Chevrolet Volt Gets Geeky Video Overview

Let's face it, the Toyota Prius – while still a reasonable hybrid – has lost one of its more important draws: its newness.  That leaves the floor open for a new generation of earth-friendly vehicles, and one of the more eagerly anticipated is the Chevrolet Volt.  Set to hit driveways in November 2010, Chevrolet brought the Volt along to SXSW last week for the geeks to play with.Video demo after the cut

Robert Scoble grabbed some in-car time with the Volt, and below you can see his fourteen minute video covering not only how the car drives but all the other tech which Chevrolet have packed into it.  That includes a touch-sensitive dashboard – we'll have to wait and see how easy it is to locate buttons while not looking away from the road ahead – and a "friendly horn" for use in parking lots so that you don't scare pedestrians because the Volt is too quiet.

There's also an iPhone app with remote-unlock and remote-start, and the usual huge display which can show economy stats and other information.  Unlike the Prius the gas engine is only used to recharge the battery while on the move; everything else is electric.  More details in the video below.