Popular Mechanics gets behind the wheel of the pre-production Chevy Volt and first experiences the car in pure-electric and sustained-charge modes.

This post is an excerpt of an article from Popular Mechanics. You can read the full post (with video) on their website. Written by Barry Winfield.

LOS ANGELES—We’ve been following the Chevy Volt as it has progressed through many milestones before it became a development mule based on the 2011 Chevy Cruze last May. That test drive was completed entirely in electric-only mode. Today, we had a chance to slide behind the wheel of a Volt that looks and feels much closer to production. We experienced the car in both pure-electric and sustained-charge modes, when the conventional gas engine powers an on-board alternator to supply the needs of the electric motor when the batteries reach an elected state of discharge.

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