Posted on 02/08/2015 1:46:55 PM PST by LogicDesigner
Conventional Chevy Silverados being transformed into plug-in hybrid trucks at VIA Motors’ high volume assembly plant.
Think of it as a Volt with a flat bed.
Via Motors’ “electrified” 4WD Chevy Silverado entered commercial production last month. That’s a first for the company — founded in 2010 — that retrofits GM pickups and vans and turns them into $85,000-plus plug-in hybrids that can also function as roving generators. (More on pricing below.)
It’s no coincidence that the concept is similar to the Volt. The chairman of Via Motors is Bob Lutz, father of the Chevy plug-in hybrid. It’s also no coincidence that Alan Perriton, who is a longtime colleague and friend of Lutz’s from GM, is president of Via Motors. Perriton spent 34 years at GM.
Perriton’s background includes “pulling together” the GM-Toyota NUMMI plant in Fremont, Calif. (which was later taken over by Tesla) and a stint as vice president of the GM Saturn project in Tennessee. He has also held executive positions for GM in Asia.
How did Perriton and Via Motors get Lutz on board? “We took a pickup to Bob’s place in Ann Arbor,” Perriton said in a phone interview. “And that was enough” to convince him. (Lutz was appointed chairman in February 2014.)
Perriton echoes Lutz’s belief that the light-duty vehicle market has been in dire need of a fuel-efficient vehicle.
“[The pickup] is the workhorse of America, this is where the most gasoline gets consumed in the vehicle sector…[Via] takes a vehicle from 12 – 15 mpg and moves it up to the range 80 – 100 mpg [in some use cases],” Perriton said, echoing Lutz’s sentiment.
Via trucks can also be ‘mobile generators.’
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
He has said global warming “is a total crock of sh**” and also, “I’m motivated more by the desire to replace imported oil than by the CO2 (argument).”
Electric cars have a long way to go to give us the safety margin of gasoline, I don’t want my life depending on an electric engine when driving through blizzards in the mountains, at sub zero temperatures.
This vehicle is a hybrid. The first 40 miles are electric and afterwards it uses a regular gas engine and gas tank to go farther.
My choice in that arena.
I don’t want my children sitting on top of 20 gallons of highly flammable liquid while there are constant explosions 36” from my crotch every time I drive a car.
Tesla has proven electric cars are superior to gasoline cars.
Tesla can produce a 500 mile range car today but would cost $160k or so.
The issue now is ramping up to get the economies of scale needed to drive down the price for a mass market vehicle.
Then the West stops transferring $1 Trillion per year to the Kremlin and the Muslims.
Should I feel confident if I choose this vehicle to move my travel trailer?
LOL, when you come back to planet earth, you should get your fantasy impulse fixed.
Most people I know own more than one car. I believe there is worth in having one gas engine, and one electric engine vehicle in a family.
As far as I am concerned, the Volt fills a need. There are many times when cars are not driven more than ten miles on a trip. Commutes to work can be less or more than this.
As with any purchase, people need to weigh the climate they live in and other variables. If the Volt won’t work for them, I don’t care. If it will, good.
I do believe the Volt needs to pull it’s own weight. If it can’t stand on it’s own without government subsidies, then it’s time to put it to rest.
I would love to have the Cadillac ELR. It’s way overpriced, but aren’t most Cadillacs overpriced? Ah, yes.
I’d like to see folks be able to tie into their own grid at night and recharge the vehicle off stored energy captured during the day.
It does get a little old watching folks come by and trash electrics. Most of us are aware of the pros and cons. Hearing them throw a hissy fit one more time doesn’t exactly add to life.
Chevy offered a hybrid pickup truck for a few years. It sounded like a good idea to me, but apparently the market wasn’t there, as they abandoned the concept
Googling, it looks like it was available for the 2005-2013 model years, but was abandoned with the 2014s.
Think I’d hold off on investing in this new project unless there are a lot of taxpayer dollars flowing in.
And for a mere $85,000.00?
Nothing but GM welfare through mandated purchase quotas from the fed gov to taxpayer funded GOs.
Government Motors.
Unions.
Loot the USA... in your CHEVROLET.
obama is telling you "play ball."
Fund Chevrolet... the commie way
America is gonna take the fall.
.
Where will the electricity come from for 150 million electric cars? Solar? Wind?
Absolutely. With an electric motor it gets more low-speed torque than a vehicle with just a gasoline engine would. Since it also has a gasoline engine, when the battery runs out it basically turns into a regular truck.
Gasoline cars almost do not explode anymore, when you consider miles driven. However, they have not, as of this moment, figured out how to make lithium-ion batteries as safe as gasoline in a car.
Electric vehicles tend to be charged at night, when there is a lot of excess grid capacity.
Also, the grid has time to grow since those 150 million cars are not going to be bought this afternoon. =P
If VIA is basing these trucks on the Volt, it's likely that there is in fact a mechanical linkage between the gasoline engine and the drivetrain. The original description of the Volt's configuration was less than accurate (while Lutz was still at GM, I believe).
Au contraire. For example, despite the publicity surrounding the handful of Tesla fires, they are one-fifth as likely to catch on fire as gasoline cars. There are 150,000 gasoline fires a year averaging 200 fatalities (source). It is just that it is so common that it is no longer newsworthy.
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