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Is the Volt really a "Hybrid" or not?

140 messages,  Last post on Apr 10, 2013 at 11:32 AM

You are in the Chevrolet Volt Forum.

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

Messages Page 10 of 14

#91 of 140 Re: The electric cost? [gagrice] by imidazol97

Oct 25, 2010 (2:54 pm)

Replying to: gagrice (Oct 25, 2010 1:57 pm)
The draw at 1000 watts is less than two normal size TVs. Less than 1 big screen plasma, I am guessing. Slightly more than toaster.
 
I don't see those as being huge current draws. That's about 8 amperes.

#92 of 140 Re: The electric cost? [imidazol97] by gagrice

Oct 25, 2010 (2:58 pm)

Replying to: imidazol97 (Oct 25, 2010 2:54 pm)
I am figuring that it takes 8 hours to charge about 8 KWs. Give a little to loss in the charging. A standard 20 amp breaker would be more than adequate. I would expect most owners to install a 220 Volt outlet to shorten the charging time.

#93 of 140 Re: The electric cost? [larsb] by pf_flyer HOST

Oct 25, 2010 (3:31 pm)

Replying to: larsb (Oct 25, 2010 1:42 pm)
Has nothing at all to do with blame. It's just simple supply and demand. The quantification is simply going to be the increased load, which can be measured. It's not a conspiracy to punish EV's, just a consequence that nobody seems to want to see.
 
We're about to go through deregulation of electric rates here in PA because forcing "competition" didn't work. A few years back, they gave everyone a choice of electric companies to use. You would have had to be an idiot to not choose the company with the lowest rates. Well, SURPRISE, as I said at the time, there was no way that company would have the capacity to supply everyone who might choose to get their power from them. So what's the company to do? They have to buy the more expensive power from the other companies to meet the demand. Do you think they're going to sell that power to customers at a loss?
 
Now the government is telling me forced competition didn't work. I'm SHOCKED I tell ya.
 
So pardon me for getting edgy when people start talking about how adding demand to the grid isn't really going to affect anything. Electric power is a commodity just like unleaded gas. And gas does a pretty good job of fluctuating around times of increased demand like holiday weekends and summer driving season, right?

#94 of 140 Re: The electric cost? [pf_flyer] by larsb

Oct 25, 2010 (3:39 pm)

Replying to: pf_flyer (Oct 25, 2010 3:31 pm)
Well, again, you make some good points.
 
But I fall back on the unanswered question:
 
HOW ON EARF are the utility companies going to be able to measure, and definitively quantify, the "increased usage" brought on by a few thousand EVs charging at night?
 
And at what point do they want to use that as an excuse to raise rates?
 
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#95 of 140 Re: The electric cost? [larsb] by gagrice

Oct 25, 2010 (6:02 pm)

Replying to: larsb (Oct 25, 2010 3:39 pm)
Something you are leaving out in your thinking. Not all companies pay the same amount for electricity at any given hour. Many places in CA will bring on higher cost gas generators when the load is higher. They may get cheaper power from a coal plant in AZ for the steady load times. Then many utilities do their maintenance on generators over night. It is not like they have so many megawatts available at all times. When the sun is down the solar does not produce. When the wind dies the windmills do not produce. Yet we want electric when we hit the switch. The only way to have a stable day and night power source is with coal and nuclear. The rest are subject to down times. Backup for less than steady solar and wind costs a lot to maintain, ready to be turned on. Someone has to pay for that. Currently it is subsidized to a large extent by the government. That is not sustainable energy.

#96 of 140 Re: The electric cost? [larsb] by dodgeman07

Oct 25, 2010 (8:48 pm)

Replying to: larsb (Oct 25, 2010 3:39 pm)
HOW...are the utility companies going to be able to measure, and definitively quantify, the "increased usage" brought on by a few thousand EVs charging at night?
 
They're not. The impact will be so minimal, there is no point in trying. Now 20 years from now if we have 40 million electric vehicles on the road, then you'll see a blip on the radar screen. A small blip at that. U.S. electric generating capacity is on the order of thousands of billions of kWh. We're talking quadrillions of watts available.
 
I live in the midwest where a manufacturing plant closes it's doors and moves production to China or Mexico or India or Taiwan or somewhere almost every day. One small plant closing opens up thousands of mWh of capacity, that's millions of kWh. 10,000 Chevy Volts all re-charging at the same time only pull 40 mWh tops. It's next to nothing.
 
Until tens of millions of these vehicles are on the road, it's a drop in the bucket, and even then it will be far under 0.01% of our nation's electric consumption.
 
Read more here:
 
U.S. Energy

#97 of 140 Re: The electric cost? [dodgeman07] by gagrice

Oct 26, 2010 (5:38 am)

Replying to: dodgeman07 (Oct 25, 2010 8:48 pm)
That is a good link. Something else to take into consideration. Power companies are in the business of providing electricity for a profit. The more the demand the more they will make. The oil companies would be the losers.
 
PHEVs will have to come down in price to overcome the negatives presented by the Volt.

#98 of 140 Re: The electric cost? [gagrice] by ateixeira

Oct 26, 2010 (8:50 am)

Replying to: gagrice (Oct 25, 2010 1:57 pm)
Interesting story (no A/C from 5-8pm). The afternoon sun feels hottest.
 
Again, this makes the idea of a timer for charging all the more appealing. I'm sure GM has taken that in to consideration.
 
Can't you use your iPod to check the battery level? Or was that for the Leaf?

#99 of 140 press request by kirstie_h HOST

Nov 29, 2010 (2:03 pm)

If you committed to purchasing or leasing a Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf, a reporter wants to interview you. Please email predmunds.com no later than Friday, December 3, 2010 and include your daytime contact information including a few words on your decision to get your new vehicle.

Messages Page 10 of 14

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