Oh yeah, a 230 mpg car set for late 2010 release

BigMac
BigMac Posts: 849
edited September 2009 in The Clubhouse
Drive across the USA on a few tanks of gas. Not to shabby.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_volt_mileage
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  • CaligulaPolk
    CaligulaPolk Posts: 1,650
    edited August 2009
    LOL!@ you beat me I was gonna post if there no thread about it!!

    230 mpg.... SWEEEEEEET!!!! Looks like cars gonna be like this after this car's released.

    ABOUT TIME!!! Question is.. how much it would cost to buy?
    I am 100% BORN DEAF and No I am not kidding! :D Why am I here? My wife's hearing! :p

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited August 2009
    Question is.. how much it would cost to buy?

    It's in the acticle.
    the first-generation Volt is expected to cost near $40,000, making it cost-prohibitive to many people even if gasoline returns to $4 per gallon.

    Also of note since they are promoting the city driving aspect.
    It will be easy for future Volt owners living in rural and suburban areas to plug in their cars at night, but even Henderson recognized the challenge urban, apartment dwellers, or those that park their car on the street might have recharging the Volt.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited August 2009
    All good points above...also how much ELECTRICITY From you wall socket does it take to charge those batteries...because that is "part" of you COST. No?

    cnh
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2009
    I hope they include a LONG extension cord in the trunk. :D
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • fossy
    fossy Posts: 1,378
    edited August 2009
    Face wrote: »
    I hope they include a LONG extension cord in the trunk. :D

    maybe a UPGRADED extension cord that would allow cleaner power ..:D
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  • lanion
    lanion Posts: 843
    edited August 2009
    I've worked with people who convert gas cars to full electric... it only costs about $2000 to DIY. Anyway, you end up paying the equivalent of about 20cents/gallon (I'm not sure about this... but, definitely under $1) when you use electricity instead of gas. So that cost is not very substantial.
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2009
    Unless they offered plug in stations at my job, this wouldn't be viable for my commute.
    fossy wrote: »
    maybe a UPGRADED extension cord that would allow cleaner power ..:D
    Now that's funny!
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited August 2009
    cnh wrote: »
    All good points above...also how much ELECTRICITY From you wall socket does it take to charge those batteries...because that is "part" of you COST. No?

    Not sure about this car, but I was reading about the Tesla (the electric sports car) that has a ~200+ mile range, and supposedly costs about 8 dollars per "fill-up", based on current average municipal electricity costs.
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
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  • wizzy
    wizzy Posts: 867
    edited August 2009
    Face wrote: »
    Unless they offered plug in stations at my job, this wouldn't be viable for my commute.

    Why couldn't you just use the gas engine part of the vehicle like everyone else when the distance exceeds the battery charge?

    W
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  • Danny Tse
    Danny Tse Posts: 5,206
    edited August 2009
    bobman1235 wrote: »
    Not sure about this car, but I was reading about the Tesla (the electric sports car) that has a ~200+ mile range, and supposedly costs about 8 dollars per "fill-up", based on current average municipal electricity costs.

    244 miles in EPA combined city/highway driving (looking at the brochure). We had one of the Tesla sports car at the office for showing (no test drives, but I really wanted to see if their claim of 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds is true or not)....$109K and that's not including the "Sports" package (another $19.5K).
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  • megasat16
    megasat16 Posts: 3,521
    edited August 2009
    BigMac wrote: »
    Drive across the USA on a few tanks of gas. Not to shabby.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_volt_mileage

    Yes! Very Cool Automobile. But I am wondering if it can stand the drive across the country without broken down first. :confused:
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  • jon s
    jon s Posts: 905
    edited August 2009
    GM is misleading the facts here... the car runs the first 40 miles on electricity alone. after that, it runs on gas. if the EPA test cycle is only 50 miles long, the MPG goes way up, but in reality on a long distance drive, the MPG figures will collapse...
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  • PhantomOG
    PhantomOG Posts: 2,409
    edited August 2009
    jon s wrote: »
    GM is misleading the facts here...

    That's just the "goverment" part of Government Motors coming out. ;)
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  • concealer404
    concealer404 Posts: 7,440
    edited August 2009
    Anyone else catch the headline on the Fox website where they said 230MPH instead of 230MPG?

    I laughed!
    I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.

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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited August 2009
    cnh wrote: »
    All good points above...also how much ELECTRICITY From you wall socket does it take to charge those batteries...because that is "part" of you COST. No?

    cnh

    In the article it says it costs about 40 cents a day to charge the battery @ 5 cents per kilowatt.
    Face wrote: »
    Unless they offered plug in stations at my job, this wouldn't be viable for my commute.


    That's the beauty of this car. Once the batteries charge runs out, you just switch it over to the gas engine. It's not as if it just ceases to work when the battery loses it's charge. You'd still be able to make your daily commute with it. Plus, when you've got running around to do near your home, you can do it without using a single drop of gas.
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2009
    My daily commute is sometimes 40 miles each way. I couldn't see spending that much money if it's going to use gas for half my commute and if I will need to plug it in every single day.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited August 2009
    Face wrote: »
    My daily commute is sometimes 40 miles each way. I couldn't see spending that much money if it's going to use gas for half my commute and if I will need to plug it in every single day.

    I can see your point.

    It definitely isn't perfect for everyone...but it's a huge step in the right direction. This will let a lot of people do the vast majority of their driving without any gas. I very rarely drive more than 40 miles on a day to day basis...so it'd be perfect for me.

    Unfortunately, I'm not really in a position to buy one of them at the moment.
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited August 2009
    Danny Tse wrote: »
    244 miles in EPA combined city/highway driving (looking at the brochure). We had one of the Tesla sports car at the office for showing (no test drives, but I really wanted to see if their claim of 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds is true or not)....$109K and that's not including the "Sports" package (another $19.5K).

    Yeah the cost is outrageous, but the thing is also loaded with carbon fiber and the batteries cost a fortune; given time I'm sure they'll have the price way down.

    As for the 0-60 claim, I can't imagine why it WOULDN'T be able to; they are light as hell (2800 lbs or so) and the torque is basically instant.

    The interview I heard was with someone who had bought one (paid like 140k for the first batch that came out) and he claims he beat an Enzo off the line (not that that means much, since we don't know who was driving the Enzo).
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited August 2009
    I can easily believe the Tesla's 0-60 claim. Electric power is instantaneous power. You don't have to wait for the fuel to combust...it's power RIGHT NOW.

    Give it some time, and electric cars will be competing with the most prestigious sports cars in the world.
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  • SoundArtillery
    SoundArtillery Posts: 39
    edited August 2009
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    I can easily believe the Tesla's 0-60 claim. Electric power is instantaneous power. You don't have to wait for the fuel to combust...it's power RIGHT NOW.

    Give it some time, and electric cars will be competing with the most prestigious sports cars in the world.

    I don't care what the fuel is as long as they have the American engine growl.
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited August 2009
    SoundArtillery wrote: »
    I don't care what the fuel is as long as they have the American engine growl.

    That's one thing it definitely won't have.

    Get a tape recorder with engine noises...lol
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited August 2009
    SoundArtillery wrote: »
    I don't care what the fuel is as long as they have the American engine growl.

    Sounds like a good business to get into, providing aftermarket bolt on growl capability to electric cars. ;)
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  • SoundArtillery
    SoundArtillery Posts: 39
    edited August 2009
    madmax wrote: »
    Sounds like a good business to get into, providing aftermarket bolt on growl capability to electric cars. ;)

    This idea reminds me of those large mufflers all the kids have. I never understood these. Why not just build an engine that actually makes the authentic sound?
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited August 2009
    i wonder what the mileage is on just the gasoline motor...as in, after my 40 miles are up, what is the MPG then?

    But I did some real quick calculations...if you get a comparable camry...22k to buy, average b/t highway and city driving is 27 MPG.

    The camry would be 18k cheaper. If gas is $3/gallon, you could get 6000 gallons...which the camrys average 27mpg, would get you 162,000 miles. Lets say your commute was exactly 40 miles, so you never use any gas for the volt...it would take over 11 years at 40 miles every day before you would break even.

    Fantastic technology though. Seems in about 10 years or so this stuff will actually be reasonably cost effective though.
    -Cody
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  • SoundArtillery
    SoundArtillery Posts: 39
    edited August 2009
    I can't wait until cars run off nukes and produce 1.21 gigawatts.
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  • bobman1235
    bobman1235 Posts: 10,822
    edited August 2009
    SoundArtillery wrote: »
    I can't wait until cars run off nukes and produce 1.21 gigawatts.

    No no no, that sucker was electrical. He just needed a nuclear blast to produce the 1.21 gigawatts needed for the time circuits; the car ran on gas :)
    If you will it, dude, it is no dream.
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  • TECHNOKID
    TECHNOKID Posts: 4,298
    edited August 2009
    lanion wrote: »
    I've worked with people who convert gas cars to full electric... it only costs about $2000 to DIY. Anyway, you end up paying the equivalent of about 20cents/gallon (I'm not sure about this... but, definitely under $1) when you use electricity instead of gas. So that cost is not very substantial.
    Hey man, give me your leads at that price! From what I know, kits to convert are in the area of 8 - 10K!
    wizzy wrote: »
    Why couldn't you just use the gas engine part of the vehicle like everyone else when the distance exceeds the battery charge?

    W
    There is NO economy in using normal car engine (it simply become an hybrid) but using a small motor is sufficient to generate the electricity.
    Danny Tse wrote: »
    244 miles in EPA combined city/highway driving (looking at the brochure). We had one of the Tesla sports car at the office for showing (no test drives, but I really wanted to see if their claim of 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds is true or not)....$109K and that's not including the "Sports" package (another $19.5K).
    Now, where is the economy with this car? Nice toy for who ever can afford it but at the price tag you need quite a few gallons of black gold economy in order to get back your investment!
    megasat16 wrote: »
    Yes! Very Cool Automobile. But I am wondering if it can stand the drive across the country without broken down first. :confused:
    Why would it break down more than a conventional car? Afterall, the amount of parts of a conventional fuel drivetrain is in the thousands while it is in the hundreds for an electric drivetrain! Less parts, less complex and less to break down! Electric motors have proved themselves way back then, the only reason it hasn't been widespread for 20 - 25 years is simply less $$$$$ for the industry!
    Face wrote: »
    My daily commute is sometimes 40 miles each way. I couldn't see spending that much money if it's going to use gas for half my commute and if I will need to plug it in every single day.
    WOW! I have about 65 kms (close to 40 miles) commute round trip and tought it was a lot! I sure hope your commute is mostly highway and average traffic? My commute takes me an hour minimum (best condition) and up to 1.5 hours in heavy traffic (at least in the morning).

    While the Volt and it's abusive price tag (electric drivetrains are much cheaper to produce than fuel drivetrains) do not appeal to me, I still believe the electric car is the answers of todays needs (we are even two decennies behind as far as I am concerned!). Yet, not a good looking car but not abusive price wise is the ZENN. Yet they only have the NEV available but soon the city/highway capable ZENN will be available in the area of 20K - 25K I believe. I test drive the small NEV a couple years ago and it was surprisingly fun.

    By the way lanion, I am serious if you have connections/leads for DIY at 2K cost I'd be very interested!

    http://zenncars.com/

    Cheers!
    TK
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  • POIDOG
    POIDOG Posts: 391
    edited August 2009
    BigMac wrote: »
    Drive across the USA on a few tanks of gas. Not to shabby.

    Hold on cowboys, yes it has high potential but consider some other issues;

    1) GM has been promising this car since 2007 :confused:

    2) check out the current tank size; seems impractical in it's current configuration for decent open road motoring :confused:

    3) Government goal is to have 1,000,000 on the road by 2015;) what effect will this have on on the electric grid in this country :confused:

    IMHO, while this is a good direction, long term viability is still open ended
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  • goingganzo
    goingganzo Posts: 2,793
    edited August 2009
    actuley they can do inductive chargeing with makes it so it is not pluged in.
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  • POIDOG
    POIDOG Posts: 391
    edited August 2009
    goingganzo wrote: »
    actuley they can do inductive chargeing with makes it so it is not pluged in.

    http://ev1-club.power.net/archive/020315/index.htm

    Again, this thought maybe fanciful at best. GM (Government) will put cars on the road based on cost/benefit ratio's. The present configuration does not even consider this method. Doesn't mean it can't be done, but will it :confused:
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