How GM "Lied" About The Electric Car

Jalopnik ^ | 10/11/10 | Ray Wert

[KingOfVagabonds]

The Chevy Volt has been hailed as General Motors' electric savior. Now, as GM officially rolls out the Volt this week for public consumption, we're told the much-touted fuel economy was misstated and GM "lied" about the car being all-electric.

[a fool in paradise]

In the interest of full disclosure, my perpetual motion machine runs on batteries.

[UCANSEE2]

Can’t we just get one of those battery chargers that plugs into a cigarette lighter, and use it to charge up the VOLT’s (or any other electric cars) batteries?

You’d never have to stop for anything.

; )

[ReleaseTheHounds]

I’m convinced GM’s CEO resigned so abruptly because he was completely embarrassed being such a stooge “leader” for GM and couldn’t stand to be around to try and explain/defend the VOLT and the entire GM enterprise when it’s IPO comes up.

I know they have somebody in that role ready to go, but he can at least say “it was like that when I got here”.

[taildragger]

Yes it would... I got this info from Green-Car Congress and Car and Driver spy photo article and One on the Gen III from either Ward’s Automotive or SAE’s AEI magazine. It was all public data, I am just connecting the dots....

[jonno]

So the whole 230 mpg thing was hype to begin with. If you drive 50 miles, and 40 are on battery, and the last 10 get you 40 mpg, you will have used .25 gallons to go 50 miles, which is 200 mpg.

of gasoline...

Of course once you factor in the energy required to recharge 40 miles of driving back into the battery, the equivalent total energy consumption doesn't look quite so rosy.

(unless of course you only recharge using solar panels, wind, or ? 8^)

[manc]

can’t open the link here but I take it that the Volt after it runs out on battery power,(40 miles) it then uses Gas?

Am I right in my guess?

[Niteranger68]

The Welfare Car.......

[SunkenCiv]

Which time? ;')

...as GM officially rolls out the Volt this week for public consumption, we're told the much-touted fuel economy was misstated and GM "lied" about the car being all-electric.

Thanks KingOfVagabonds. All-electric doesn't work, and best-case scenario (large-scale adoption of all-electric vehicles) is collapse of the electrical generation and distribution systems.

[aquila48]

“It’s a pretty stupid lie too. All it would take is one backyard mechanic to see if the engine is hooked up to a transmission (in which case the Volt is just a fancy hybrid), or if it is only attached to a generator.”

Yes it was a lie, but in reality it would have been “fuelish” to use the mechanical motor to charge the batteries and the batteries to power the wheels.

Everytime you transform energy from one type to another you lose efficiency, so it is more efficient for the motor to drive the wheels directly than to go through the battery.

[MasterGunner01]

Here's an idea borrowed from the military.

Problem: The Volt has only enough battery for a 40 mile run before recharge or switch to its on-board gas engine.

Solution: Get an 18-wheeler, install a huge generator set on it with receptacles that can recharge the Volt's retractable plug-in. The 18-wheeler plies the freeways of California, belching diesel exhaust, so Volt and Prius and other hybrid users can meet-up to charge their batteries from a CalDOT truck for “free” (provided by other CA taxpayers). Think of this as the California freeway version of aerial refueling for military jets.

[PanzerKardinal]

Why would I buy a Volt which get's...35MPG.

When I can buy one of these - VW Golf TDI Clean Diesel.

It's $10,000 less and get 50(+) MPG on biodiesel.

[wbill]

IMO, it's not really about whether the Volt is a good car, or what the "real" MPG number is...

It's about the inflated fleet milages that the gov't is mandating. Figure that for every 230mpg Volt Chevy sells, they can produce 12 gas-guzling pickups that people actually want to buy, and maintain the required fleet mpg numbers.

So, the Volt is just a means to an end. It only needs to be marketed well enough to fool a few dumb eco-nuts, and dumber politicians.

Myu opinion only. Your mileage may vary. :-)

[CharlesWayneCT]

Here's a report detailing how the drivetrain works

[CharlesWayneCT]

Here's a report detailing how the drivetrain works

[GladesGuru]

Gooberment Motors better get a call in to the Obamasiah!

Only a miracle is going to save the Volt.

[N. Theknow]

Well naturally GM lied...they’re owned by democrats now.

Good thing they already paid back all the government money (WITH INTEREST) or they would really be getting some bad publicity.

They surely did drop that commercial once the lie was exposed.

[Ole Okie]

In the interest of full disclosure, my perpetual motion machine runs on batteries.

I already have a patent on that. :)

Now I'm working on cold fusion.

[domenad]

That was what they SAID, ad nauseum. Over and over and over - all electric, all electric, all electric. As an electrical engineer who does transportation projects, I was excited about the possibilities. I discovered from the article that the engine kicks in and provides torque when you are above 70mph. That's not an all electric. That's a hybrid. A hybrid that doesn't even top 40 mpg, mind you. Not only that, but it's a complete contradiction of their stated design goals.

I am so glad I didn't give into the temptation to buy at GM's IPO.

[nascarnation]

I am so glad I didn't give into the temptation to buy at GM's IPO.

I wasn't aware that it was even available yet. I thought the road show started right after the election. Did I miss something?

[nascarnation]

Thanks for the link.
Yes the engine is mechanically linked to the wheels.