[Southack]

""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. ... 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."

Assuming that they are being accurate *and* truthful, then they are incredibly stupid. Ditch the $200,000 battery. Forget the 40 miles of battery power. Now you've got a 560 mile (range) car.

[Myrddin]

Assuming that they are being accurate *and* truthful, then they are incredibly stupid. Ditch the $200,000 battery. Forget the 40 miles of battery power. Now you've got a 560 mile (range) car.

I've actually gone 367 miles on a tank of gas. San Diego (Mira Mesa) to the gas station at Glendale, NV. That was in a 1994 Saturn SL2. The date was Dec 16, 2000. I was enroute to my new home in Idaho. I think it has a 16 gallon gas tank. I wouldn't drive that long without a potty/stretch break anyway. A stop at least every 250 miles is a good idea.

My wife was driving the other car and she missed the turn in North Las Vegas where we intended to get fuel/food. I was real worried that we were going to run out of gas in the middle of the cold, dark desert that night. After that near screw up, my policy is to fuel up at the next spot after 250 miles has elapsed.

[phoenix0468]

"Forget the 40 miles of battery power. Now you've got a 560 mile (range) car."

I don't think so. The 560 additional miles are still being run on the electric motors in each wheel. Basically, the electric motors, conceivably drawing power from a generator, are more efficient than the traditional combustion engine transmission model. I.E. without the powerful and efficient electric motors the car would not be able to achieve anywhere near 560 miles. I drive possibly the most efficient non-hybrid vehicles ever made and my max range on an 11 gallon tank is 440 miles. I don't think GM has made a combustion enging capable of that kind of fuel economy.

[norwaypinesavage]

"Assuming that they are being accurate *and* truthful, then they are incredibly stupid. Ditch the $200,000 battery. Forget the 40 miles of battery power. Now you've got a 560 mile (range) car."

Not exactly. The engine only puts out the average power necessary to drive the car. The instantaneous power required can vary between a negative value when running downhill, or braking, to a very large value when accelerating, or going up hill. An engine that is optimized for maximum fuel economy (560 mile range) would not have enough power for the accelerations and hill climbing that customers expect. Hence, the batteries. The batteries fill in the gaps. The engine only has to provide slightly more power than required for average driving to add enough reserve in the batteries for hill climbing and accelerations.

[absolootezer0]

the engine that drives the generator that charges the battery is probably about the size of a lawnmower engine.

the battery is what supplies the power to move the vehicle.