The 2016 Chevrolet Volt and the Tesla Model S are being pitted against each other because aside from the fact that both vehicles will be running on electricity, they will practically compete for the same market.
General Motors (GM) is set to launch the 2016 Chevrolet Volt in the fall of this year. The electric carmaker, on the other hand, will be launching the first ever electric SUV, the Model X on September 30.
The Tesla Model S electric sedan has been launched in 2013 yet but if reports are accurate, Tesla may also launch a 2016 iteration of its Model S sometime in the fall this year.
The 2016 Chevrolet Volt will certainly be cheaper than the new edition of the Tesla Model S given the pricing scheme and patterns of Tesla for its electric cars but it seems that the former would lose its edge over the latter because GM has said that it will be limiting the sales of the 2016 Volt to 11 US states initially.
GM said that the set up will be in place for the first couple of months after the launch of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt this fall, notes Car and Driver.
According to the American carmaker, the state of California will be the first to receive the 2016 Volts, followed by 10 other states that follow the California Air Resources Board (CARB) laws. These 10 states include Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Although Pennsylvania and Washington are two other states that have adopted CARB legislation, which requires manufacturers to meet stricter emission standards than the EPA, they are not part of the initial rollout of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt.
Next model on the way
However, GM hinted that the 2016 Chevrolet Volt would just have a short run in the market as a 2017 model is expected to come along shortly with more features, which shall then be sold nationwide.
It can be recalled that five years ago, GM also restricted the sales of the first generation Chevy Volt to six US states and took one year to bring the car to the retail markets in all of the 50 states.
GM has yet to disclose its reasons for carrying out again the same launching and rollout pattern for the 2016 Chevrolet Volt but what it guarantees prospective consumers or buyers from the 39 other states is that they won’t wait one full year before the hybrid electric car becomes available in their respective state.
Quicker to accelerate
The 2016 Chevrolet Volt and the Tesla Model S 85 were recently compared during track tests where it came out that the 2016 Volt was quicker to accelerate from 0 to 30 miles per hour than the Tesla Model S.
The 2016 Volt got to 30 miles per hour in 2.2 seconds compared to the 2.3 seconds that it took the Tesla Model S 85 to accelerate to 30 miles per hour.
The new version of the Volt is a standout not only when compared to the Tesla Model S but also to other modern electric vehicles because it has far more electric range than other plug-in hybrids. It is for this reason that the 2016 Chevrolet Volt is now being referred to as an extended-range electric vehicle, notes Gas2.
The improvements and innovations made on the 2016 Chevrolet Volt will enable the hybrid vehicle to go as much as 53 miles of distance on pure electric power before its gas engine power takes over from there.
This means that a short trip from the home to the office and back will no longer require the vehicle from utilizing its gas engine as the electric charge would suffice for the day.
The 53 miles distance on full electric power is an 18-mile distance improvement from the 2011-12 Chevy Volt and 15-mile advantage over the 2013-15 edition of the vehicle.