Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Chevrolet Volt Article Comments - 2011 Chevrolet Volt First Look
46 messages, Last post on Oct 22, 2008 at 4:38 AM
You are in the Chevrolet Volt Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
2011 Chevrolet Volt First Look - The 2011 Chevrolet Volt is both more conventional than you might have been lead to believe and quite a bit more advanced than most potential buyers will know. (more)
|
Replying to: coldcranker (Sep 27, 2008 5:40 am) |
|
|
Replying to: kdhspyder (Sep 26, 2008 3:35 pm) Unless the vehicle you are currently driving gets over 50 mpg you'd save more on gas driving a Volt than the person who typically only drives 30 miles a day. There's no one vehicle that is perfect for everyone. I believe either the Accord or Camry are the best selling car in the country however I can think of a lot of reasons why they wouln't be suitable for certain people. Something like 14 million vehicles will be sold in the US this year. And this is a terrible year. You don't need to appeal to a high percentage of buyers to sell out the relatively small number of plug-ins that will be available the first few years. The hope is that as production of these vehicles ramps up the price will come down and a charging infrastructure will take shape. Seems reasonable to me. |
|
|
|
|
"The real production Volt will come with [...] a door on the front fender for the recharging port" "The recharging port is supposed to be hidden under this trim piece. Unfortunately the standard plug port chosen by government regulators is too big to fit." (picture captions) HUH?? Where are they getting their info? http://www.gm-volt.com/e/volt_port.jpg |
|
|
40 miles of electric drive range will allow me to get to work and back everyday without ever having the need to switch to the gasoline engine. So the question is.....why not making a full electric vehicle for city drivers without the need for a gasoline engine? The other question is, what problems will my gasoline engine experience over time by not being used very frequently?
|
|
|
Replying to: pisulino (Oct 17, 2008 4:35 pm) |
|
|
Replying to: pisulino (Oct 17, 2008 4:35 pm) Because, as they found with the EV1, then people are always worried about getting stranded somewhere when they run out of battery charge. That greatly limited the market for the EV1.
|
|
|
Replying to: nedzel (Oct 20, 2008 9:20 am) I have an electric moped that I use and it gives me something like a 35 mile range, I charge it every second day and I have never been stranded and that is a cheap made in china moped. They could implement a small backup battery pack as a reserve for that matter. Something like.... a red light flashing and notifying you that the vehicle is low in primary batteries and it's switching to the reserve pack - let's say 10 miles. There are no more excuses for not having a 100% gasoline free vehicle for city drivers anymore. The electrics and hybrids offerings fall short from what can be done with today's technologies. Imagine the increase on the vehicle's range by removing the weight associated with all the components required to sustain the gasoline engine!! Not to mention space for more batteries...... |
|
|
Replying to: pisulino (Oct 20, 2008 7:29 pm) Imagine the increase on the vehicle's range by removing the weight associated with all the components required to sustain the gasoline engine!! Not to mention space for more batteries...... Okay, I'll try to imagine this. I'd say the small ICE generator and components will weigh no more than 300 pounds. With regenerative braking extra weight does not have as big an effect on city mileage and it's effect on highway mileage has always been fairly small. I'd guess that if the Volt weighed 300 lbs less its electric range might increase by 5%. If you choose to add 300 lbs of battery in its place this reduced weight benefit is gone. This extra 300 lbs of battery would also cost more than the ICE it was replacing but you'd now have an EV with close to 100 mile range. So it will have the same or higher price tag as the Volt and still require most people to have a second vehicle. The Volt is an EV for city drivers, the ICE will never kick in. Your rational makes no sense. Basically you are stating that if you ever need to take a trip longer than an EV's range you want to be burning gas for the entire distance.
|
|
|
Replying to: pisulino (Oct 20, 2008 7:29 pm) Sorry, but you still have the same fundamental problem -- if you go too far you are stuck by the side of the road and have to get towed. The number of people who would buy a very expensive car that can never be used on long trips is very, very small. "Imagine the increase on the vehicle's range by removing the weight associated with all the components required to sustain the gasoline engine!!" Actually, you wouldn't gain that much. A 1.4 liter engine and small gas tank are not that heavy. And since the Volt's gas engine doesn't power the rear wheels, there is no transmission either. But most importantly, it isn't the couple hundred pounds of engine and gas tank that are controlling the amount of batteries in the Volt -- the controlling factor is the cost of the batteries. The current 40 mile battery costs over $20,000 for the battery alone. Adding more batteries would increase the cost. And no, you don't save that much by eliminating the gas engine -- gasoline engines don't cost that much to build. The number of people who would want a $40,000+ city-only range limited electric car (and have an outlet that they can plug it into) is infinitesimally small.
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: nedzel (Oct 21, 2008 5:26 am) I understand that the batteries in the Tesla Roadster, which has ~ 4 times the capacity of those in the Volt are expected to cost in the neighborhood of $20,000.
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Chevrolet Volt Article Comments - 2011 Chevrolet Volt First Look
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2011 Chevrolet Volt
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
