Chevy Volt is special 2-day guest at Cantin's showroom

LACONIA — With more than eight decades in the automobile industry behind them, many different vehicles have spent time in the showroom of Cantin Chevrolet. Some of those cars, such as Bel Airs, Corvettes, Camaros and Silverados, have reached iconic status. Monday and today, though, the dealership is hosting a vehicle that is perhaps more important than anything it's seen before: a 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

The car, though it is fully functional and has miles on its odometer, is for display purposes only and its visit at Cantins will end tonight at 7 p.m. No test drives can be had, even for begging journalists, and the dealership won't be taking orders for new Volts for a few more months. Once the fall arrives, though, Carl DeProspo, general sales manager for Cantin, said the Volt will arrive as a regular sight on the dealership's sales lot. It will bring the future of automobiles with it.

"It's a game-changer," said DeProspo. "It's something nobody else offers... From where I sit it is the most important car that's come down."

It wouldn't be unusual for a sales manager to hype a new model. However, DeProspo has reason to be superlative. The Volt, which starts at about $40,000, has no peer in the marketplace.

In many ways, the Volt is like a typical sedan. It's front-wheel drive, has four doors and four seats and decent storage space under a hatch back. Skin-deep, the Volt features a handsome design that fits within the brand's contemporary styling mode. Beneath the skin is where the Volt breaks from all vehicles that came before it.

Under the hood lies a 1.4-liter gasoline engine. However, that engine is not connected to the car's drive train. The engine only serves as a generator of electricity to charge the car's battery pack, a chain of 200 lithium-ion batteris that can drive the car approximately 40 miles from a full charge. Once the batteries begin to run low, the gas engine turns on to prevent the batteries from becoming completely drained. Assuming the vehicle starts with a full battery and fuel tank, the Volt's total range approaches 400 miles.

Stealing a cue from hybrid cars, the Volt uses regenerative brakes – a system that converts momentum to battery-charging electricity when the brakes are applied. Other trick technologies include a heating and cooling system to keep the battery pack in its ideal temperature range, the ability to start the car and heat or cool its cabin via a smart phone app and LCD screens in place of gauge clusters that inform the driver how efficient his or her driving is at the moment.

The Volt was designed with regard to the daily vehicle needs of the vast majority of Americans. According to Chevrolet, a person with a 60-mile commute and a vehicle that gets 30 miles per gallon would save 500 gallons of gasoline per year by switching to a Volt. Chevrolet estimates that purchasing electricity to power a vehicle is about one-sixth the current cost of running a car on gasoline.

With an annual fuel savings of about $1,500 – more if gasoline prices increase – the Volt's sticker price seems reasonable. Not that DeProspo need make any excuses for the car's price. The model visiting the Cantin showroom stickers for about $45,000 and includes navigation, comfortable, heated leather seats, leather wrapped steering wheel, parking assist and a back-up camera, among other amenities.

DeProspo doesn't know yet what the pricing will be for the Volts that he hopes to soon sell, though he expects the price won't be too far off the 2011 models. However, the significance of the Volt goes beyond sales for dealerships this year and next. The reason why the Volt is such a milestone for storied General Motors is because, as DeProspo said, "This is a jumping off point," a moment after which consumers have new expectations of what a modern vehicle is. DeProspo expects the Volt's technologies to appear in Chevrolets up and down the model range.

Judging by the daily calls his salesmen receive about the availability of the Volt, the future can't come soon enough for DeProspo. "We have several people waiting, patiently or impatiently, to place their order," he said.

CAPTION for VOLT:

This 2011 Chevrolet Volt is on display at Cantin Chevrolet in Laconia for two days ending this evening. The dealership can't yet sell any but by the fall the fully electric vehicle is expected to be part Cantin's regular inventory. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Adam Drapcho)

CAPTION for VOLT PLUG:

Carl DeProspo, general sales manager for Cantin Chevrolet, demonstrates how to plug a Volt into a domestic power supply. The dealership expects to have the fully-electric vehicles in stock by this fall. A 2011 model arrived at the dealership yesterday, for display purposes only, and will remain there until the end of the day today. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Adam Drapcho)