[AMERICA 123]

There two ways this can go - and some variations within one.

Either way , Edmund's article - and this thread's title are wrong - its a miscorrection at best.

They are for sure wrong because regenerative braking is definitely part of it.

So, the batteries will be charging while driving - at least from that - in almost all scenarios.

Worth noting, with greater capacity than the Prius.

What really matters after initial charge depletion are the results and not the details of the method per se.

Most likely there are several 'modes' this thing runs in and whatever the case, you can bet your bottom dollar that GM evaluated all that and is going with what works best.

If the vehicle has a 40 mile plug in range and achieves excellent fuel economy from that point on with decent or acceptable performance then we're there.

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Personally, since it somewhat appears more certain that the Volt is not going to be dependent on a heavy - constant IC battery recharging stratagem I'd be really glad to see this 'story' pan out - nothing out there is more inefficient than recharging a battery pak with a gasoline generator set and then running the power out to the wheels from the battery.

Basically this is a sort of good news not bad - it means GM's getting good results with the IC to wheel portion of the PT - and the regen system and use.