General Motors' redesigned Chevrolet Volt model gets 53 miles of driving range on its battery pack before using any gasoline, a nearly 40% increase from the previous model's 38-mile range.
The second-generation Volt uses an 18.4-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack to travel on battery power first before a gasoline generator kicks in.
The Environmental Protection Administration has certified the range for the 2016 Volt.
GM said the vehicle's 1.5-liter range-extending generator gets 42 miles per gallon. But the company said Volt owners use only battery power for more than 90% of their trips, drastically reducing their trips to the fuel station.
"We pushed to get every one-tenth of a mile we could," said Pam Fletcher, GM's chief engineer for electrified vehicles, in an interview at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminar in Traverse City.
For the 2016 Volt, the team developed a new Voltec extended range propulsion system.