GM's 'Volt'...

[SteamWake]

A bit pricey I would say... good luck with that GM

Originally Posted by The Washington Post

The long-anticipated Chevrolet Volt, General Motors' electric car, will cost $41,000, the company announced Tuesday, leaving consumers to decide whether its environmental appeal is worth a price far above that of similarly sized conventional autos.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...705834_pf.html

[ETR3(SS)]

If I could sum up GM in one word it would be, Clueless. Maybe they should get together with Toyota. Toyota could show them how to make a good inexpensive car and GM could show them how to make a gas pedal that doesn't get a mind of it's own.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

A bit pricey I would say... good luck with that GM



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...705834_pf.html

Your welcome UAW

[krashkart]

At $41,000 does it classify as a luxury car or a novelty?

[Weiss Pinguin]

Well at least it's not as buttugly as the Prius

[SteamWake]

Anyone catch the range on this thing?

ITs a whopping 40 miles !

I dont know how the whole generator thing works but I dont belive it is like a hybrid where it 'switches' to internal combustion engine.

40 miles... That would get me to work and halfway home.

Wonder how long you have to charge to get that 40 miles.

Oh and another thing. I have this same concearn with hybrids. If god forbid you get in an accident in this thing and somehow short out the batterys it could cause a rather large explosion with extremly toxic smome.

Then what do we do with the heavy metals once the batterys will no longer hold a charge?

[WarlordATF]

What they don't want to tell you is that the disposal of the batteries from these hybrids does just as much if not more damage to the enviroment than fossil fuels. These Batteries have to be replaced fairly on a fairly regular basis and the used ones don't just vanish. I guess it makes the clueless feel good, but the reality is a different story.

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Anyone catch the range on this thing?

ITs a whopping 40 miles !

I dont know how the whole generator thing works but I dont belive it is like a hybrid where it 'switches' to internal combustion engine.

40 miles... That would get me to work and halfway home.

Wonder how long you have to charge to get that 40 miles.

http://gm-volt.com/2008/09/27/how-ch...he-chevy-volt/

The battery is recharged by the engine, but only as little as possible. The point is to avoid petroleum use.
Here’s how it works.
For the first 40 miles, the fully charged battery (80% state of charge) powers the electric motor. Regenerative braking can help recharge the battery to a certain extent.
When the vehicle drives past 40 miles, the battery reaches a 30% or so state of charge. So called “the customer depletion point”, preventing the battery from going below that sustains the batteries longevity. Lithium-ion cells don’t survive as long when they are deep discharged, and GM has the goal of 10 years/150,000 miles.
At the customer depletion point the combustion engine fires up and operates at one of several optimized fixed RPMs. The engine turns the generator, producing electricity.

[Zachstar]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Your welcome UAW

What does Union have to do with car tech? Union has no say in design.

Of course never miss a beat to express anti-union hate tho for some here.

[Zachstar]

As for the volt it is rather crap. GM is far too worried about a good volt competing with its petrol lines. If I were GM I would go all in on electric. Tho I am not so I will buy a Ford instead.

As for charge time issues. That has NOTHING to do with the car or the battery. Most home lines can only push out a few kilowatts safely. Also the faster you want to charge the much more complex and costly the power converter costs. My PCs Power supply is 700W and it cost me a good 60USD. .7 Kilowatts...

What is not being mentioned here tho is that 40 miles you get is less than a dollar power bill. Way less in many areas. Also when an engine is "designed" for a fixed RPM its efficiency skyrockets. Most road engines these days are supposed to hit best RPM at normal conditions at 50 MPH That is why there is two MPG ratings.

Now in my opinion take the ICE out completely slash 10-20 thousand on price and let it go 60-80 miles on a single charge. That fits city dwellers VERY well.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by Zachstar

What does Union have to do with car tech? Union has no say in design.

Of course never miss a beat to express anti-union hate tho for some here.

nope.
I wonder how much the car would cost w/o the union?

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Zachstar

What does Union have to do with car tech? Union has no say in design.

No, but they have a say in labor and labor costs, which directly affects the quality of products produced. Their lobbies also have a big effect on domestic production and international trade policy, and are usually focused upon insuring their jobs at the cost of everyone else.

Originally Posted by Zachstar

Of course never miss a beat to express anti-union hate tho for some here.

Glad you like unions so much. Remind me to thank you for your blind support next time I pick up my ridiculous paycheck that comes directly from your wallet in the form of artificially inflated bulk goods costs.