Freepmail "Lazlo in PA" to be added or removed.
Posted on 05/01/2012 7:11:55 PM PDT by Hojczyk
It’s a boxy, snub-nosed little bastard, with roughly the rear visibility of a Mercury space capsule. But Chevrolet’s Volt is plenty slick, in its way.
The one I’ve just strapped to my back in New York City is Silver Ice Metallic with four leather-appointed bucket seats and a pair of seven-inch LCD displays on a dash arrayed with twoscore buttons and dials by which one can access the onboard DVD player, the satellite radio, the built-in nav, and the “Driver Information Center.” This last gives you a real-time graphic representation of the distribution of operating power among the Volt’s 288 lithium-ion battery cells, its electrohydraulic regenerative brakes, and the geologic pesto of processed Paleozoic carrion that folks in the flyover states call “gasoline.”
Those regenerative brakes, which are augmented with good old-fashioned “Oh, %&#!” anti-lock discs, are spongy and take some getting used to. The blind spots are more like blind blotches. And the driver’s seat accommodates a 6̋ʹ2″ buffet enthusiast like this reporter only at the expense of the circulation in the rear passenger’s lower extremities. But the Volt is tight and responsive through turns. Its 149-horsepower (that is, 111-kW) Voltec electric motor considerably overachieves, since it requires no transmission and therefore delivers its 273 foot-pounds of torque all at once. After barely a few miles at cruising speed I figure I could get used to this. It sure beats my usual ride — a dun-colored ’94 Cherokee with a failing transfer case — if for no other reason than that its right rear bumper isn’t held on by duct tape. Oh, and it is quiet. Ghost quiet. U-boat-full-of-mutes-in-cotton-booties-coasting-through-an-ocean-of-mineral-oil quiet.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
pos..
Fun read, thanks.
Hilarious article about a sad subject!
Love it or hate it. I really don’t care. Just don’t make me subsidize it. If I’m forced to pay part of your car payment I expect you to get your butt over here and make me a sandwich.
Some real car guy writing this. He is driving a $#!t box.
The day I take political advice from Car and Driver is the day I will ask NR on which hatchback to buy.
Freepmail "Lazlo in PA" to be added or removed.
What’s funny, is when he goes to plug it in, and there is no electricity because the coal fired powerplants are shut down. HAHA !
Ya know, those laws on the books when automobiles first came out, the ones that required a man to walk in front with a lantern or maybe a bell?. Perhaps they were just ahead of their time.
Go to the link and read the article. You’ll change your mind about the reporter.
I drove one for a day. Odd feeling...no noise..no distance either. The car actually handles well. but 45,000 + t & l
50,000.....no friggin way : )
I saw a VOLT for the very first time last week. I followed it on the interstate for a few miles. Not a bad looking car actually. I can’t believe they cost over 40k. What a ripoff.
I never knew they had a gasoline motor in them. I thought they were purely battery powered. I think that’s a cool idea adding a gasoline motor for power, but eliminating the transmission...its kinda like the drivetrain of a train...diesel-electrics ya know.
Too bad about the price. If they could’ve made them for half the price they would’ve been the greatest things on the planet since the model T Ford.
” but I can see a time like the late fifties and early sixties where kids and a few old farts are souping up their battery-mobiles”
This is going to take an entirely different set of skills; a lot of this is REALLY dangerous, with high-voltage, high-powered electronics.
I don’t think the Volt is it either, but the batteries will get better, a lot of people are working on this. If it cost $10,000 HONEST dollars (no subsidies) less, I’d take a look at it. If the battery actually delivered the originally-planned miles, I think that it would have sold much better.
Some people have already hacked the Prius to make it a plug-in hybrid, with, of course, automatic “Void Your Warranty”.
I myself think the following idea is attractive: an electric car with a towable or modular “bolt-on” for the back with a tubrodiesel generator. So, during the week, you don’t need it, but if you want to take a long trip, you’ve got it. Of course, the EPA and DOT will make a commercial version virtually impossible to build or sell - at least, for now. But then, it’s not a “motor vehicle”, is it?
Actually I think the real market for electrics in the next few years is Asia. Asian cities are generally old with pedestrian or horse drawn transportation arteries. Electrics with limited rang fit in well there. I only hope, with out much real hope, that the USA can lead in developing the technology..
Ping.
The writer, you mean, right ?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.