Chevrolet Cruze EV fleet to be tested in South Korea | CarAdvice

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Chevrolet Cruze EV fleet to be tested in South Korea

By Brett Davis |
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General Motors has announced it will produce a fleet of Chevrolet Cruze EVs for testing which will commence in South Korea later this year.

Some of the cars will be badged as Daewoo Lacettis while others will be badged as Chevrolet Cruze. Even though the Chevrolet is not sold in Korea, General Motors is hoping to demonstrate the vehicles capabilities and create more awareness in the market whilst also promoting the company in the fast-growing Korean industry.

The project is a joint venture between GM Daewoo and LG Chem – the guys who made the batteries – and also LG Electronics – the team behind the electric motor development. It’s the second such project to be made by the trio behind the Chevrolet Volt.

GM and LG will launch the demonstration fleet to test if such a car works in the real world. The project is also aiming to retrieve data in terms of demands the vehicles place upon the infrastructure.

The vehicles will use 31kWh batteries wired to 150kW motors. General Motors say the cars are capable of accelerating from 0-100km/h in 8.2 seconds, which is as fast as a manual Mazda6 petrol sedan. Performance will also be backed by a top speed of 165km/h.

Range is said to be around 160km for the EV which can then be fully recharged in 8-10 hours through the use of a standard 220 volt socket.

General Motors says production of the test fleet will begin at the end of October.


 

  • Andrew M

    Good to see someone finally declaring the battery size with its range….

    Now whats the premium………

  • Lazybones

    “0-100km/h in 8.2 second”

    Does that make this the fastest Cruze in the line up. I’m excluding the hotted up German one.

    But, wow another decent sized battery. Thats almost double the Miev and 150KWS.

  • Hooda

    How much would they sell for?

  • Shak

    I dont see why they just dont bung in the Voltec powertrain and get this model to market, then refine it to bring about a more powerful and better range equipped second gen. Hardly any full EV small cars exist so GM has to capitalise on this opportunity.

    • Andrew M

      Shak,
      You are right to say that not many small EV\’s are currently on the market, but dont think GM is the only one with one in development.
      I think every other manufacturer I can think of already has released the specs of theirs.

      Everyone has them sitting on the shelf (ev\’s), I think they are waiting to see who plays them first, and also, they aint much good with out infrastructure

      • Shak

        I know. Thats why i said GM should release its EV now and work out the kins for the next gen.

    • Lazybones

      There is a Cruze mule based on the Voltec powertrain already. I think GM what to cover all bases.

      • Lazybones

        Not sure how posting a fact scores a -1, but anyway. Heres the link shak

        green.autoblog.com/2009/04/14/chevy-volt-test-drives-surprisingly-good-stuff-in-the-cruze-bod/

  • nickdl

    Ok so I’m assuming that if it’s tested in South Korea only it’ll be awful to drive here. Their roads are nothing like ours and we all remember the Ford Festiva. It didn’t have appropraite dust seals and all the country dealers had dirt through the interior.

    • http://BMW Nelson

      The whole concept of EV’s is stupid.
      We don’t have the battery technology for only EV Cars.

      Yes our road are a disgrace and then you start to think were does all the money from the, speed cameras, red light cameras go to?

      We don’t even have a freeway from Sydney to Brisbane, what a joke!

      Ever worse our speed limit is 110Km that’s hilarious, for the size of this Country.

  • http://BMW Nelson

    “Range is said to be around 160km for the EV which can then be fully recharged in 8-10 hours through”

    Now that is what I call stupid!

    Stupid Brand and the stupid Electric Vehicle carp just goes on and on…

    Let me spell is out HYDROGEN

    • Shak

      Yes we all acknowledge that Hydrogen is the right alternative fuel for the future, but it is in its infancy, and car makers need to meet the upcoming CAFE and EU Emissions standards. We need to take small steps because the Oil giants are blocking anyone from making significant leaps in alternative fuel technologies unless they get some form of royalty.

    • Lazybones

      Correction Shak
      “Yes we all (Except Lazybones) acknowledge that Hydrogen is the right alternative fuel for the future” :D