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Holden: more Australian than a meat pie made out of kangaroos. Eaten by a goanna. In the MCG.
And one of the core points of the Holden brand is a thunderous V8. Just ask the next person you see wearing a Holden Racing Team jacket that looks like it hasn't been washed since 1989.
So what would the most diehard of Holden fans think of this, the Holden Volt, an all-electric car from the company that prides itself on fuel-gurgling V8s?
We've driven the Volt, and it's freaking awesome. It's the first electric car that isn't actually a bit crap. We could easily own a Volt and drive it every day - and not just because you would never run out of range thanks to its petrol engine, but because it's also a terrific car.
And it's not just the way it drives. A lot of thought, too, has gone into the details. And there are many details indeed, all clever, a few dodgy, which we didn't have space to mention in the magazine review. But in the vast internet universe, space is not an issue. And so we give you, the 15 quirky little things we found about the Volt. Most good, some not. Enjoy.
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Dislike #2: Gear shifter that feels more plastic than Megan Fox's face (nasty, but true).
Now we get out the TopGear Magnifying Glass and bring you a few details we weren't so thrilled with. Beginning with the gear shifter, which felt like you were gripping a large plastic toothpaste box. It wasn't pleasant, or easy, which was a tad disappointing for a $60k car.
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On the original Volt concept car, displayed at the Detroit Motor Show way back in 2007, these black bits were actually part of the windows. Although the Volt has changed significantly from its 2007 concept car beginnings, the designers liked this idea so much, they kept it. Except the engineers couldn't figure out how to make it work...
And so ends our 15 little Volt things! Yes, we pointed out a few little things we weren't a fan of, but all in all, the Volt is truly an impressive little car. We could easily see ourselves driving one on a daily basis. Particularly given our daily commute is easily less than 87km, which means we could plug the Volt in at home overnight and drive to and from work, for less than $2.50. Pretty good.
And that brings us to Like #11: and that is that the Volt is actually a truly terrific little car.
The price is our only concern. Yes, technology like this ain't cheap, but would you really spend $60k on this car? Only time, and sales, will tell.
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Like #10: You never have to put petrol in it. Ever.
Not the biggest surprise in the world, you might say, given it's an electric car. But some American owners have gone months upon months without ever having to put fuel in the tank or cause the petrol engine to fire up. Knowing this, Chevrolet has programmed the engine to kick in every now and then even if it's not needed, just so it doesn't get cobwebs in it. And at a set interval, the engine will kick in and use all the fuel in the tank to ensure it doesn't go 'off'.
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Dislike #4: The horrendous scraping sound as the Volt's rubber lip scrapes.
The idea is, the low-hanging rubber lip helps aerodynamically. But it's so low that it scrapes on everything. When mounting a driveway, it's designed to fold and bend, says Holden, although the scraping sound it makes is like hearing someone get tortured. It's horrible. Holden thinks Mr Rubber Lip's aerodynamic benefits justify the occasional, bone-chilling scraping sound...
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Like #8: The interior's open-plan layout.
Fortunately, though, the Volt is saved by all the swanky leather and snazzy white bits. And those gorgeous TFT screens.
And here's a quirky thing we found: you can see straight into the boot from the front seat. The Volt has no rear parcel shelf, but a gap in between the rear seats. 'Tis odd.
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Like #5: the green ball thing on the right.
This is the screen that faces the driver, and how it looks at rest. Notice on the right, the little green ball thing. Holden calls this the "efficiency gauge". The little leaves spin around as you drive. Green is good and means you're driving smoothly. And when you put your foot flat?
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Dislike #1: More buttons than the space shuttle. And they all look the same.
Speaking of iPhone, this is the Volt's centre stack, which is very Apple-like. We're not a huge fan, though. There are 37 buttons on this dash thing, and they mostly look identical aside from the little labels. We appreciate that it looks all iPod futuristic but there are really too many buttons.
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Like #2: Cool Jetsons interior.
The interior is perfectly normal, except the bit where it isn't. It looks like an iPod circa 2002, thanks to its odd bit of shiny white panel, and those two large TFT screens. Sitting in the Volt feels like you're in the future, except one where nobody has invented hovering cars yet.
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Like #1: It has a petrol engine. So no anxiety issues over the batteries running out.
On the left is a 1.4-litre petrol four-cylinder engine. On the right, the bit with all the wires that you don't want to fiddle with, is the electric motor. The petrol engine is not connected to the wheels in any way; its sole job is to charge the batteries once you've used up all your 87km of range. But it means so long as petrol stations exist, you'll never run out of juice.
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Plugged into a standard 240V outlet, the Volt takes 10 hours to charge. Or if you pay to have a special 15-amp outlet put in your garage, it takes four hours to fully charge. A full charge will give you 87km of coffin-quiet electric motoring and cost you around $2.50, says Holden. Impressive if you ask us.
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