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| Gary Ruiz: An Electric Volt |
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With the Toyota Prius already asserting itself as the No. 1 hybrid and the Honda FCX Clarity which will run on hydrogen fuel cells to make an appearance sometime next year, the race for the economical, green friendly, and inexpensive vehicle in the market is on.
Buyers weary of the high gas prices and dependency on foreign oil are lining up.
Ruiz said that the Volt is a “game changer” that will change people’s perception of electric vehicles and personal behavior.
The Volt will run on a lithium-ion battery, similar to a battery on a cell phone or laptop. While most of today’s hybrids run on a parallel of electric dependency and gas engine, the Volt will run strictly on electric motor power from an onboard generator at all times.
GM expects the Volt to run 40 miles on pure electricity from its battery before the gas engine kicks in. The car can be driven up to 400 miles (some reports say up to 600 miles) on a full tank of 6 or 7 gallons of gas, according to GM-Volt.com.
GM-Volt.com added that the engine charges in 6.5 hours using a 110-volt standard home outlet, and about 3 hours if they have a 220-volt supply.
Ruiz said that it was important to not only make a “green car” but the challenge was to make the four-door sedan look sleek and sexy.
“In order to achieve the forty mile battery range, my team and I had to balance between the aerodynamic performance and the styling,” he said.
He said he and his team have been working on the Volt for the past few years.
He admits he didn’t come up with the initial design concept but merely was taking over from the previous team.
Ruiz has a more difficult challenge—it’s one thing to come up with a concept vehicle but it’s another to have an actual full working model.
“The challenge is to take the concept car into production,” he said. “We’ve just been working on it to get it to market as soon as possible. So far, it’s looking good. I think it’ll be ready by 2010 or 2011.”
Besides the Volt, Ruiz has worked on other GM cars, most notably the 2008 Camaro.
Looking back, Ruiz is glad he pursued his dream—and advises young FilAms to pursue their passion. (www.asianjournal.com)
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