"I’ve been informed that you’re an automotive journalist," Chris said.
"Well, that’s one of the more generous descriptions of my work," I chuckled.
"Well, we’re well aware of your enthusiasm of the Volt, and the positive exposure you’ve given it. We’d like to give you a chance to live with the car for about a week to get your real-world impressions, as well as judge others’ impressions."Chris reached down and handed me a soft-sided piece of luggage. "Here’s a digital video camera. If you don’t mind, we’d like you to get your own, and others’ reactions to the Volt on video, and turn it back in with the car."
"Sure," I said. "One more thing…what should I do with my car?"
"Well," he said, "You’ve got two choices. Either one of us can follow you home with the Volt, or the dealership has agreed to let you leave your car here, and they will do a full interior and exterior detail job, and top off the tank for you."
"Well, that’s too good to pass up!" I said as I shook his hand. "Just let me get some of my belongings out of my car."
"No problem," he said.
I transferred my personal effects to the Volt, and set up the tripod in the front seat to get my driving impressions. I made sure to secure the camera the best I could, hoping to keep it upright in light of the SS’s substantial accelerative capabilities.
I got on my way and hit the record button. (REC light flashing):
"Here I am in the new Volt SS. I know what you’re thinking, ‘the Volt is barely out, how can there be an SS already?’ Well, the GM folks have been kind enough to give me a pilot model of the SS that they’re considering for production. They’ve told me it’s potentially very close to production, but they want to gauge the public reaction to it, so that’s what I’m going to do."
As I pull up to a stoplight, I turn to the camera, "One of the differences between the SS and the standard Volt, obviously, is the power. And let me tell you, it’s pretty noticeable." As I floor the car, I jolt the camera slightly, and then look over, "That was about 60 miles per hour right there. As you could see, it didn’t take long."
Throughout the rest of the day, I continued my video log, including footage of onlookers and gawkers at stoplights, thumbs-up signs, turned heads, and one young guy in a modified Honda Civic that I’d just humbled in an impromptu stop light drag, "Dude, what the heck is in that thing?" he exclaimed. "That thing’s *** fast!"
"Electric and diesel," I said. He gave me a thumbs up as he drove away.
I happed to have a friend who was a member of a local hybrid club, and I knew he’d be interested in this latest novelty.
"Hello?"
"Hey Joe, it’s Ed."
"What’s up, my brotha!"
"You won’t believe what I’m driving right now."
"What, a Ferrari?"
"No. Even better. I’ve got a Volt SS."
"What!?!" Joe said incredulously. "They don’t even make those!"
"Not yet," I corrected. "It’s a prototype that GM lent me for a week to try out and get public reaction on."
"Dude, we’ve got a club meeting tonight. You HAVE to bring it."
"Sure, I think it’d be a blast."
"For sure, dude! See you later!"
I pulled into the driveway of the shopping center where the club meet was happening. Appropriately enough, they were gathered at the local vegetarian restaurant, the designated watering-hole of the hybrid club.
Volts were rare enough as it was. One of the other members happened to already have one of the regular models. But as I pulled in, I could see a lot of curious eyes checking the car out, and a few pointing to the SS badges and beefier rolling stock. As I parked the car, in no time, almost all of the members were huddled around it.
I opened up the doors, and several people checked out the interior and some of the subtle differences of the SS.
"Check it out, it’s a diesel" one of them said to his friend.
"Pop the hood," he replied.
Up to this point, I hadn’t even popped the hood. Under the hood, a big plastic shround had "SS" prominently embossed on the cover, with "E-Flex CDTi" underneath.
"Is it fast?" One of the club members asked.
"Compared to what?" I replied.
"I don’t know, like my Prius," he said.
"Anything’s fast compared to your Prius, bro!" joked one of his friends.
"Shut up!" he said jokingly.
"Hop in," I encouraged him.
"Oh, sweet!" he said.
Two other members hopped in the back seat, including my friend Joe.
"I charged it up this afternoon, so we should be good on battery power for a little while," I said. "But stomping on it sucks the juice pretty good."
Pulling up to the stoplight, I made sure the knob was all the way over on the POWER spectrum. Pulling away, the acceleration I felt earlier was blunted somewhat by the weight of the extra passengers, but not by much.
"Dang, this thing moves!" one of the passengers exclaimed.
"We must have killed like an hour of battery time right there," another joked.
"Well, if you want to conserve more battery power, you can do this," I said, as I cranked the knob on the dash all the way to the left. They all looked at the display as it ticked up to "ECON MODE – 100%."
"Oh, it’s going to be a dog now," one of the guys said.
I did another full-throttle run in full econ mode, and the passengers were still surprised by its sprightliness.
"No worse than your Prius, man!" one of the passengers ribbed his buddy.
"Yeah, and I don’t have that magic knob, either. Bummer!" he joked.
"Hey, would any of you guys mind being on video with your impressions of this car?" I asked.
"Sure!" they all agreed.
REC light flashing:
"Hi, my name’s Manny, and I currently drive a 2007 Prius. Ed here took me out in this Volt SS, and I gotta say I’m impressed. I never thought I’d say that about an American car, but this thing’s really got the goods. I also like the power adjustment feature where you can conserve more battery power, or crank it all the way over for full power."
"I’m Marty, and I have a Camry Hybrid. Yeah, this is a pretty solid piece. Don’t change a thing on it. I like that you don’t have to compromise performance and fun-to-drive with an electric hybrid. And with the diesel, even when it’s running, it’s still getting great mileage. You want to know if I think you should build the SS, Chevy? DO IT!! (two thumbs up in the camera)."
Throughout the rest of the week, I experienced similar enthusiasm and curiosity from just about everyone I encountered, even a harrowing traffic stop from a cop out of nothing more than curiosity. Even Chevy truck guys gathered around and checked it out, one of them saying, "This would be a great car for my wife. Heck, I’d love to have one!"
I was genuinely saddened when the day came I had to return the car. I felt I was truly driving something revolutionary. A car that had legitimate performance credentials, yet at the same time was one of the most economical cars you could buy. The future had arrived, and as both an enthusiast, and someone concerned about energy independence, I think I found my perfect car.
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