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

What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Volt, Electric Cars, Future Vehicle, Sedan

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)

Outline

Messages Page 5 of 6: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; Prev; Next; Last

#35 of 46 Re: Still wondering [kdhspyder] by tpe Sep 29, 2008 (10:26 am)
Replying to: kdhspyder (Sep 26, 2008 3:35 pm) 40 miles gas-free would save me about 25% of my annual gas bill plus then the cost of electricity. 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.
#36 of 46 by xiaohuaxing Oct 08, 2008 (8:36 pm)
"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
#37 of 46 all electric drive by pisulino Oct 17, 2008 (4:35 pm)
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? Replies to this message: peralta (Oct 18, 2008 4:08 am) nedzel (Oct 20, 2008 9:20 am) pisulino (Oct 20, 2008 7:29 pm) tpe (Oct 21, 2008 4:56 am) and 2 more... nedzel (Oct 21, 2008 5:26 am) and 2 more...
#38 of 46 Re: all electric drive [pisulino] by peralta Oct 18, 2008 (4:08 am)
Replying to: pisulino (Oct 17, 2008 4:35 pm) That would be a very nice and cheaper variation of Volt. Besides the $38,000 4 passenger HEV, it should also be offered as a ~ $30,000 all electric 5 passenger car with battery redistributed to the former location of the gas tank and the engine bay.
#39 of 46 Re: all electric drive [pisulino] by nedzel Oct 20, 2008 (9:20 am)
Replying to: pisulino (Oct 17, 2008 4:35 pm) "So the question is.....why not making a full electric vehicle for city drivers without the need for a gasoline engine?" 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. Replies to this message: pisulino (Oct 20, 2008 7:29 pm) tpe (Oct 21, 2008 4:56 am) pisulino (Oct 21, 2008 6:10 pm) and 1 more... nedzel (Oct 21, 2008 5:26 am) michael2003 (Oct 21, 2008 5:57 am) and 1 more...
#40 of 46 Re: all electric drive [nedzel] by pisulino Oct 20, 2008 (7:29 pm)
Replying to: nedzel (Oct 20, 2008 9:20 am) Yes, but the EV1 was using 90's technology. The reliability of today's batteries is way better 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...... Replies to this message: tpe (Oct 21, 2008 4:56 am) pisulino (Oct 21, 2008 6:10 pm) tpe (Oct 22, 2008 4:38 am) nedzel (Oct 21, 2008 5:26 am) michael2003 (Oct 21, 2008 5:57 am) tpe (Oct 21, 2008 6:19 am)
#41 of 46 Re: all electric drive [pisulino] by tpe Oct 21, 2008 (4:56 am)
Replying to: pisulino (Oct 20, 2008 7:29 pm) I don't understand this backup battery pack idea. How is that superior to having a single battery pack that has an indicator showing how much charge is left? 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. Replies to this message: pisulino (Oct 21, 2008 6:10 pm) tpe (Oct 22, 2008 4:38 am)
#42 of 46 Re: all electric drive [pisulino] by nedzel Oct 21, 2008 (5:26 am)
Replying to: pisulino (Oct 20, 2008 7:29 pm) "Yes, but the EV1 was using 90's technology." 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. Replies to this message: michael2003 (Oct 21, 2008 5:57 am) tpe (Oct 21, 2008 6:19 am)
#43 of 46 Re: all electric drive [nedzel] by michael2003 Oct 21, 2008 (5:57 am)
Replying to: nedzel (Oct 21, 2008 5:26 am) Where did the information come from that 'The current 40 mile battery costs over $20,000'? 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. Replies to this message: tpe (Oct 21, 2008 6:19 am)
#44 of 46 Re: all electric drive [michael2003] by tpe Oct 21, 2008 (6:19 am)
Replying to: michael2003 (Oct 21, 2008 5:57 am) GM has been very tightlipped in regards to the battery cost. Maybe when they release the information about who their battery supplier will be this information will become available. I've read guestimates of $6-9k. That's still considerably more than a 1.4L ICE will cost. So replacing the ICE with a comparable amount of extra battery capacity would in all likelihood increase the price of the vehicle and you'd now be range limited. Not exactly two selling points.