DETROIT, the United States, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. auto giant General Motors on Sunday unveiled the all-electric Chevrolet Volt concept sedan, saying this concept of vehicles could eliminate gas stations for Americans who live close to their workplaces.

    Built on a platform that GM calls the E-flex System, the Volt is a battery-powered, four-passenger electric vehicle that uses a gas engine to create additional electricity to extend its range.

    The Volt draws from GM's previous experience in starting the modern electric vehicle market when it launched the EV1 in 1996, according to GM Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz.

    "The EV1 was the benchmark in battery technology and was a tremendous achievement," Lutz said.

    "The Chevrolet Volt is a new type of electric vehicle. It addresses the range problem and has room for passengers and their stuff. You can climb a hill or turn on the air conditioning and not worry about it," he added.

    The Volt can be fully charged by plugging it into a 110-volt outlet for approximately six hours a day.

    When the lithium-ion battery is fully charged, the Volt can deliver 40 city miles of pure electric vehicle range. When the battery is depleted, a 1L, three-cylinder turbocharged engine spins at a constant speed, or revolutions per minute (rpm), to create electricity and replenish the battery. According to Lutz, this increases the fuel economy and range.

    "If you lived within 30 miles from work (60 miles round trip) and charged your vehicle every night when you came home or during the day at work, you would get 150 miles per gallon (mpg)," Lutz said. "More than half of all Americans live within 20 miles of where they work (40 miles round trip). In that case, you might never burn a drop of gas during the life of the car."

    In addition, the Chevrolet Volt is designed to run on E85, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Using E85, fuel economy of 150 mpg would translate into more than 525 miles per petroleum gallon.

    In the event a driver forgets to charge the vehicle or goes on a vacation far away, the Volt would still get 50 mpg by using the engine to convert gasoline into electricity and extending its range up to 640 miles, more than double that of today's conventional vehicles.

    A technological breakthrough required to make this concept a reality is a large lithium-ion battery. This type of electric car, which the technical community calls an "EV range-extender," would require a battery pack that weighs nearly 400 pounds (181 kg). Some experts predict that such a battery -- or a similar battery -- could be production-ready by 2010 to 2012.

    Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of Global Program Management, said the Volt is uniquely built to accommodate a number of advanced technology propulsion solutions that can give GM a competitive advantage.

    "Today's vehicles were designed around mechanical propulsion systems that use petroleum as their primary source of fuel." Lauckner said.

    Tomorrow's vehicles need to be developed around a new propulsion architecture with electricity in mind. The Volt is the first vehicle designed around GM's E-flex System, he said.