GM's Volt update (some good news for change)

carpenter

Seems that GM is going to integrate into the VOLT,
a new carbon nano-fibers battery technology, with the help of two small companies:
Applied Sciences Inc & Pyrograf Products Inc.
This will stretch the range of the VOLT over 80 miles per single charge,
which is more then twice the current 40 miles range (using lithium ion batteries).
According to schedule, the Volt is supposed to be released as a 2010 model.
Keeping fingers crossed..

link ....

zingo

If that is true, it's amazing news and I'll be standing in line for the release.

disneyjoe7

It's sad news behind the times again GM BS, as there's technology today which runs 5 times that range. http://www.teslamotors.com/ given this is 4 to 5 times the price, but if GM offered this with their buying power don't you feel the price would come down some?

So see this pretty funny as it sums up what I feel about this. May also give you idea what's on my mind lately also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pFpMNuF44U

MillerLiteScott

I think the Tesla is over a $100k and the price point of the Volt is $40K which is $20K over the original price point.

brettw22

I wouldn't ever pay anything remotely close to $40k for a car that only goes 80 miles until it dies. I'd rather drive a souped up golf cart...........

Kex

brettw22 wrote: »

I wouldn't ever pay anything remotely close to $40k for a car that only goes 80 miles until it dies. I'd rather drive a souped up golf cart...........

Yup! At 80 miles/day, we need Camry & Accord pricing, not Mercedes-Benz/BMW pricing ... Wrong again, GM ...

brettw22

There is absolutely zero benefit of a car (with this low of a range limit specifically) that doesn't have some sort of backup system in place. I know that gas cars don't all have a backup, but they can go 3-400 miles on a tank, and gas is everywhere. What the hell are you going to do if you end up on a freeway and there's no outlet to juice the thing back up?

OH.......and I'd be PISSED if I had to keep resetting any sort of radio stations, clocks, etc because my car ran dry......lol.........just sayin........

dkg999

Plus the fact that the electric utility co's are planning on charging surcharges and other fees for recharging electric cars.

brettw22

That's something that the Government or someone had better squash........that's **** ridiculous......

zingo

brettw22 wrote: »

There is absolutely zero benefit of a car (with this low of a range limit specifically) that doesn't have some sort of backup system in place. I know that gas cars don't all have a backup, but they can go 3-400 miles on a tank, and gas is everywhere. What the hell are you going to do if you end up on a freeway and there's no outlet to juice the thing back up?

OH.......and I'd be PISSED if I had to keep resetting any sort of radio stations, clocks, etc because my car ran dry......lol.........just sayin........

The Volt does have a backup, small displacement, gas engine to recharge the battery if it runs low. The claimed MPG with the gas engine running is 100mpg. Plus, the Volt is created as a commuter car since the average commute is 40 miles per day; and that is if you can plug it in at work. It's not a car made for road trips; just going to and from work, or running errands and not having to use any gas. Also, I would assume that it would have a battery system to keep your clock, radio presets, etc.

The idea of an extra charge for charging your electric car at home is ridiculous and seems hard to enforce. You'll be using electricity and being billed for it; what's the difference?

brettw22

So basically if you want to realize any sort of benefit for this thing, you have to now have 2 cars.......one for your daily commuter and the other to actually go somewhere you want..........I wouldn't do it, but i guess there are those that may........

dkg999

Believe me, we are using segmentation models to identify potential electric car buyers for the utility companies. They know the estimates of electricity usage per car, and when taken times the potential buyers they know it could exceed current capacities. The build of additional nuclear power plants will have to be paid for by someone? eh, who do you think that will be?

exalted512

I could be wrong, but I thought the Volt could go for however long it wanted like any other car on gas once the batteries ran out? And while running on gas, it recharges the batteries????
-Cody

disneyjoe7

exalted512 wrote: »

I could be wrong, but I thought the Volt could go for however long it wanted like any other car on gas once the batteries ran out? And while running on gas, it recharges the batteries????
-Cody

It's the way I understood it also.

zingo

Correct. I can go as long as a regular car on the gas engine, it's just that the gas engine recharges the batteries, which then power the car. The bottom line is if you have gas, you can drive.

carpenter

brettw22 wrote: »

So basically if you want to realize any sort of benefit for this thing, you have to now have 2 cars.......one for your daily commuter and the other to actually go somewhere you want..........I wouldn't do it, but i guess there are those that may........

No, the Volt has a range of over 400 miles.

exalted512 wrote: »

I could be wrong, but I thought the Volt could go for however long it wanted like any other car on gas once the batteries ran out? And while running on gas, it recharges the batteries????
-Cody

you are correct.



The 80 miles range is only when the car drives on electricity without
charging the batteries with the gas engine.
The only thing that drives is the electric engine, the gas engine is just
a battery charger. this is why 6 - 7 gallons will drive you 400 miles.
80 miles a ride is not bad for a good 70% of the population.

The good news are that this system is far more advanced then the Prius's,
and it's generation. for a change GM is leading the market, instead of spending
all their effort on damage control (trying to keep up with Toyota).

and finally, brettw22 , what is wrong with having a second car?
I mean if you like high performing cars ( everybody does ...),
you can keep an "everyday" car for work etc... and a 70s muscle beast for fun

ben62670

I want a car that runs on piss, or chicken crap. I would be happy then.

brettw22

carpenter wrote: »

and finally, brettw22 , what is wrong with having a second car?
I mean if you like high performing cars ( everybody does ...),
you can keep an "everyday" car for work etc... and a 70s muscle beast for fun

I'm not a fan of limited purpose vehicles (especially when they cost north of $40,000. For that kind of money, the car better thrill the **** out of me in every way...not just because it's gonna save me gas money. I know the price will eventually come down, but when I look at a car purchase, I look at that car being able to do whatever i want it to. If there are limits to it's capabilities as far as distance or cargo space, that is going to cause an issue for me.

I also like the look of the original version of the Volt (the 2011 version looks like the front end of an egg with as rounded off as it got). This new Malibu front end is gross, and has dominated virtually all of the newer Chevy models.

carpenter

There's going to be more then one Volt. GM plans to develop a whole range of them.
I also dig The original body style. maybe something close to it will be released at some point.
The price will come down eventually, but in all honesty there's no telling when.

ben62670

40k you can buy a lot of gas!

kgingras

This move is at least 2 years late, and with GM's slothy strategic shifts, they will have converted their lines just in time for gas to drop to a dollar a gallon and people ready for trucks again. Typical.

exalted512

kgingras wrote: »

This move is at least 2 years late, and with GM's slothy strategic shifts, they will have converted their lines just in time for gas to drop to a dollar a gallon and people ready for trucks again. Typical.

Unfortunately, cars are not designed and made over night. And historically, when summer comes to an end, gas prices always go down. I doubt it'll stay that way when next summer hits.

Also, they're not trying to compete with the truck market, obviously. Most truck owners migrate to small SUVs, not cars. Besides the fact they still have a surplus of trucks so when/if people start purchasing larger vehicles again, GM will have the supply.
-Cody

kgingras

exalted512 wrote: »

Unfortunately, cars are not designed and made over night.

You don't say?

This is nothing more then shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Airplay355

If you can travel 400 miles on 6-7 gallons of gas, that leaves you with somewhere between 50 and 65 miles per gallon right?

Toyota's Prius already gets 50 mpg and is close to half the price. Don't you think Toyota and Honda are going to come out with something BETTER and CHEAPER by the time GM finally releases it? The volt is a lost cause....it needs to greatly surpass what's already in the market, not catch up to it.

http://www.waleshighweb.co.uk/prius/prius_mpg.jpg

exalted512

Airplay355 wrote: »

If you can travel 400 miles on 6-7 gallons of gas, that leaves you with somewhere between 50 and 65 miles per gallon right?

Toyota's Prius already gets 50 mpg and is close to half the price. Don't you think Toyota and Honda are going to come out with something BETTER and CHEAPER by the time GM finally releases it? The volt is a lost cause....it needs to greatly surpass what's already in the market, not catch up to it.

http://www.waleshighweb.co.uk/prius/prius_mpg.jpg

How many miles you travel in a day?
-Cody

carpenter

Airplay355 wrote: »

If you can travel 400 miles on 6-7 gallons of gas, that leaves you with somewhere between 50 and 65 miles per gallon right?

Toyota's Prius already gets 50 mpg and is close to half the price. Don't you think Toyota and Honda are going to come out with something BETTER and CHEAPER by the time GM finally releases it? The volt is a lost cause....it needs to greatly surpass what's already in the market, not catch up to it.

http://www.waleshighweb.co.uk/prius/prius_mpg.jpg

not only do I think they can come up with something better,
I'm pretty sure they are working on it as we speak.
I'm just saying that for a change GM is a player.
One thing you need not forget, if the Volt is charged over night,
then you don't need gas at all.

Kex

Airplay355 wrote: »

... http://www.waleshighweb.co.uk/prius/prius_mpg.jpg

I think that's a bit misleading: the U.K. gallon or Imperial gallon (or even, avoirdupoids gallon) is about 4.5 liters. The U.S. gallon is 3.8 liters, so you cannot use a U.K. website to list U.S. MPG figures (they won't be the same). Toyota advertises about 45 MPG in the U.S. I doubt you will get that at 75 mph highway, but still, a 1.5L engine is not going to use a lot.

The Volt and Prius might both suffer from an issue though: a small engine to haul around a whole car, with batteries, on some roads (when the electric motor is not helping as much) ... I'm thinking of the I-75 from Denver to Aspen, for example, although CVT transmission should help a lot, perhaps. Maybe somebody has had first had experience with highway driving in a Prius?

P.S. There is no mention of average speed on the chart either ...

bobman1235

I see Prius's zipping along at 75 on the highway all the time around here.

kgingras

Not exaclty sure of the MPG but one time I was picked up at an airport in a Prius to go look at a car with a 10 cyl engine.

Kex

bobman1235 wrote: »

I see Prius's zipping along at 75 on the highway all the time around here.

I'm not saying they won't do it. You will see plenty of 1.4L and 1.6L Volkswagens, Peugeots and Renaults zipping around Europe at 80 or 90mph for that matter. It may not be what you are used to though (but the European compacts can be surprisingly nippy and polished performers sometimes).

zingo

Here is the reason I like the Volt. I commute less then 35 miles a day. So with either battery, I could make the whole commute. I also could plug my car in at work, so it's not an issue anyway. So, during the week I can commute to work, and on the weekend I can run errands around Seattle, and I will never have to use a drop of gas. But, my wife also has a car as she drives to work, so if we go on a road trip or anything where the electrical car would not be practical (which is probably once a month), we have her car!