Caddyman and Double. . Why do you have be a conservative to to rail against the Volt ? That has nothing to do with it. It is not a revolutionary design. It is old style series technology that was not used by Toyota because of it’s inefficiencies. It’s an over priced scam designed to pass the minimum requirements of the bail out. Those of us who have bought into the hype are just agreeing with the idea that decent battery storage for 100 mile driving is not available for less then $20k. It is ! That’s not from a conservative but a liberal who can read.
OK is correct in pointing out that Volts are not made to sell, but just fill a political void. I’m still waiting for a regular contributor here to say they have one…if it’s such a marvel of technology, someone here must have one…not. I bet the styling and advertising departments worked much harder then the drive train engineers on this joke.
dagosa, you have been listening to Rush Limbaugh and the other far-right whack jobs for too long…The Volt was on the drawing boards long before the Liberals “Took Over”…So was the Nissan Leaf…These cars were put on the market to gauge public reaction and acceptance and to prove the technology as being workable…California has laws in place that will require zero emissions vehicles to be a large percentage of vehicles sold. Manufacturers must develop the means to comply with these laws or stop selling cars in markets that use California’s emissions standards…
The Volt concept of course was on the drawing board since GM had an extensive background in developing a highly successful EV running well over 100 miles on a nickel metal hydride battery. A battery that is recyclable, is unaffected by cold weather and as experienced by RAV EV owners, has a very long life span… But, it’s a relatively cheap technology battery that is unavailable now in larger sizes for cars for who knows why !
The auto industry has no intention developing a worth while EV for a reasonable price. The Volt farce is the prime example. And though I totally support the auto bailout, the Volt is a political side show. $40k my asteroid. There is nothing new about the Volt that makes it any different from an EV1 with a built in generator…save a few Wii bells and whistles.
The operative phrase for companies to develope cheap but more EV effective Volt type cars is " kicking and screaming" and only after govt. mandates which is one of many reasons why the right is now doing it’s best to buy our govt.
I don’t think the Volt is that much of a joke, and it was conceived in Bob Lutz’s office before anybody knew who Obama was. I don’t know a whole lot about it, but it is certainly not the glorified golf cart that Limbaugh and others say it is.
Battery life depends GREATLY on how deeply you discharge it before recharging…A 50% discharge cycle is easy on the battery and you can expect it to last a long time. If you allow a 80% discharge, you will get longer range but at the cost of reduced battery life…
As EV’s age, and battery replacement looms, their market value becomes uncertain…The most advanced hybrid, the Hyundai Sonata, offers a lifetime battery guaranty to the original owner…It uses a Lithium-Poly battery but I suspect to protect the guarantee, the depth of discharge is limited…
Gee, the first gen RAV EV had a range of between 100 and 120 miles and has showed surprising battery life of over 150k miles with the NiMH battery being much cheaper, better in cold weather,
less affected by level of discharge and environmentally friendly. Your battery life dependency is lead acid car starter battery mentality. Deep cycle marine lead acid batteries are actually dependent upon deep discharge to maintain longevity. Even these have a worthwhile place in EV development as lead acid batteries can actually be made owner service(able) cheaply and last a lifetime. (not that I would recommend it) Ask Jay Leno.The best option, NiMH batteries are no longer available from Panasonic for replacement due to pattern rights.
That’s why the Volt has a range of 40 mile ( or less) and is but a political statement. The Nissan Leaf too has the " wrong" battery. The Volt is probably the only thing I have ever agreed with Rush on, if indeed he says it’s a joke (farce).
My parents love their Volt. I talked to them about their experience, especially costs and emissions, and blogged about it at Scientific American. In a nutshell: the car is expensive, but it costs about half as much as a Prius per mile, and it emits less carbon dioxide than gas engines or Priuses. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/09/21/are-chevy-volts-really-cheaper/
I think the Volt has a range of 40 miles for several reasons. If there were more battery cells, the car would cost more and weigh more. The quoted range of 38 miles on a fully charged battery is much better than any hybrid car. And the lithium-ion battery is a generation newer than the NiMH battery - it has significantly better energy density. Prius uses the NiMH battery because it was the best that was available at the time. Note that the plug-in Prius will use the Li-ion battery, not the NiMH of yesteryear - and will have a range on 14 miles before the engine is needed. GM provided an electric car that can be driven anywhere, and for many people, can be driven daily without gasoline. That can’t be said for any other car on the market.