Posted on 05/25/2015 11:26:06 PM PDT by dila813
The 2016 Chevy Volt promises to be a much better hybrid than its predecessor, with a lower price and better performance... and unfortunately for GM, that improvement might be hurting sales of the outgoing model. The Detroit Free Press reports that there were roughly 6,000 unsold 2015 Volts as of April, or more than twice the 2,779 that sold in the first four months of the year. Sales are down 46 percent versus the same period a year ago, and dealers appear willing to make some serious concessions to clinch a deal.
(Excerpt) Read more at engadget.com ...
We could be a twisted pair.
I have yet to see one of these on the road. Lots of Leafs, but never a Volt.
They’re competing with the Yugo.
If the real overall impact on the environment were calculated on each of these vehicles, they would turn out to have a much larger “carbon footprint” than most vehicles in the price bracket and use categories in which they are being sold.
At the current stage of development, vehicles that rely on battery power and recharge from home or parking stations are still dead ends. Once fuel cells that operate on a pure grade of methane are developed, THEN there may be a quantum leap in the application of electric-powered vehicles.
From what I understand, there is, still in largely experimental stage, a methane-fueled Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell, which delivers some 60% of the energy contained in Methane as power to drive the vehicle. This compares with some 17-40% conversion of energy from gasoline fuel or Diesel fuel into propulsion power for the vehicle, and depending on the source of the generated electricity, a hybrid (that uses some on-board power from an internal-combustion engine) is scarcely better than a Diesel.
Considering that a central electric power generation plant only delivers about 40% or so of the caloric energy in a fuel burned to produce the electricity, and another 10% or so is lost in the transmission of the electricity from point of production to point of use (charging the batteries), the comparative energy that may be applied for propulsion of the pure electric vehicle falls to a very low level, hardly worth the extra expense for all the fancy engineering and manufacturing costs of the hybrid vehicle.
Now, if the intention is to produce a propulsion system that has a very high transformation of the caloric energy of the fuel to the amount transmitted to the propulsion of the vehicle, then a closed recirculating system using a reciprocating steam engine, in which no water or water vapor escapes to the open air, driving a hydraulic transmission that supplies power to each individual wheel through a hydrostatic drive motor mounted at the hub, eliminates a lot of power loss through the drive system, and makes for a much more even application of torque during acceleration and cruising, and a regenerative effect when slowing or braking. Such a steam engine was produced nearly 90 years ago, (the Doble design) using the materials then available, and driving a vehicle that was heavy and cumbersome by today’s standards, that got astonishing efficiencies, but since the internal combustion engine was widely available, and distilled fuel was relatively cheap, the further development of this design was abandoned. If revived today, the use of propane-butane LP gas would make a compact and clean-burning fuel source, and the available materials to construct a boiler and piston design are vastly better engineered. The hydrostatic drive has been applied to farm and industrial heavy machinery, and has achieved a high degree of reliability and efficiency of power transmission.
the Volt, to a certain extent, can use coal
instead of petroleum.
everybody wins, except
Exxon and OPEC.
whats not to like?
( OK, it costs a LOT for what you get)
6,000 unsold Volts = the regime’s “no cash for clunkers” program
A better name change, change Volt to Dolt.
No, you have to add it up and divide by the number of cars
They must all be in Washington, DC.
Perhaps DC did get most of the Volts that ended up in fleet use. In the Dallas area, I've seen Ford Fusion hybrids and - very recently - Hyundai Sonata hybrids with government (GSA) plates.
Yet another victory for central planning...
GM can list them as 6,000 assets the next time they go bankrupt.
Volts for dolts! Volts for dolts! Volts for dolts!
Cash for Clunkers II
You can’t give them to the Illegals, by the time they were done with the necessary modifications, they’d be electrocuted.
I am actually surprised by how many I see in western Illinois.
I’ve seen a few in California and Nevada.
Seriously?
If you want solar power, it might be worth buying one and throwing away all the car bits just to get a battery pack to give you night time/cloudy day power...
Such people should be arrested and tried. It would be a no pun and shut case.
That’s essentially what killed the Osborne computer and brought down the computer. Fortunately for Chevy and GM the Volt is not their only product.
But wait...Obama...said we would love these vehicles... note...when one has to be bribed to buy something it is a very bad product!!!
GM can PAY ME 200,000 to take one. I will park it in the driveway as advertising due to the stupid GM and “volt” badges. I commit to have it there for one year. (/s)
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