GM previews all-new Chevrolet Volt at CES 2015

General Motors has briefly teased the all-new Chevrolet Volt at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, ahead of its full public debut at the Detroit Motor Show on January 15.

The range-extended electric vehicle will feature brand new battery and drivetrain technology and a restyled exterior and interior. It’s thought that the car’s basic structure will be mostly carried over from the current model.

GM says that the ‘Voltec’ powertrain (the combined battery, transmission, range-extender engine and power electronics) has been completely redesigned.

The battery pack – developed in partnership with LG Chem – is claimed to have a 20 percent bigger capacity and is now 13kg lighter. GM says the battery pack is now set lower in the body, which lowers the car’s centre of gravity.

GM said it conducted a study of 300 2011 and 2012-model Volts, which were based in California. Over 30 months, GM found that "most Volt drivers were exceeding the official 35-mile battery range", with "about 15 percent surpassing 40 miles".

However, Larry Nitz, head of GM’s electrification engineering team, said the new battery pack has not been primarily redesigned for greater range. Nitz claimed existing Volt customers "didn’t want that". Instead, the new battery "will exceed the performance expectations of most of out owners".

The new drive system uses two electric motors (made with "significantly less rare-earth materials") which are said operate "approximately five to 12 per cent more efficiently" and weigh 45kg less than the set-up in the current Volt.

The ‘Traction Power Inverter Module’ is now built into the Volt’s drive unit, which is said to reduce weight and complexity while improving efficiency. GM says that the ability to deploy both of the electric motors has resulted in a "20 percent" improvement in electric acceleration.

Perhaps the most immediately noticeable improvement for the new Volt will be found with the range-extender engine. It’s a new four-cylinder, 1.5-litre, unit with a relatively high 12.5:1 compression ratio. The engine is expected to be significantly more refined and smoother-running than the relatively unsophisticated 1.4-litre unit used in the outgoing model.

Interestingly, GM says that the Volt will have 70 percent of its components US and Canadian-sourced "within the first year of production."

The first-generation Volt was shown initially as concept car in January 2007, with the production car revealed in September 2008. GM filed for bankruptcy on 1 June 2009, but productionisation of the Volt was given priority, allowing the first showroom model to roll off the line in late November 2010. Since then, GM says it has sold 65,000 examples in the US and delivered around 87,000 units globally.

The new Volt will not be exported to western Europe, after the Chevrolet brand was withdrawn by GM. Opel-Vauxhall has also said that it will not be replacing the Ampera, which was a moderately restyled version of the Chevrolet.

GM’s European arm has hinted that it will launch a hybrid model for the European market in the short to medium term, as well as a pure battery vehicle. The former is expected to be version of the next-generation Astra, while the latter is thought to be a version of the recently unveiled Vauxhall Viva.