Will the Volt feel anemic at highway speeds like current hybrids such as the Prius?
A. The all-electric motor drivetrain of a modern EV or PHEV vehicle by itself is more than capable of very fast acceleration, as the Tesla proves. Current hybrids, however, are series-style cars, so the gas engine is directly connected to the wheels and the car uses it partially or completely for acceleration at faster speeds. Series-hybrid gas engines don’t accelerate well because they must be small enough to allow room for the batteries and electric motors yet still big enough to directly push the car, and as a result don’t do either very well. However, the Volt is a parallel hybrid, and they only use electric motors on the wheels; the gas engine is only used as a generator. Since the gas engine is not trying to be multiple things, it can be designed super small since it only has to be efficient at one thing – generating electricity. The only reason parallel hybrids haven’t been faster in coming out is because automakers for the last 50 years have mostly only concentrated on developi
