Chevy Volt to get 230 mpg rating

Money.cnn.com ^ | August 11 | By Peter Valdes-Dapena

[Richard Kimball]

I can't afford any new vehicle, and despite my 40 year Chevy loyalty, GM is dead to me, also.

That said, I WISH I could get real numbers on the mileage. I know it will vary dramatically with the distance driven, but they could give some straight numbers, like; for the first 40 miles, at 13 cents per kilowatt hour, how much will it cost to drive? If operating completely off the onboard engine, what's the gpm to recharge the batteries? Can the onboard engine recharge the batteries at a driving rate, or will it have to "rest up" while recharging after two or three hundred miles? What's the expected life span of the batteries?

I think the concept of a small recharging motor operating at a constant speed is good.

[madison10]

The important question is how much does it cost? could a person without a Brooks Brothers suit afford one? could a person turn in a clunker for one?

[xsrdx]

IMHO opinion Diesels are dead, It is just that the diesel heads just don't know it yet......

Maybe in the near term. If fuel gets back to $5-7/gal, once people figure out DC powered transport doesn't fly in the real world, they may eventually tell the EPA to pound sand.

We can do that, you know, representative democracy and whatnot.

[thackney]

The gasoline engine provides enough power to run the car.

There is no need to run the engine in advance of a trip. Just run the engine during the trip, which happens automatically.

[rightly_dividing]

pixie dust

Now you got it. That magical power source that is going to power our homes, vehicles and industry in the USSA.

[sam_paine]

Batteries are for starting engines, flashlights and portable radios.

I'm with you there. Electrochemical storage technology has not experienced a necessary quantum leap from 19th century technology. The lead acid battery hasn't changed at all since the Civil War!

However, within the constraints of the EPA game, there's some room for batteries as a motive storage device.

And if you're going to do it, and if you really need >40mpg (we don't), then all I'm saying is that a serial hybrid makes more sense than a parallel hybrid, and less pollution than an ultra-lean diesel.

[wbill]

This is all about an end-around for the new Fleet MPG regulations that will be going up in the years to come.

To take an extreme example.... Chevy sells one Volt at 230 mpg. It sells 7 SUV's at 10 mpg each. That puts the average MPG for the "fleet" at 37.5....well over the mandate set by Daddy Government.

And, since more people want to buy pickups than an eggshell with wheels....This works in Chevy's favor. The more Volts they sell, the more "real" cars...that people really want...they'll be able to sell.

[ltc8k6]

Incorrect.

It will run on the generator/engine alone if the batteries are flat. Having a dead battery just means you will be running on gasoline via the generator until the battery pack is recharged again.

[50sDad]

...and since we no longer have a nuke depository and no new plants will be built, the old coal-fed plants will be called upon to produce massive amounts of "dirty" electricity to fuel these "green" cars.

Politicians...is there anything they don't know?

[ElectricStrawberry]

.....and how much fossil fuel is burned to charge the batteries for the first 40 miles?

[ltc8k6]

http://gm-volt.com/2008/09/27/how-charging-of-the-battery-works-in-the-chevy-volt/

[xsrdx]

The gasoline engine provides enough power to run the car.

With completely depleted batteries? Probably not, except perhaps in some degraded mode - but I would expect the gas engine to engage automatically well in advance to prevent that condition, so the question may be academic.

[Tarpon]

Yeah, until the batteries catch fire on you.

The safety of lithium batteries is still up in the air, as the occasional laptop fires show. Huge piles of lithium cells in an accident could be really bad for you, if you are in the car. Gone in seconds comes to mind.

I saw an engineering analysis(can’t remember where) that showed battery power, pound for pound, delivered about 1/25 the energy to the rear wheels as gasoline.

[Buckeye McFrog]

the lies from this crowd just keep getting bigger and more outrageous, don’t they? Why not just claim it is powered by a perpetual motion machine?

Most of the electorate slept thru High School Physics, or they would not be getting away with it.

[xsrdx]

Thanks, excellent summary confirming the generator is part of the drivetrain..

[dangus]

Lithium is an anti-psychotic. Besides, my car is already demented.

[KarlInOhio]

What a fraud. I suppose the electricity used to power the batteries for the first 40 miles comes from pixie dust.

A long extension cord and my neighbor's outdoor outlet. That will be great until he buys a Volt too and we run into each other in the yard at midnight with the extension cord plugs in our hands.

[Tarpon]

Yes, in very small dose quantity, Lithium is OK and does have some beneficial effects. High dose you get dementia. Typical of these type drugs, they walk on a thin line.

Lithium also burns as the flaming laptops show.

[sr4402]

So let's say the car is driven 50 miles in a day. For the first 40 miles, no gas is used and during the last 10 miles, 0.2 gallons are used. That's the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon. But, if the driver continues on to 80 miles, total fuel economy would drop to about 100 mpg. And if the driver goes 300 miles, the fuel economy would be a just 62.5 mpg.

[sr4402]

These figures are under the best conditions. Warm, daytime, no stopping, tailwind, etc. Doubtful you would even get close.

These vehecles need much more engineering to get my attention.