By Luther Turmelle, North Bureau Chief
lturmelle@newhavenregister.com

Connecticut is one of six states nationwide whose residents will get the first opportunity to purchase the Chevrolet Volt, General Motors’ first mass-market electric vehicle.

GM officials said Connecticut would join Texas, New York, New Jersey, California and Michigan as initial markets for the Volt.

Chevrolet dealers in the six states and Washington, D.C., will see Volt models in their showrooms well ahead of the rest of the country, said Rob Peterson, a spokesman for the automaker. The launch is scheduled to begin in New York City and Austin, Texas, late this year, with dealers in the other states receiving theirs in January, he said.

“We anticipate the rollout over the remainder of the country to take anywhere from 12 to 18 months,” Peterson said.

The Volt is a hybrid vehicle that runs on electricity and gasoline. A single charge of the Volt’s lithium-ion battery will allow the car to run solely on electricity for trips as long as 40 miles.

Once the Volt’s battery runs low, an engine-generator begins operating to extend the driving range to about 300 miles on a full tank of gas.

Connecticut political and business leaders praised Chevrolet’s decision to include the state in the initial launch.

“This announcement clearly puts Connecticut in the driver’s seat as a leader in alternative and renewable energy,” Gov. M. Jodi Rell said. “Putting electric vehicles on Connecticut roads underscores our commitment to cleaner environment, the alternative fuel industry and the jobs it creates.”

Watson Collins, manager for business development at Northeast Utilities, said Connecticut has an opportunity to be a trend-setter in determining how electric vehicles are marketed and sold.

“There are very few times when a company can say it’s got the cleanest and the cheapest product for consumers,” Collins said. “In this case, that’s true, and we want to be able to say this is one of the best usages for electricity.” Continued...

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NU and other utilities have worked extensively with GM in helping iron out details of the Volt launch, said Al Lara, a spokesman for the Berlin, Conn.-based company that is the corporate parent for Connecticut Light & Power.

The introduction of the Volt “could dictate the rest of the development of electric vehicles,” Lara said. “If things don’t go well initially, there may be no second chances for a lot of these vehicles.”

Collins said NU has three electric vehicle recharging stations in place at the company corporate campus off the Berlin Turnpike.

“We’re going to install some additional charging stations around the state during the last quarter of this year and we expect to have about 25 deployed by the time the launch begins in Connecticut,” he said.

Each Volt will come with a portable 120-volt vehicle cord that can recharge the Volt using a standard residential electric outlet over a nine- to 10-hour period. For faster recharging — about four hours — 240-volt home charging stations are available, but Collins said they are estimated to cost $1,500 to $2,000.

As part of the Volt launch, 4,400 free 240-volt home charging stations will be available through a federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy using federal stimulus money.

Collins said NU officials are exploring the possibility of allowing customers to purchase 240-volt home charging stations and pay for them over time through CL&P electric bills.

Al Carbone, a United Illuminating spokesman, said the company plans this year to install recharging stations in several of the 17 towns it serves. Several of the recharging stations will be in New Haven parking garages.

“We will continue to work with other business and utilities to make the launch of electric vehicles in our state successful,” Carbone said.

Call Luther Turmelle at 203-789-5706.

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