GM Produces the Volt!

[Coito ergo sum]

The Volt can travel 40 miles on its battery charge and an additional 340 miles on a gasoline-powered generator

Chevrolet Volt, General Motors' electric car, will cost $41,000

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 34_pf.html

[Ian]

Still a wee bit pricey.

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

[Coito ergo sum]

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?

[maiforpeace]

It's a nice looking car. I hope it's a success.

[Coito ergo sum]

It's a nice looking car. I hope it's a success.

I am a huge fan of electric cars. I had hoped they would've squeezed more than 40 miles out of the battery by now. That sucks.

There are a couple major hurdles to get over with the electric cars:

1. Mileage - the battery needs to last 400 miles.

2. Charging ability - somehow we need to develop capacitors that can charge a battery in minutes, and not hours.

Oh, and

3. Electrical production: our capacity to produce electricity is insufficient to charge up millions and millions of cars. Unless we build up the electrical grid and build a few hundred nuclear power plants, this kind of vehicle will never be more than bit more than a novelty.

Electric cars would be the best answer to the pollution problem. However, it can only be that answer if we generate the electricity with something other than fossil fuels - oil, coal, natural gas, etc. - the only viable answer out there is nuclear.

[Meekychuppet]

They're dipping their toes at least. I imagine that eventually with cars we'll buy the mileage and get the car FOC. A bit like a phone with minutes and texts.

[Ian]

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)

[Meekychuppet]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

[leo-rcc]

Still working on my DC powered moped. Batteries are still the major factor.

Batteries are still the trade off that all EPV's have to make. Weight vs power/range. LiPo is currently the best in the power to weight ratio but far too volatile to be put in electric vehicles that need to carry living beings. LiFePO4 is a good one (see http://www.a123systems.com for more info on these) but their power to weight ratio is much less. Charging time is a lot better though.

The motors. controllers, other electronics, are all a walk in the park, easy stuff.

[Robert_S]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

I have seen a dramatic reduction in the gas guzzlers driving around my area. Some people used to go around to the backs of SUVs and slap stickers on them that said "I'm changing the environment. Ask me how!"

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'll save my opinion until James, Jeremy and the Hamster tell me what to think about it.

[leo-rcc]

I'll save my opinion until James, Jeremy and the Hamster tell me what to think about it.

[Coito ergo sum]

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?

Decoration for a girl's car.

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

[Coito ergo sum]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

I have seen a dramatic reduction in the gas guzzlers driving around my area. Some people used to go around to the backs of SUVs and slap stickers on them that said "I'm changing the environment. Ask me how!"

Volts are not better for the environment.

One, most of the electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels like oil and coal power plants. Thus, it's actually more inefficient because you have to burn more coal and oil to produce the electricity to produce the same amount of power to move the vehicle the same distance. Chemistry and physics.

Transport Watch ....found that diesel cars produce half as much CO2 as electric cars when the fossil fuel required to make the electricity is taken into account.
The study concludes “We conclude that the notion that electric cars will reduce emissions is a fiction.”
The study also took into account electrical energy leaked lost between the powerplant and the point where the vehicle would be charged. This leakage was estimated to be an astounding 76%. Diesels on the other hand achieve a 45% efficiency.
The research was done in the UK where only 20% of electricity is generated by renewable energy. It was estimated that in China, for example, where most electricity comes from coal, a change from diesel to electric vehicles would double CO2 emissions.
The research implies that burning fuel within the vehicle produces less emissions than creating electricity and sending it down the grid.

http://gm-volt.com/2009/04/19/study-cal ... s-fiction/


Two, the environmental nightmare of millions of batteries is nothing to sneeze at.


Three, the mining of the materials necessary for the huge batteries is itself another environmental nightmare. For example, Lithium. http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2008 ... elect.html

[Coito ergo sum]

Nice to see people actually embracing green tech, especially Americans, allegedly Hummer driving petrol heads.

Hybrid cars....the leading cause of smug in the world: http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1002