Uh...no. The situation is not ‘contrived’. The notion of making a last minute trip into the mountains (when you live near the mountains) seems not only plausible...but frankly the entire reason alot of people move to Colorado. And there is no buffer and there is not time. If you’ve used up the charge, you just flat can’t drive up into the mountains.
And frankly I don’t care if the EV subsidy is a fraction of a penny. Real conservatives have these things....which you don’t have...called Principles! Get it? Not one nickel of my money or anyine elses money should be confiscated fir somebody else’s toy. Tell me why I’m wrong and cite the appropriate section of the constitution.
Yes, there is a buffer. You know, for someone who seems to enjoy hating the Volt so much, you really should learn about how it works.
You see, after the 40-mile battery is “depleted” and it switches over to gasoline mode, the battery pack is not actually at zero charge internally, but is actually at around 20% charge. When in gasoline mode and going up a steep hill, it will use a little of that 20% in order to keep the electric motors powered and helping the engine. Once the hill is not so steep, it uses the engine to refill the buffer.
Now, I'm open to you providing links to other real-world examples of people going into Propulsion Power Reduced Mode (PPRM), but the only example we have found so far was when someone climbed 2,000 feet in 6 miles, which comes out to about a 6.3% average grade. (Average is what matters since the buffer serves to smooth over temporarily increases and decreases in grade.)
However, the example you provided was an extremely shallow grade: 2,500 feet over 90 miles, or 0.5% average grade. For such a shallow grade, the engine has more than enough power to not only maintain constant high speeds, but also to recharge the battery.
So even your conjured surprise-free-lift-tickets-after-going-to-the-airport scenario would not end up with you in PPRM.
“Tell me why I’m wrong and cite the appropriate section of the constitution.”
Well, I already explained in my previous post how EV subsidies benefit the common good. As far as where the Constitution supports that, you only have to look as far as the first sentence:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare...