“Second article in two days and this one is just as wrong as the other. The Prius as well as the Volt are not pure electric vehicles. They are hybrids. They have a conventional gas engine as well as electric capability. You can drive just as far in either as a conventional car.”
Not quite true.
The Prius has a conventional engine as its main powerplant, and it uses plug in electricity and recaptured waste energy to supplement this.
The Volt uses the plug in energy as the main power source, with the conventional engine as back-up.
To put this into perspective, the Volt’s electric motor is 149 hp, while its engine is 80 hp....while the Prius uses a 80 hp electric motor and 98 hp engine. See how they are reversed? (also keep in mind that the Volt weighs 600 lb more than the Prius plug in, because it is primarily an electric vehicle).
What difference does it make? Ask GM. Specifically ask them about ‘mountain mode’. What mountain mode does is allow you to plan for a big hill. If you know you’ve got to go through a mountain pass on the way to work for example, you have to plan ahead. While you’re on the flats, you put it in ‘mountain mode’ which turns on the conventional engine, and preserves the electric charge. That way, when you get to the mountain, you can use the much more powerful electric motor to get up the hill. And yes I know that the combustion engine really powers a generator...etc....but at the end of the day, an 80 hp engine is not going to power a 149 hp electric motor.
Could you get up the hill on the gas engine alone? Yes, but you’ll be on the shoulder letting everybody else pass you, with a power to weight ratio of around 1 hp per 45 lb.
But no, the trip will not at all be normal, or ‘conventional’.
There are some other non-convential aspects of taking a trip in the Volt. Keep in mind that battery longevity relies on keeping the batteries in a specific temperature range...at all times. So, the batteries have on board cooling...and the manual requires that the car be plugged in, if parked in direct sunlight. Think about that. Say you take a ‘conventional’ trip to a baseball game, in the middle of the summer, and the parking lot is one big frying pan. According to the manual, you better find a garage to park, and hop a bus to the stadium.
There are many other problems. The Volt cannot give a ‘conventional’ driving experience. I know you still think I’m ignorant, because I just don’t understand. But trust me, I do....and so do the millions of car buyers who have chosen to not buy the Volt.
I wasn’t calling you ignorant. I was just pointing out that the article talking about pure electric cars makes the jump to hybrids and that’s just not the case. Toyota will still be making hybrids. So will every other car co. that’s currently making hybrids.
As for the Volt. I sell them. My sister store does anyway. I’ve driven one and they drive pretty dang well. We had one in Demo service and it was driven many times 70 miles one way and back, 140 miles total without being recharged and it did just fine. Drove fine on just gas also.
The 41,000 price is another thing tho. I read somewhere that GM is losing somewhere north of 7,000 bucks for every one they sell.
Oh, I also work at a Toyota dealership. Have been for 20 years. So I have some experience with the Prius also.