GM Produces the Volt!

[Warren Dew]

The technology makes these advances possible, but it seems likely that their relatively quick adoption is driven at least in part by rising fuel prices, therefore at least in part by fuel taxes.

(That said, I still want a car with a big rumbly V8 )

I suspect that era has passed. To be honest, after a couple decades of big rumbly V8s myself, I found myself preferring smooth silky rotaries or I6s. With hybrids set to become standard in 10 years or so, though, I'm afrad we'll all have to be satisfied with thrashy I4s or even 3s soon enough.

I also think 1000 lbs is wishful thinking; some weight reduction from Al as already been done, as I mentioned

The 1000 pound figure was based on an aluminum bodied, aluminum engined Taurus that Ford actually built and tested in the 1990s. Your point that some of that benefit has already been realized is well taken, though.

Still, somehow the increased use of aluminum since then has not resulted in any of the weight reduction that it did in that Taurus. Obviously the benefits have been squandered on other things. What? Surely side impact requirements can't have increased car weights by so much - or have they?

[Coito ergo sum]

Sure - I understand - but, aluminum is much more difficult to work with and you need much more of it to be as strong as steel. It's much more difficult to weld aluminum and takes a lot more energy in order to make the same welds. It's more complicated and more expensive to work with and to meet safety criteria it fucks with the basic design of most vehicles.

You didn't need the "but" because I think was agreeing with you... which, I'll admit, makes me slightly uncomfortable.

...don't worry...most people come around eventually...

[drl2]

Four-Cylinder Engines Continue Rise in Popularity, Grab 64.5% of U.S. Car Market

In 2008, just 51.5 percent of cars sold in the U.S. came equipped with a four-cylinder engine. In 2009, that figure jumped dramatically to 61.9 percent. The tally rose again in 2010 to 64.5 percent reports Ward's Auto.

[Coito ergo sum]

Four-Cylinder Engines Continue Rise in Popularity, Grab 64.5% of U.S. Car Market

In 2008, just 51.5 percent of cars sold in the U.S. came equipped with a four-cylinder engine. In 2009, that figure jumped dramatically to 61.9 percent. The tally rose again in 2010 to 64.5 percent reports Ward's Auto.

Makes perfect sense. The gas prices went up dramatically, and the economy took a major dump. People have far less money to spend, and most 4 cylinder cars are a lot cheaper than v-6 and v-8 vehicles.

[JOZeldenrust]

Still a wee bit pricey.

My Prius lease ends on August 31st. I'll probably get another Prius.

Do you have a dreamcatcher hanging from your rear-view mirror?

What's a dreamcatcher?

45mpg, sucker. I love my car.
(Yeah, it's advertised as 51/60, but I accelerate fast)

The new BMW 320d stationwagon gets 54 mpg, and it's not even a hybrid. Not a small car either, so there's still room for improvement.

[Coito ergo sum]

I think the 320d is a diesel driven sedan, and not a stationwagon. They drop the horsepower to 163 and torque to 280 foot pounds.

[Coito ergo sum]

Consumer Reports: GM's Volt 'doesn't really make a lot of sense'
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington — Consumer Reports offered a harsh initial review of the Chevrolet Volt, questioning whether General Motors Co.'s flagship vehicle makes economic "sense."The extended-range plug-in electric vehicle is on the cover of the April issue — the influential magazine's annual survey of vehicles — but the GM vehicle comes in for criticism.
"When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn't particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy," said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto testing center at a meeting with reporters here. "This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer."

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110228/AUT ... z1FMVXuCbb

[laklak]

$48,700? Wow. You could buy a Hyundai Elantra or similar compact and drive the thing almost 200,000 miles before you spent that much.

[drl2]

Resurrecting this thread with a relevant news item:

Ford looks to save weight with bubble-infused plastics

Just like every other automaker, Ford is looking into making its cars lighter, and thus more eco-friendly. Thanks to a bubble-infused plastic introduced at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology [MIT] called MuCell, Ford says it can step further toward its goal of lightening all its cars by anywhere from 200 to 750 pounds.

MuCell is made by pumping tiny bubbles of nitrogen or carbon into standard injection-molded plastics. Though the bubbly plastic is slightly weaker than the standard stuff, Ford says the difference will be negligible, since its plastic parts are engineered to be 50 to 100 percent stronger than they should ever need to be.

Though the idea is still in development, Ford says it wants to be running MuCell plastics in all its cars by 2020. Though the technology has been around since 1995, it hasn't made sense for automakers to start buying in until now. With a new focus on green technology in the automotive industry, the move suddenly makes a lot of sense, and Ford will start using the plastic in items like engine covers beginning in the next few years. Check out the official press release after the jump.

(Press release, etc. at link)

[egbert]

GM has been leading us on with "soon to be" tantalizing hints of the Volt. Frankly, I don't see hybrid cars as the answer to anything. What happens when you buy a used Prius, and the batteries need replacing at a cost of $10,000 - more than the car is worth?
And where's the "green" in the mining of the rare metals required for these batteries, and the concerns over their disposal?
In the early 1900's we had electric cars, such as the Baker electric, which genteel ladies drove to avoid those nasty internal combustion engines, and doctors drove to make house calls.



Sheesh, you mean we haven't been able to come up with a better electric car since then?
What's with this idiocy of wanting an electric car that can go 400 miles at freeway speeds?
I'd love to have a little electric car that could do my local shopping errands and maybe a short commute. No, not a hybrid, an ALL electric. And I'd still have my good old regular gasoline car for roaring down the freeway on those 400 mile trips. Doesn't that make more sense?

[Coito ergo sum]

So the green alternative is for each person to have two vehicles instead of one, a regular car for long trips and an electric car for short trips? That would be great for the economy and a boon to manufacturing but I wouldn't call it green.

But, they already have cars that go 40 miles on an electric charge. Or, you can buy a golf cart.

[egbert]

So the green alternative is for each person to have two vehicles instead of one, a regular car for long trips and an electric car for short trips? That would be great for the economy and a boon to manufacturing but I wouldn't call it green.

But, they already have cars that go 40 miles on an electric charge. Or, you can buy a golf cart.

Well, it seems that in North America, at least, most households have more than one vehicle.
And, much of the travel is short local trips, at which the IC engine is at it's worst for polluting, i.e. not warmed up, and poor mileage.
If those errands could be transferred to electric, (much the same as moving it to transit, but more convenient, and thus less likely to meet resistance) there should be a significant impact on the nasty effects of the IC automobile.
The hybrid vehicle incorporates needless complexity. Multitask solutions involve compromise - look at the combo boat/car vehicles - yes, they could do both jobs, but neither nearly as well or efficiently than a separate car/boat. Should we expect a space heater for a room to also replace the central heating furnace in the home?
As for using a golf cart, well there are electric vehicles of that type available, but they are only suitable for use in gated communities, being illegal to use on public roads.
I bought an electric bicycle. With careful management of battery usage, pedaling on the level or downhill sections, and using battery assist on the uphill terrain, I was able to do my usual exercise route. But the damn thing was horribly top heavy because of the battery placement, and the batteries died after only one season.
Whatsmatter with these technological geniuses?

[Coito ergo sum]

So the green alternative is for each person to have two vehicles instead of one, a regular car for long trips and an electric car for short trips? That would be great for the economy and a boon to manufacturing but I wouldn't call it green.

But, they already have cars that go 40 miles on an electric charge. Or, you can buy a golf cart.

Well, it seems that in North America, at least, most households have more than one vehicle.

And, you'd be doubling that amount, or at least adding an electric vehicle on top of what is already there.

And, much of the travel is short local trips, at which the IC engine is at it's worst for polluting, i.e. not warmed up, and poor mileage.
If those errands could be transferred to electric, (much the same as moving it to transit, but more convenient, and thus less likely to meet resistance) there should be a significant impact on the nasty effects of the IC automobile.
The hybrid vehicle incorporates needless complexity.

The Volt is not a hybrid. It's all electric and goes 40 miles on charge.

Multitask solutions involve compromise - look at the combo boat/car vehicles - yes, they could do both jobs, but neither nearly as well or efficiently than a separate car/boat. Should we expect a space heater for a room to also replace the central heating furnace in the home?
As for using a golf cart, well there are electric vehicles of that type available, but they are only suitable for use in gated communities, being illegal to use on public roads.
I bought an electric bicycle. With careful management of battery usage, pedaling on the level or downhill sections, and using battery assist on the uphill terrain, I was able to do my usual exercise route. But the damn thing was horribly top heavy because of the battery placement, and the batteries died after only one season.
Whatsmatter with these technological geniuses?

Battery technology has difficulties - batteries wear out, and capacitor can only charge batteries so fast. The technological geniuses are generally just regular folks who were interested in engineering and went to engineering school and took jobs requiring them to think about designing and engineering stuff. They really aren't generally geniuses.

[Warren Dew]

And where's the "green" in the mining of the rare metals required for these batteries, and the concerns over their disposal?

Once they become common, these problems will cancel each other out, with the batteries being recycled.

[egbert]

The Volt is not a hybrid. It's all electric and goes 40 miles on charge.

See them locomotives? Well, theys got traction motors. Thems all electric. Pay no attention to that diesel engine sound, theys ALL electric.

The battery can power the car for the first 25 to 50 miles. After that, should one continue to need to drive, the on-board gasoline generator provide electricity for the motor and participate in driving the car.

A little like the Prius, the engine does help spin the wheels after the battery is depleted. GM engineers chose to do this because it improved efficiency by 10 to 15 percent.

http://gm-volt.com/chevy-volt-faqs/