Posted on 01/09/2007 10:06:35 PM PST by BlueSky194
Hybrid Technology Could Reduce Gas Fill-Ups, but Battery-Powered Engine Still Runs Expensive
Chevrolet's new Volt a concept hybrid that could conceivably get hundreds of miles to the gallon
Chevrolet's new hybrid car, called the Volt, has generated a lot of buzz this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
It's different from the hybrids currently on the market, making it the newest of the new technology in the car market.
Whereas other hybrid cars, such as Toyota's Prius or Ford's Explorer, use a mix of battery power and a conventional gasoline engine to move the wheels of the vehicle, the Volt runs only on electricity.
The electricity is provided by either plugging into a standard wall socket or by fuel which can be gasoline or some more environmentally friendly alternative that recharges the car's battery. General Motors said the Volt's technology could nearly eliminate the need to fuel up at the pump.
"When you get to the end of a range of the battery, which is 40 miles, you just continue to move along, and the only thing that you notice is the engine comes on and it generates more electricity," said John Lauckner, GM's vice president of global programs.
GM said research showed that almost 80 percent of American motorists drive less than 40 miles a day.
"Many, if not most, consumers in the United states would never need to buy gasoline, or buy gasoline very rarely," Lauckner said.
600 Miles on a Tank, but Engine's Expensive Using a full tank of fuel to power the motor, you could conceivably drive from Detroit to New York about 600 miles with no need to stop.
The only problem is that the battery needed to do all this is prohibitively expensive right now. If you wanted to buy this flashy concept version of the Volt today, it would set you back several hundred thousand dollars. So the success or failure of the Volt hinges on GM's ability to mass produce the battery and bring its cost down way down.
"Those batteries have to be developed, and the cost has to come down probably tenfold from where it is now," said Csaba Csere, editor in chief of Car and Driver magazine.
It remains to be seen whether it will ever be realistic to purchase one of these cars at a reasonable price.
GM says it's serious and not just trying to win public relations points.
"We really want to sell a lot of these," said Lauckner.
But the company becomes vague on exactly when you'll be able to buy a Volt.
"It's not as soon as some of us hope. But it's a lot sooner than a lot of people may think," Lauckner said.
That's likely to translate into four years at least
could conceivably get hundreds of miles to the gallon"
In your dreams.
Regrets for the dupe..and this late arrival triplet...come hep me do nappies...
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This is desirable, not because of what the wacko greens want, but because it will bankrupt the lunatics in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Regards, Ivan
Regards, Ivan
I agree and I have worked in oil exploration for about 40 years.
Who are you hoping will fund it?
Goldie you must live in a bunker, 600 miles is nothing. Consider, New England to FL for the retirees, road warriors [salesmen]and beyond.
It would also help if all those old houses and buildings that use fuel oil for their heat would be refitted with NG units.
Ivan, you always post the most insightful and witty comments in these threads. I laughed out loud at this sentence. I completely agree with you about nuclear energy, I would go into fits if I were to try and convince the liberals (where I work) of the need as they immediately claim nuclear=bad!. But hey, who cares about results, right?
It had the opposite effect on me - the people in the plant were very cautious and there seemed to be a lot of safety measures and equipment in place. I read later that the average nuclear power plant spews far fewer cancer causing agents than the average coal plant. The air around the plant itself was clean.
This insane bias against nuclear power has to stop; renewables are not a viable form of power generation, there are not enough sites for hydro to be a viable option, and we have to get rid of fossil fuels. I want a future in which Al Qaeda's minions are reduced to trying to throw rocks as our bombers come in for another attack run.
Regards, Ivan
"Godamnnistan" is pretty damn funny. Consider it stolen (for personal non-FR use).
"The electricity is provided by either plugging into a standard wall socket or by fuel which can be gasoline or some more environmentally friendly alternative that recharges the car's battery. General Motors said the Volt's technology could nearly eliminate the need to fuel up at the pump."
So the question is, how much additional energy would we consume by recharging these things in wall sockets, and would the vehicles fuel savings more then offset that ?
"I wonder what makes these batteries so expensive? What are they made of?"
Those special batteries are made of 98.5% pure Unobtainium. While easy to mine, the material is only found in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, and in a very, very small remote area in Alaska.
There's another problem. Electricity is generated mainly by burning oil or coal. And then a portion of the power is lost in transmission. So what's the benefit of an electric car like this? The only benefit is if the electricity is generated by nuclear, wind or solar power, with nuclear being the only technically feasible, large scale source of electrical generation at the moment.
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