| Company: | General Motors | Chevrolet |  |
| Brands: | Volt | |
| Pricing: | Unknown - Coming 2010 | |
| Range: | 40 miles (+300 using gas) | |
| Speed: | 100 mph | |
| Batteries: | T-Shaped Lithium Ion Pack |
Who killed the electric car? Disappointed fans who expected too much, that’s who. I don’t care if the first mass produced electric vehicle by an American Car manufacturer looks like a cardboard box on wheels. Just as long as it encourages the installation of local charging stations and sends a big F.U. message to the oil companies and oil producing nations. Who knows, maybe in 3 years we will have combination car charge parking lots where you buy coffee, get a haircut, and read the newspaper. (OK, for everyone under age 40, substitute “surf the net” there.)
Negatives: It’s not completely green! The 40 mile range makes this car fine for 99% of my driving needs. However, as the batteries get low, a small gasoline engine kicks in and recharges the batteries. Since the gas engine never powers the motor, but only recharges the batteries, this car can still be considered electric powered and not a hybrid. Not to mention the price of this car isn’t released yet. Seeing how a Tesla costs $100k, what would you pay for a Volt? For $20k I’d probably buy one tomorrow. For $30k, I’d have to really think about it and see what else is out there. For the $40k people expect, I probably can’t afford this car yet either.
The positives. Finally, an electric car for a family of 4! I like my car to look like a car, not some 3 wheeled space vehicle or some fully enclosed golf cart. It’s cars like this that make EV’s acceptable in the public’s eye. The Volt provides plenty of power, but I’d like to know the optimal driving speed to maximize the range. The interior looks great to me, nice and clean, but a bit tight on the leg room in the picture. Being able to plug into normal household current shows the egghead engineers finally got it.
Who is this car for? Practical people that want a mass produced American made vehicle that allows us to become less dependant on the oil companies. If Congress gave a huge tax incentive, I could see many people buying a car like this. I know I’m not the only person driving around some old clunker waiting to buy their first electric car. Now let’s see how the other big automakers respond.
8 Comments Received
September 19th, 2008 @8:52 am
Hey, I think you’ve got a great concept for a site here. I’m looking forward to the next post.
I would buy the Volt tomorrow if it was priced under $20k as well. The thing I like about it is that, as you said, it would work totally on battery for the vast majority of my driving, however it would still work for me when I needed to take a business trip out of town. The biggest drawback to a full-time electric vehicle without this option is that it would take too long to stop and charge if you were taking a long trip. The only way that would work is if you could get 10-12 hours of highway driving on a 10-12 hour charge. Someday I hope the technology is there.
September 19th, 2008 @6:10 pm
You know for all of electric cars great jumps in Ecology, there is a whole aspect about them that is discussed very rarely outside the Repair industry. You would not believe the safe guards that have to be put into place when dealing with such a vehicle. Seems 24 volts is more than enough to stop human heart activity and many of these cars utilize 36 volts, plus a ton of amperage. Next time you get a chance, ask a fireman or a policeman what he would do if he encountered one of these in a wreck.
Something to think about.
Beamer
September 20th, 2008 @12:05 am
@Beamer
Your comment reminds me of the movie I, Robot where they are getting on Will Smith’s motorcycle and the girl has an hangup with gasoline. I agree there are different dangers with electric cars, but I’m not sure they are ones we can’t overcome or that will be any worse than what our public servants already deal with once we have prepared and trained for them. I’m not sure that they are worse than things we already deal with. Fear shouldn’t keeps us from progress.
September 20th, 2008 @5:48 am
Most of these cars use 19 to 20 car batteries wired in series and parallel. Between the batteries there are quick disconnects that allow you to break the flow of current and isolate parts of the circuit. Kind of like yanking a fuse out of the fuse box.
September 23rd, 2008 @8:25 am
Well I would hope that progress was made in that department, but there are still those cars out there that guys that do repairs and the emergency response folks still have to deal with. I am not saying that progress shouldn’t be made. It was just something to ponder while trying to decide which car to get.
If you aren’t the one doing the repairs it’s no biggie. But if your working on a car that might just kill you or you just might screw it up big time with out knowing why, it could be a lot different for you.
Beamer
September 23rd, 2008 @3:24 pm
Is it any different than a guy repairing his own gas powered car? Carbon monoxide poisoning or gasoline fires? Of course people need to follow proper safety precautions. Just like you don’t smoke around gas, you don’t use metal around battery terminals. The biggest danger would be the home builder who uses their own wiring. I’m sure finding a mechanic properly trained in electric car safety will be difficult at first.
October 16th, 2008 @8:32 am
It is really nice and sexy car. I would like to long drive with my girl friend.
November 9th, 2008 @1:08 pm
This is more my style. I like chevy products. Hopefully the price will come down some.
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