the generator isn’t running. It does have the little ding sound when you open the door without turning it off, but if you’ve ever left your lights on, or your keys in the ignition of a regular car, you know that sometimes, you can be distracted enough to not notice.
With the Volt, the issue is that while the car is still on, it is still using the battery. Eventually, it will drain, and the car will engage the gas-powered electric generator to keep the car running. If your garage is connected to your house, or it is just an enclosed enough space, running the generator builds up exhaust gases. GM is apparently “aware” of two cases where this has caused some sort of injury.
So, the recall is nothing more than a software update that will limit the amount of time the car can be left in the on position after the driver exits. The car will basically turn itself off rather than run the gas generator all night.
In other words, GM is recalling a car because some people can’t seem to use it right.