Posted on 03/10/2009 6:05:49 AM PDT by docbnj
The gas engine is the only thing that makes this vehicle “borderline” viable.
The Tesla is a 220 mile range.
I asked because I keep looking for details like this but rarely find them in the promotional stuff.
What’s the towing capacity on a Chevy VOLT?
Thats what I thought...ZIP
That!!!
This is silly. The Volt doesn’t have to be “economical”, it only has to have sufficient appeal to sell enough units to be profitable for the company. Let the customer decide what criteria to use in determining value. Look at how some people got so excited over some of the other electric cars, like the Tesla, which could never be “economical” unless money grows on trees.
Why is there no diesel electric hybrid?
So if you had a 5500 dollar electric bill from charging the car, and it cost one dollar a gallon equivalent, you'd have to drive the equivalent distance provided by 5500 gallons of gas per month.
I don't think so.
As for the 40-mph top speed you 'heard about yesterday' -- this is from the GM Volt site:
It has a very powerful all-electric 161-horsepower 45KW (100 KW peak) motor that is the only engine to power the car at all times. This engine should be capable of moving the car from 0 to 60 in 8.5 seconds, and have a top speed of at least 100 mph.
The gas motor is only used to charge the battery -- never to power the car directly as with conventional hybrids.
Overall efficiency of a plug-in electric car needs to include the losses of the power plant and the line losses to deliver the fuel. It should be fuel consumed for miles traveled. We don't mine electricity, we mine coal and uranium and other fuels.
Less than 32% of the energy used to create and delivery electricity to your home reaches you. Now multiply that by the efficiency of the charger, then the battery and finally the inverter. Now you can multiply by the efficiency of the motor and drive train.
Electricity Flow, 2007
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec8_3.pdf
I've always wondered why they have to make the darn things so UGLY! Is it a right of passage for a green car to be ugly in the US?
Looking at green-esque cars like some of the diesel Mercedes' and BMWs, there is a lot to ask for.
Furthermore, when I got to full green vehicles, such as the Fisker Karma, one ends up with a vehicle that is greener than a Prius (much much greener), yet looks hotter than hot! Here is a picture:
Now, I know it is FAR MORE EXPENSIVE than the stupid looking vehicle up there, but looks do not necessarily have to be expensive. Sure, a cheaper EV may not look like the Fisker Karma, but it does not have to look butt ugly like the poor sappy THING picture at the top!
You'd have to blindfold me to put me in one of those ....I'd actually rather drive an Aztek, something that I consider ugly enough to be sin!
Be sure to include in that comparison the effect of cold on the battery, and the energy required to run the heater.
Something isnt adding up.
If the gas engine is used to charge the battery and it is less efficient that the electric motor, how is there a net gain in efficiency?
Yeah, that was the general idea. Not to mention the mountain driving....
The same way they claim zero emissions for the first 40 miles. They don't count all the inputs, only the gasoline tank.
The Hype is out of control
The GM Volt isn't intended as a touring car. It's a commuter car. If the commuter drives 40 miles or less on a full charge, no gasoline is used.
According to the GM Volt web site, the gasoline engine gives a mileage of about 50 mpg. One reason for it's efficiency is there is it can be designed to run at only one RPM for maximum efficiency, and with no transmission mechanical losses, since there is no transmission.
Eureka!
Hey. If you only commute 20 mi a day you can use shank’s pony’s
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