Its a shame and I wonder how much cheaper it was to produce in China. I still think there is life in this drivetrain and disappointed that this seems to be the end of the line for it.

 

I'm not really surprised - the electric vehicle market in China is dominated by pure EVs now. The range-extended hybrid will be extinct within a year or two, with plug-in hybrids following with 5 years as battery range ramps up and costs come down.

 

I think this is another case of where history has taken a 'wrong turn'. The extended range EV concept has been nothing short of brilliant because of its inherent flexibility. If only it had gained decent dealership support and sufficient marketing support . . .

By the way, has anyone else noticed the front grill design of the final rendition of the Volt?
It appears to me that a Vauxhall or Opel badge would have fitted nicely - perhaps the real culprit is the North American pre-occupation with the all terrain 'SUV' genre and the related decision by GM to abandon the manufacture of most conventional saloons and sell off its European brands to PSA.

 

I think there is life left in this drivetrain in different markets as I struggle to see BEVs being able to replace all use cases for ICE vehicles e.g. driving long distances in the Australia outback. So yes BEV may mop up the majority of people's needs but there will always be smaller, outlier markets, at least for the next 10 years or so that this type of hybrid/rex can fit into nicely.

I don't think the Volt really suited North America with lower petrol prices, passion for big V8's, GM using the Volt as an emissions compliance vehicle and finally the SUV craze. The latter is global by the looks of it and imho they are seemingly inverted tardis', big on the outside and small on the inside. I think the Volt was much more suited to Europe with our smaller roads and higher petrol costs but, as you say, it still needed proper marketing and dealership support.

A good comment piece from Technology Connections channel here ->

 

Not being a proper 5 seater didn't help the Volt either. Even the Volt 2's middle rear seat had zero legroom.
Extended range EVs are dead and buried

 

Extended range EVs are dead and buried

BMW still offer the 120Ah i3 Rex in the US but they aren't selling many of them. MSRP is around $50,000.

Batteries density and price has gotten to the point where range extended EVs don't make much sense anymore.

 

The video in post #5 makes an excellent point. The Ampera/Volt is an EV that removes any requirement to rely on public charging points. This is why it is so attractive to me - I charge my Amp. at home overnight on Economy 7 at a rate of around 10p per kWh. I occasionally buy a few litres of petrol but I never need to hang around waiting for it to charge . . .

 

That's a shame, but I can see the Volt is a difficult concept to sell. The public has it in its head that an EV is a short range city car. Trying to tell people you can drive hundreds of miles is an uphill struggle. It was always a bridge technology until EV range matches ICE cars. For most people current EVs with 200 mile range are enough. I do a regular drive from NW England to NW Germany so an Ampera / Volt is the only car for me. I wont be buying a BEV until they have a 400 mile range so I can comfortably do my drive with a single charge stop. I like the I3 but its tiny petrol tank and poor mpg make it unsuitable for long distant drives. I think I would have to stop and tank every hour once the battery was empty.