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Posted on 03/05/2011 6:30:36 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
The potential popularity of electric vehicles has always been tempered in cold climates like here in Canada because of the concerns that freezing temperatures will reduce the range of an EV’s batteries.
And now a long-tem test report of the Chevrolet Volt, in the U.S. magazine Motor Trend, has confirmed that fear and also suggests you may have to keep your winter clothes on while driving the plug-in electric hybrid during colder days.
The magazine found that the Volt uses up a “considerable” amount of battery range to heat up its cabin on colder days, reducing its range to well below 30 miles (48 kms) before draining the battery and reverting to its gas generator to recharge the batteries and power its electric motor — much lower than the optimal 64 km estimate.
The result led to the review calling the Chevy EV as “a sweater and gloves commuter car for northern-tier Volt owners.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wheels.ca ...
Like Your Monaker,would like to go back West again before I Check out
I don’t have that problem with the New VW Beetle... the heat works fine in the winter. You still need a scraper for heavy snow days outside but that’s it!
I wouldn’t recommend the Chevy Volt for winter driving!
A 41,000 dollar Model T tax-subsidized vehicle.... maybe they’ll bring back the “crank” as well as the need to wear winter coats???
40 miles is enough to get me to town. I would have to charge it somewhere before I return home. No thanks GubmintMotors
We had one of those equipped with a catalytic (propane) heater. Getting it going was always an adventure ;-)
Can’t wait to see the first pic of a Volt with a Generac strapped to the trunk powering a space heater in the cab.
But, but . . . they MEANT well.
LMAO!
Everyone seems to forget that the Volt is just a hybrid. It has a gas engine that can directly power the car and charge the battery. It has a gas range of over 300 miles.
The electric range is a joke, but it isn’t going to end up on the side of the road due to a traffic jam.
It’s an inefficient, overpriced, government-designed POS, but it isn’t really an electric car.
They ended the report by saying that consumers desiring high efficiency "green” cars should look at the Toyota Prius or Ford Focus.
How's that for a stick in the eye!
Don’t care, it’ll never happen — one of those will never see the inside of my garage.
We had a 64 bug- we used sleeping bags to cover our legs when we drove on the freeway in the wintertime. And that was in Southern CAL ! We had a friend who'd driven one through an Idaho winter- his stories were unreal !
I wonder how many feet it will travel before the battery dies on a good old fashioned Texas mid-August summer day...with the air-conditioner running full blast.
Need to install a wood burning stove to supply heat for the vehicle...Wait, the wood burning stove will add more carbon to the air than the gas vehicles....back to the drawing board....
Instead they market one that can’t do more than one thing at a time. ;)
“Congratulations Mr. Donner. I’m sure you and your party will be fine crossing the Sierra Mountains in your new Volt.”
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35 mile range really means you can go 17 miles before you have enough juice to make it back home.
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