First road trip with the Chevy Volt
Seems that every time a journalist drives an EV they think "Let's go on a road trip". That makes about as much sense as getting a super car and thinking "Let's go to Home Depot and get some lumber". :-) Both might be able to do those things but that's really not what they are for. They are not reviewing what the car will really be used for. But I digress. The Volt can do long trips using the backup generator. In the Volt the main electric motor can put out 149 hp where the generator can only put out 80 hp. In other words when operating on gas only there is only half as much horsepower available. Around town and at low speeds this is no biggie. But at freeway speeds, especially climbing mountains at freeway speeds, 80hp simply doesn't cut it. This is where "mountain mode" comes it. That mode holds some electric energy in reserve for when more than 80 HP is needed. We live in the Appalachian mountains so mountain mode is definit