Posted on 02/04/2011 1:15:38 PM PST by jazusamo
Does the Volt have the travel range to even get to the cliff?
“Does the Volt have the travel range to even get to the cliff?”
The Volt goes an average of 35 miles on electricity alone and then it goes between 300-350 additional miles on gasoline, averaging 35-40 MPG.
The Volt is an interesting car, but it is far too expensive for the average American family and our national power grid won’t be able to handle all of the electric cars plugging into it.
Ford built almost 120,000 Edsels before they pulled the plug. Is there a book on whether Volt is over or under?
I doubt they’ll even be close to selling 60,000 this year so their plans for 120,000 next year has to be wishful thinking.
It's the old 'we lose money on every car but we make it up on volume' strategy.
We don’t WANT a “national power grid”. Such a grid would then fully invoke “interstate commerce” on 100% of EVERYTHING - Period. Those states who passed “homegrown guns” laws to stick their tongue out at the Feds... Too bad, because with a national power grid, all power is “interstate” - thus even the minute details of the local town are “hooked in” to the “national grid”.
I doubt it. We are better off burning carbon fuels to move autos than burning carbon fuels to produce electricity to move cars. It's as good an idea as CFL bulbs. Now, if we were ever to start building nuclear power generating plants and producing abundant and cheap power, it may look different but that is not happening.
“EREV technology is the future of the automobile.”
If it is the future, we better be prepared for many restrictions on personal travel. In the winter time, it is not much more than a very expensive traditional auto. In the peak summer months, I suspect that air conditioning will also substantially reduce the battery capacity. I do not think that economies of scale will reduce the prices of EVs due to the reliance on rare earth minerals. I see cartels forming around the production of rare earth minerals.
I am not optimistic about the grid and power generation. The rats have us on the road of forced conservation, unreliable power generation (rolling blackouts in Texas due to wind power failures), and much higher electric rates. The rats are trying very hard to prevent the construction of new baseload power generation plants.
No, it isn't. It's inefficient, wasteful and expensive.
The energy density is too low for electricity stored in batteries to be practical as a vehicle power source. And carrying two propulsion systems is ridiculously inefficient.
I suppose you could put electric tracks in the roads. Hopefully, no one would accidentally step on them.
I'll believe that when I see it.
The Volt is garbage.
***The Volt is expensive because it’s the first of its kind***
Anyone remember the electric VANGUARD CITICAR? I saw a car lot full of them in Tulsa OK back in 1976! Where are they today?
There are additional costs and problems involved in operating a plug-in hybrid.
You must have an electrician modify your home to accomodate the Volt's charging system, that is, unless you live in an apartment and park your car on the street. I don't know what you would do in that case.
It takes about 8 hours to charge the vehicle, meaning it cannot be driven for 1/3 of the day while it is plugged in.
Batteries do not perform as well in cold weather, reducing the car's range on batteries. Further, running the heater while driving on electricity drains the battery, unlike a gas powered vehicle which relies on heat from the engine.
It takes longer to charge the batteries in cold weather as well.
I do not know what the lifetime of the Volt's batteries is rated at, but a couple of years ago, I heard that hybrid batteries must be changed at 100,000 miles at a cost of around $10,000. While you might say that you would be ready to get rid of the car before then, this would severely impact the resale value of the car. Who would buy it, knowing that in 10 or 20,000 miles you would have to spend an additional $10,000?
You might say that you could always use the gasoline engine, but, then, what's the point of having the plug-in electric engine in the first place.
In my mind, owning a Volt is an idea that is stupid on steroids.
I lost touch with my engineer gnome on the project. Another gnome with a competitor notes, they did it, it is the real deal, i.e. An extended range electric more so than a Hybrid. But it weighs a ton, what an oinker, 3870 lbs if my memory is correct for what is about the size of the Chevy Malibu.
The good news is, they have made great gains in electric drive trains, but we still need a major breakthrough in batteries and or capacitor technology. Litium Ion is good, but we still need so much more...
bfl
You are thinking within the box. To enjoy an electric car, think outside the box.
Think of a solar charging station or a deployable solar shade recharger. Then there is a wind generator on the garage roof or that can rise up out of the trunk while parked.
It’s all out there just waiting for discovery
I'll put that statement on the possible side of maybe. The idea has potential, but more breakthroughs are needed to make it feasible for the average driver.
And if those breakthroughs are in fuel cells or something else, the EREV's reign as the car of the future may be short.
But I'm with you. Green technology - if not this then something else - will get better, just as the gas engine did.
No, it isn't. Saying "the automobile" when you really mean some limited form of "personal transportation" doesn't make EREV any more realistic. Everything being promoted as an improvement in our energy future is really something that ties the individual more tightly to centralized systems, not something that makes the country "greener" or to makes life better for anyone.
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