Chevy Volt

[fishfordollars]

$41,000

300 miles to a tank of which 40 is electric

Edsel comes to mind

[farmpond1]

I have no great love for Chevrolet's but why the animosity?

It's my understanding that with a full charge, the car has a "combat radius" of 20 miles without ever using the internal combustion engine.  Sounds like a great idea for short commutes.  Plus you can still use it for longer ones.

p.s. The Edsel was a ford product.

[tyrius.]

300 miles to a tank of which 40 is electric

That's only if you never recharge it.  If you drive less than 40 miles a day and charge it up each night then you'll never use a drop of gas.  It's the perfect compromise for those who want an electric car, but don't want to be saddled by it's restrictions.

It's a technological marvel and I'd bet that dealers will be able to sell it for over the sticker price.  It's environmental benefits FAR outweigh that of the Prius or any other hybrid on the road.

[slonezp]

I know the lithium batteries in my power tools work for s#!+ when it's cold out. Hopefully for $41k that won't be an issue.

[=Matt 5.0=]

I'm waiting for the Tesla Model S.

[Nick94]

I'm waiting for the Tesla Model S.

you bet that thing is going to be the best electric car out there

[Dan:]

My jetpack will make a Volt look silly.

[=Matt 5.0=]

I'm waiting for the Tesla Model S.

you bet that thing is going to be the best electric car out there

Absolutely perfect for my commute. I drive two miles to drop the kids off at school, then five miles from their school to work. At night I drive three miles back to the house. My truck has been paid off for years, and I only use it to tow the boat on the weekends. I could charge the Tesla and drive for a month without plugging it back in.

[Dean]

electric cars...hehe..give me a v8 anyday ;D

[pa mountain man]

I don't know a whole lot about electric cars, but I only get 3 years out of a deep cycle battery, I wonder how long they last in a car?  Maybe they have this covered, but what if you total it, is there a high chance of an explosion, or acid everywhere? Are the local fire depts. trained on how to deal with these?

[CFFF 1.5]

The chevy volt is great and all but GM already had an all electric car that could go between 100 and 140 miles between charges. Seems that a car produced roughly 10 years after the second generation EV could do better than 40 miles on a charge. Do a google search for EV1 or watch who killed the electric car?

[fishfordollars]

The chevy volt is great and all but GM already had an all electric car that could go between 100 and 140 miles between charges. Seems that a car produced roughly 10 years after the second generation EV could do better than 40 miles on a charge. Do a google search for EV1 or watch who killed the electric car?

41,000 was what disappointed me.

[tyrius.]

The chevy volt is great and all but GM already had an all electric car that could go between 100 and 140 miles between charges. Seems that a car produced roughly 10 years after the second generation EV could do better than 40 miles on a charge. Do a google search for EV1 or watch who killed the electric car?

The volt has a gasoline powered generator to charge up the batteries while driving.  This makes the volt have the same range as any other car on the road.  You can use it to drive coast to coast or just for your normal commute.  You're not tied to an electric outlet.  The Volt becomes an ideal commuter car that can also be used for family trips.  It eliminates the biggest negative of all electric cars (being forced to recharge via electrical power).

The EV1 was never really "sold" to the public.  They were only "leased".  GM didn't know how reliable the batteries would be so they didn't want to sell the EV1 and have the batteries fail after 1 year.  It was also just a 2 seater.  The Nissan Leaf seats 5 and gets 100 miles per charge.

[cart7t]

I don't know a whole lot about electric cars, but I only get 3 years out of a deep cycle battery, I wonder how long they last in a car? ...

How much are the batteries and what is the general life expectancy?  I'd be curious to know along with how long GM will warranty the batteries for.

[TommyBass]

Im sure charging the batteries on that thing consumes a rather large amount of electricity, at least compared to batteries we are used to.

Im not sure that the coal fired power plant putting that elecricity in your wall is any more environmentally sound than the gas you burn driving that small distance.

Not to mention adding in other things like the diesel fuel semi's and trains are using to haul coal and limestone to those same power plants... or the fuel used in mining that coal.

Granted, the electricity may come from some other sources, but thats a small percentage.

Just something to keep you thinking

[tyrius.]

Im sure charging the batteries on that thing consumes a rather large amount of electricity, at least compared to batteries we are used to.

One thing that many people don't realize is that massive amounts of electricity is completely wasted as overnight power supply is greater than demand. That power has nowhere to go so they just ground it or vent the steam. Therefore, if you plug your car in and charge it overnight you are utilizing power that would likely have been wasted.

And, the distribution of oil and gas crosses a MUCH greater distance than coal. We've got our own coal. We have to get our oil from other countries. So, I'd bet that it's much easier to get coal to a coal plant than it is to pump oil, ship it, refine it, ship it again, and dispense it into my gas tank.

[tyrius.]

How much are the batteries and what is the general life expectancy? I'd be curious to know along with how long GM will warranty the batteries for.

warranty is for 8 years or 100k miles.

http://gm-volt.com/2010/07/19/chevrolet-volt-battery-warranty-details-and-clarifications/

[TommyBass]

tyrius:

True, coal is much closer to home than oil in most instances. However, the oil you use to move that coal any distance still comes from across the sea, refined, etc. Either way, the movement of draglines, trains, trucks, and even the personal transportation of the miners and powerplant workers all goes back to being powered by oil. Until we run equipment off of coal directly (not going to happen) then the more coal you use = more oil used.

I understand that there is wasted energy.. Im just stating if everybody went to this type of vehicle, not a select few. The few Chevy Volts that are made will probably never have any increase draw in the elecrical grid.

[tyrius.]

more coal you use = more oil used.

Agreed.  But the same is also true for increasing oil consumption. 

Also, take a look at the intensive nature of mining the Canadian oil sands (the US's largest source of crude).  It's basically an open pit mine.

[farmpond1]

I've copied and pasted these excerpts from Wikipedia:

"Electric vehicles differ from fossil fuel-powered vehicles in that the electricity they consume can be generated from a wide range of sources, including fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable sources such as tidal power, solar power, and wind power or any combination of those. "

"Overall energy consumption and emissions would diminish because of the higher efficiency of electric vehicles over the entire cycle."

"Electric vehicle 'tank-to-wheels' efficiency is about a factor of 3 higher than internal combustion engine vehicles."[32]

"The GM Volt will cost "less than purchasing a cup of your favorite coffee" to recharge. The Volt should cost less than 2 cents per mile to drive on electricity, compared with 12 cents a mile on gasoline at a price of $3.60 a gallon. This means a trip from Los Angeles to New York would cost $56 on electricity, and $336 with gasoline. This would be the equivalent to paying 60 cents a gallon of gas.[35]

[BrianinMD]

Wikipedia is not a good source for referencing, being anyone can update the information these "facts" could be put there by marketing period or others who have something to gain from the industry.

If used Wikipedia as reference to any of my college papers I would get failed.

[farmpond1]

Wikipedia is not a good source for referencing, being anyone can update the information these "facts" could be put there by marketing period or others who have something to gain from the industry.

If used Wikipedia as reference to any of my college papers I would get failed.

Gosh!  I'm glad this isn't a term paper.

[BrianinMD]

My point being for something like a car purchase, not counting the new aspects of something completely different like the Volt. I want information that I can count on, using items like wikipedia which the source is unknown, or magazines which have ads from the same manufacture selling the product does not work.

[farmpond1]

My point being for something like a car purchase, not counting the new aspects of something completely different like the Volt. I want information that I can count on, using items like wikipedia which the source is unknown, or magazines which have ads from the same manufacture selling the product does not work.

Your point is well taken.  Yes, everything from Wikipedia should be viewed skeptically. And yes, from a purely research and academic perspective, I wouldn't allow it either.  (Of course, there's a lot of scholarly "knowledge" out there with its own particular bias so I wouldn't swallow all of it whole either).