Holden EV Commodore 2012 Review

While we weren’t allowed to slip behind the wheel, motoring.com.au has today sampled the EV Commodore from the quiet comfort of the passenger seat. Developed and produced by EV Engineering in Port Melbourne, the all-electric Commodore is part of a collaborative effort that aims to examine the viability of a locally-built, all-electric family sedan.

Piloted by EV Engineering CEO Ian McCleeve, the VE Series II Calais was powered by an electric motor outputting 145kW/400Nm. The motor is positioned in the rear axle housing (where the differential would usually be located) and drives the rear wheels. It’s fed by a lithium-ion battery pack located at the front of the car, in place of the combustion engine.

The weight distribution is close to ideal, shifting rearward by one per cent from Holden’s 52:48 ratio to 51:49. With little change to the vehicle’s balance or weight, only minor suspension tweaks were required. Even the battery charge point fits behind the existing fuel filler cap.

From the passenger seat, the car felt solid underfoot while riding with the same ride quality you’d expect from a conventionally-powered Calais. The body was well composed in corners, and with the exception of a peculiar silence, felt just as sprightly as the familiar 3.6-litre V6.

“We wanted to match the same 0-100km/h time as a normal Commodore and that’s what we’ve done,” explains Ian McCleeve. “We set ourselves a target of less than 8.8 seconds [in development] and we managed to get 8.5 seconds. We’re pretty pleased with that.”

Roll-on acceleration felt equally swift with a not-so-gentle push in the back accompanying a quick shove of the throttle, while noise was limited to a muted whine from beneath the rear seat.

“It’ll take about 4.5 seconds to go from 60km/h to 100km/h which again matches the standard [petrol-powered] car,” he explains.

“All the drivers that have been in the car have loved it because it’s good off the mark, but also once you’re accelerating in traffic, it’s fantastically responsive.”

Inside, EV Commodore is entirely identical to its ICE-powered donor, with the exception of the instrument panel, while seating capacity and luggage space are completely unchanged.

“We tried to match exactly the same interior space. Not intrude into the passenger space, or the boot space, not reduce the comfort levels or the standard of safety. All the same features that a standard Commodore has. It’s just quieter,” he says.

“All the controls are the same [though] we’ve got a slight variation in the gauges because we don’t have a tachometer. We’ve got a torque meter that measures how much power you’re using or how much regenerative braking you’re putting back into the battery when you slow down. But otherwise it’s exactly the same.”

Coasting quietly through the industrial heart of Port Melbourne my eye is drawn to the instrument panel and the remaining range, or distance to empty, which had slipped only a couple of kilometres since setting off from EV Engineering headquarters.

“We’ve got a range of around 160km on the [NEDC] combined cycle, but in the real world we’re getting about 120 to 150 [kilometres] which is pretty competitive with all the other EVs out there. 90 per cent of people travel less than 100 kilometres a day, so it’s well within their range.”

The range is affected by the way the car is driven, just like a petrol model, but presently is also upset by weather conditions; its ancillaries yet to meet the low-drain demands of an all-electric vehicle. It’s an issue EV Engineering has in its sights.

“If you have to use a lot of air-conditioning or heating it does impact a little bit [on the car’s range]. But we’re working on very efficient heating, ventilation and cooling systems and I think that’s going to minimise that effect.”

Unlike petrol-electric hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius, or range-extending electric vehicles, like the Holden Volt, the EV Commodore runs on 100 per cent electric power. But unlike the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV or Nissan LEAF, EV Commodore can be charged via a wall-mounted 15-amp outlet, or via a unique drive-in battery switch station.

“Overnight, people can re-charge [EV Commodore] to meet their daily needs within about eight hours. [But] one of the unique features of this car is the battery switch facility. So if you do happen to exceed the range you can change the battery for a fresh one at a battery switch station. This is the infrastructure that BetterPlace are going to roll out.”

“The way that works is that you drive into a Battery Switch station, which looks like a regular car wash, swipe your card to identify who you are, sit there for five minutes while the battery is switched for a freshly charged one and [then] you drive away. So really it’s just like the petrol station experience except you don’t have to get out of the car.”

Although the EV Commodore is cheaper to run than its conventionally-powered siblings, economies of scale mean it’s currently an expensive proposition.

“It’s about two to three cents per kilometre for electrical energy which compares to about 15 cents for petrol for the same distance,” he says. “They are expensive at the moment because they’re made in very low volume, but as production volumes increase they’re obviously going to come down significantly as you get scale of production.”

As testing continues we’ll soon know whether EV Commodore is a viable option for mass production, but as our brief ride showed, the project to date is on the right track.

“We’ve done a lot of testing so far. We’ve done many thousands of kilometres of on-road testing and we expect to cover between 25,000 and 50,000 [kilometres] over the next couple of years in the hands of people who represent real-world customers,” he says.

“It’s gone really well. We’ve had representation from right across the component industry and they’ve all really benefitted from the collaboration. It’s been very good, and I think it has developed skills and capabilities within the industry that we need to have to face the future.”

Speaking to Holden about the EV Commodore motoring.com.au learnt that while the manufacturer was impressed with EV Engineering’s achievements, it would for now focus on its own eco-friendlier options.

“Holden has always been interested in the outcomes of the pilot program. Some Holden team members have driven the electric Commodore and we believe the EV Engineering team has done a great job in delivering what it set out to achieve. The cars are fun to drive and capture the great torque characteristics of electric cars,” said Holden’s director of external communications, Emily Perry.

“In the immediate term, our focus is on launching the Volt in Australia later this year. Volt is a vital part of GM’s electrification strategy together with our ecoline portfolio of efficient and alternative fuel options like E85, LPG and diesel,” she concluded.