The Chevy Volt may be able to travel about 40 miles without emitting a gram of CO2, but the car isn't clean enough to qualify for High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane access in California. Make that wasn't clean enough.
Today, GM announced that California dealers are now taking orders for an "Enhanced, Advanced Technology – Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle" (enhAT-PZEV) version of the Volt.
We've known this Volt would be coming for over a year, and it puts us one step closer to the E85-capable Volt that was promised, as well.
The new Volt's owner will be "eligible to apply for one of 40,000 available HOV lane stickers" handed out on a first-apply, first-served basis.
The enhAT-PZEV lower-emissions Volt will be the standard version in California starting early next year but it doesn't come with the coveted HOV sticker. All it means is that new Volt's owner will be "eligible to apply for one of 40,000 available HOV lane stickers" handed out on a first-apply, first-served basis. The enhAT-PZEV Volt is also eligible for an extra $1,500 worth of rebates from California's Clean Vehicle Rebate Project.
When we first heard about the enhAT-PZEV last year, we were told the Volt's standard 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty would need to be upgraded to 10-year, 150,000-mile warranty to qualify for enhAT-PZEV status. GM's press release doesn't mention any change to the warranty, so we'll need to follow up on this. UPDATE: GM confirmed that the enhAT-PZEV has the better, longer warranty, as required by the HOV access regulations).
The powertrain changes feature a modified engine and exhaust components, including a "secondary air-injection pump that streams ambient air into the exhaust stream to increase its ability to remove pollutants." This took GM engineers a while to get right, but what's ironic is that anyone can get "access" to those HOV lanes by carpooling. After all, the entire point of HOV lanes is to put more people in fewer cars, right? Plus, there is the argument that banning green cars like hybrids from HOV lanes slows everyone down.
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