The countdown continues to the launch of the Chevrolet Volt range extended vehicle and recent calibration drives have achieved up to 39.9miles of emissions-free electric only driving.
Andrew Farah, chief engineer of the Volt and Opel/Vauxhall Ampera, speaking during a media update on the programme, stated that it had recently completed a round of cold weather testing and will undergo hot weather testing in Yuma, AZ, in June and July.
It is expected that pre-production versions of the Ampera will begin later this month ahead of a 2012 launch for the European version of the model.
The Volt meanwhile, remains on schedule to start regular production during the fourth quarter with 500,000 test miles already under its belt. Around 850,000 miles of customer use lab testing has also been completed on the battery pack design with teams also studying additional applications of the Voltec battery based propulsion system for future vehicles.
