The Volt can go 40 miles on a single charge (about a average day's miles for the typical American), and it also has a gas-powered generator that gives it the ability to drive 300 more miles, Chevrolet says.

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In addition to the petrol engine and electric motor, the LF-CC hybrid drive system further comprises a generator, a high-performance battery, a power split device which, via planetary reduction gears, combines and re-allocates power from the engine, electric motor and generator according to operational requirements, and a compact power control unit to govern the high speed interaction of the system components.

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The ELR will run on an electric propulsion system made of a T-shaped lithium ion battery, an electric drive unit and a four-cylinder engine generator.

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For the sake of comparison, AMSC indicates in their literature that a 10 MW superconductor generator would have a nacelle-generator combination weighing approximately 420 tons, compared with a conventional direct-drive machine weighing over 800 tons.

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The gasoline engine only turns a generator, which charges the battery and sends electricity to two electric traction motors that drive the car.

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"Generic Prozac is a nice, large onetime cash generator, but Barr has assembled a very strong near-term product lineup that is going to continue to drive an accelerating growth profile over the next couple of years, " says Elliot Wilbur, specialty pharmaceuticals analyst at CIBC Oppenheimer.

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