55 mpg in 1986
Posted on 10/10/2010 11:12:53 AM PDT by epithermal
Amped-up car enthusiasts and environmentally conscious drivers lined up Saturday in Tacoma for the national road tour debut of the Chevrolet Volt.
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So I’m not getting the advantage of electric over gasoline engines. To generate electricity, you still need fossil fuels, coal, etc., do you not? I could see if our electricity was generated by nuclear power plants but we don’t have too many of them there, unfortunately.
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Amped-up car enthusiasts and environmentally conscious drivers lined up
Saturday in Tacoma for the national road tour debut of the Chevrolet Volt.
“
Of course these weasels are “Amped-up”.
They know millions of American taxpayers that will never own a Volt
(regardless of income) PAID FOR THE D-MN THING!!!
I’m waiting for the Ohm.
How much gas does one have to save to pay for the price of this thing? How much are the batteries?
55 mpg in 1986
There were a number of very small import vehicles in the mid-late eighties with very impressive fuel economy. The three door, three cylinder Geo Metro was one of them. Came out just in time for gas prices to drop like a rock.
They’re usually very basic and fairly flimsy, but they’re around for those who rightly suspect we haven’t seen the last of bizarre gas prices. There was even a Chevette diesel, for those who don’t mind a more agricultural sound and feel. At least a few survived rust and the junkyard, and are considered somewhat collectible in certain circles.
What about the lead mines for all the batteries. What happens when all the greenies find out how they get the lead for batteries?
I drove one from Vermont to Tampa and back last winter. There were 5 of us with all of our luggage and we still got better than 30 MPG. I was VERY impressed with this vehicle.
Why would they need lead mines for lithium-ion batteries?
I had a friend who bought one of those three cylinder Geos. He put premium gas in it because it was cheap and he said he wanted to treat himself because he got such good MPG.
That car may actually be safer than the Gubmint Motors Volt.
Well, actually the Ford Fusion is an import... from Mexico.
My bad...just figured they were using the same batteries as in my son’s power wheelchair. Hope they get the technology worked out for mobility equipment.
I chose the Honda CRX because it was relatively cheap but retained a high resale value, the fit and finish was immaculate, tranny and engine was bullet proof (and could handle supercharging and nitrous, handling was superb on par with more expensive sports cars, fun as hell, great luxury for price, and finally the gas mileage was supernatural when you consider the speed it attained The CRX Si hit 0-60 in 8 ticks and 10 ticks for the 1.3 gas miser.
The Chevette, Metro, and Sprints were substandard in all areas, sorry to say.
Honda dealers earned my ongoing scorn due to truly egregious markups beyond sticker price for that car. I’ve never owned a Honda for that reason, and likely never will buy a new one. I don’t doubt it was a great car, but I’m not going to go for that sort of treatment. Hope they’re happy, I am. I’ve owned a variety of interesting makes over the intervening years.
Toyota made great cars up until about five years ago, then they got progressively more interested in volume. Quality and reliability have slipped with each new model introduced since, imho. Nissan seriously overbuilt their cars beginning in the late eighties, one of the best cars I’ve owned was a 90 Maxima SE. Bulletproof, solid as a bank vault, no mechanical issues in nearly 200k miles and nary a squeak or a rattle. The stupid automated mousetrack shoulder belts always irritated me, though. I know they were forced to do it, but still.
I currently own an ‘07 Subaru Legacy GT Limited wagon, great car, very very fast and practical. Tight body, no mechanical issues, love the acceleration and the symmetrical AWD. Got a Corolla SE for commutes, a Ford Ranger for hauling stuff and still have the last Maxima I bought new in 96, unfortunately inferior to the 90 in nearly every way, which is why I don’t buy Maximas anymore, lol. Well, they’ve gotten sort of flabby and ugly, too. I’ve kept it for sentimental reasons, but between my back, my left knee and having fractured the radius in my right arm near the elbow, stickshift is looking out of the question these days. I don’t “need” four cars anyway.
Fast forward to our little “Greenie” car — the Volt from Government Motors — and its potential buyers.
GovMot will have to give potential buyers hefty subsidized discounts of $11K to bring the $44K MSRP into striking range of customers. Then there are a few nagging questions.
If the Volt only gets 40 miles on a charge before it has to be plugged-in or switch to its backup gas engine, this is hardly efficient.
Where are you going to plug-in the Volt? Eco-Greenies don't want power plants and oppose them at ever turn. Since electricity doesn't come out of a wall socket — it has to be GENERATED — where are the charging stations, whether at work or at home or on the road. I suspect that Volts will get a lot more use from their backup engines than the Greenies think.
Since the car is “fuel efficient”, expect gasoline revenues to take a hit and the politicians will push for higher gas taxes to “solve” the shortfall problem.
The battery pack is hideously expensive and is also a haz-mat item when it has to be replaced. Who's picking up the haz-mat disposal fee? How much does a new battery pack cost and how long will it be expected to last (average)? Note to Eco-Greenies: Your battery life will vary greatly depending on whether you live in a very hot or very cold climate. What then?
What I see is a bunch of Eco-Greenies buying Volts so they can drive them around to show off to friends and other Eco-Greenies. After that's over, the car will go into the garage and their SUV will be back for daily driving.
The Chevrolet Sprint preceded the Geo Metro and the Sprint later morphed into the Metro. I remember a friend of mine’s father had a diesel Ford Escort and this was around 84 or 85.
I actually don’t oppose hybrid or even all-electric vehicles. There’s a demand and they fill it. They also hold the promise of decreasing dependency upon nations that want to kill us.
The governmental subsidy is a sticking point. The “green” aspect, I couldn’t care less. Battery life and disposal have been concerns, but first gen Toyota Prius have been serving pretty strenuous duty as even taxis in some parts of the world, still going strong.
If the technology continues to improve and the cost of purchase declines, I wouldn’t be at all opposed to buying one.
The cars coming out of that joint Toyota-GM NUMMI plant in California always confused me, first a Chevy, then a Geo, then back to Chevy, then a Toyota ... couldn’t keep them separated in my mind.
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