Chevy Volt to go into production in 2010

[TitanTiger 21,100]

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressReleas...037009220080603

The promise of this vehicle is really amazing. It's a hybrid, but not like the ones on the road now that use an electric and a gasoline motor in tandem to propel the car. The Volt only uses the electric motor to propel the car and has a gasoline engine that kicks in on longer trips to charge the batteries. It can run for 40 miles without the gas engine coming on at all so if you have a commute shorter than that, you can virtually use no gas at all.

The MPG ratings are amazing. When the gas engine is running to charge the batteries, you're already getting 50 mpg in that mode. But because so much of your trip is often electric only, the equivalent gas mileage is far more than that. For instance, say you went on a trip that was 60 miles. The first 40 is all electric and the last 20 is electric with the gas motor recharging the batteries. In essence for that entire trip, your gas mileage would be 150 mpg.

On top of that, it's a plug-in model so you can really maximize the use of the electric motor if you mostly drive around town under 40 miles at a time.

Kudos to GM for greenlighting this thing.

[Justin5 20]

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressReleas...037009220080603

Kudos to GM for greenlighting this thing.

Titan.....

Actually it sounds great. Another thing I have been hearing about (no link) is a car that runs off the power of magnets. It uses the pull of magnets to spin a circular motor. The only problem is that haven't figured out a way to stop it yet.

[lukeduke 8]

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressReleas...037009220080603

Kudos to GM for greenlighting this thing.

Titan.....

Actually it sounds great. Another thing I have been hearing about (no link) is a car that runs off the power of magnets. It uses the pull of magnets to spin a circular motor. The only problem is that haven't figured out a way to stop it yet.

If two of these ran next to each other, would they repel or attract? If you want to stop it, just drive close to a refrigerator.

All kidding aside, the Volt does look like a great idea as long as you remember to unplug it in the morning.

[CCTAU 3,489]

It's a good start. But electricity is not free. If everyone had one of these things, we would be in perpetual blackouts and using more hydrocarbon fuels to create electricity than we use in cars today. These types of changes need to be coupled with new clean nuclear energy and by continuing to find a "clean" energy source.

But this car does look good. I could probably throw it in the back of my F250 and show it off to all my friends.

[TitanTiger 21,100]

Sure, it's not free, but it's less expensive than gasoline. A lot less expensive. If you don't think so, stop using electricity from the power company and run everything off a gas or diesel powered generator for a month and report the cost difference. Not to mention, you don't have to plug it in all the time. Even running the gas engine to charge the batteries you're getting 50 mpg. Charge it up every few days and you'd be in fine shape.

It's a good step in the right direction and I'm sure most people aren't going to be able to run out and buy one right away. It'll be a gradual shift to these vehicles and it might even be just a middle step between this and some better technology. So, I don't think there will be a sudden, massive surge on the power grid.

[otterinbham 0]

That's cool, but I sure as heck wouldn't be an early adopter, namely because I'll be my right youknowwhat that GM won't have worked out the bugs.

But 2012? 2013? Sure thing if it gets good marks.

Here's the thing, I can go more than a month without ever driving more than 40 miles at a time. There are days when I drive a total of 10 miles. So, a car like this would be great for me, especially if solar cell technology continues to accelerate. If that happens, then you are basically running your car for almost free. And if we're driving further than that, use the Ford.

[CCTAU 3,489]

Sure, it's not free, but it's less expensive than gasoline. A lot less expensive. If you don't think so, stop using electricity from the power company and run everything off a gas or diesel powered generator for a month and report the cost difference. Not to mention, you don't have to plug it in all the time. Even running the gas engine to charge the batteries you're getting 50 mpg. Charge it up every few days and you'd be in fine shape.

It's a good step in the right direction and I'm sure most people aren't going to be able to run out and buy one right away. It'll be a gradual shift to these vehicles and it might even be just a middle step between this and some better technology. So, I don't think there will be a sudden, massive surge on the power grid.

It was a theoretical. Greenies don't think in gradual. They would love to have every car in the US crushed tomorrow and force everyone onto a bike or into one of these.

So I was speaking in terms of not getting too excited. Not to mention, it's not a very big car. I have been looking at scooters here lately, but living 20 miles from the office, it's just too dangerous. But there are a lot of high mpg scooters out there from china for great prices. Is AU full of scooters now?

I think I would like a little yellow one.........

[DKW 86 7,874]

That's cool, but I sure as heck wouldn't be an early adopter, namely because I'll be my right youknowwhat that GM won't have worked out the bugs.

But 2012? 2013? Sure thing if it gets good marks.

Here's the thing, I can go more than a month without ever driving more than 40 miles at a time. There are days when I drive a total of 10 miles. So, a car like this would be great for me, especially if solar cell technology continues to accelerate. If that happens, then you are basically running your car for almost free. And if we're driving further than that, use the Ford.

Headlines:

"Chevy Volt arrives in 2010."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2011."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2012."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2013."

Rinse and repeat...

[otterinbham 0]

That's cool, but I sure as heck wouldn't be an early adopter, namely because I'll be my right youknowwhat that GM won't have worked out the bugs.

But 2012? 2013? Sure thing if it gets good marks.

Here's the thing, I can go more than a month without ever driving more than 40 miles at a time. There are days when I drive a total of 10 miles. So, a car like this would be great for me, especially if solar cell technology continues to accelerate. If that happens, then you are basically running your car for almost free. And if we're driving further than that, use the Ford.

Headlines:

"Chevy Volt arrives in 2010."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2011."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2012."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2013."

Rinse and repeat...

Hahaha. You might be right. At the same time, the profit motive is a pretty powerful thing. If you have ten different automotive manufacturers all racing to get a practical electric car to the marketplace, you can bet the farm that somehow, someway, GM's going to try and make it happen, too.

[AUTiger1 0]

I was about to ask how long does one think it will be before GM gets all the kinks and bugs worked out. Seems like a really great start, but the reliability issues would keep me scared away for a few years.

[WarEagle007 1]

The actually made a cool looking electric car? It looks awesome, front end looks like the new Camaro. I'm really surprised we got over the whole 80's idea of "futuristic" looking cars, because until now, they all looked ugly as sin.

[TitanTiger 21,100]

That's cool, but I sure as heck wouldn't be an early adopter, namely because I'll be my right youknowwhat that GM won't have worked out the bugs.

But 2012? 2013? Sure thing if it gets good marks.

Here's the thing, I can go more than a month without ever driving more than 40 miles at a time. There are days when I drive a total of 10 miles. So, a car like this would be great for me, especially if solar cell technology continues to accelerate. If that happens, then you are basically running your car for almost free. And if we're driving further than that, use the Ford.

Headlines:

"Chevy Volt arrives in 2010."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2011."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2012."

"Chevy Volt recalled in 2013."

Rinse and repeat...

Hahaha. You might be right. At the same time, the profit motive is a pretty powerful thing. If you have ten different automotive manufacturers all racing to get a practical electric car to the marketplace, you can bet the farm that somehow, someway, GM's going to try and make it happen, too.

Actually, up to this point, it was just a concept car and didn't have any kind of firm production date or that it would go into production for certain at all. But they just shut down 4 plants that make trucks and SUVs this week and are shifting to production of more fuel efficient cars and they are planning on having this out for the 2010 model year. That's quite a bit better than pie in the sky.

[otterinbham 0]

Here's my naive question for you engineers. Try not to laugh.

Wouldn't an electrical engine actually prove simpler to maintain and less prone to breakdown than an internal combustion engine? I thought I read that somewhere, but my engineering knowledge is zip.

[TitanTiger 21,100]

Here's my naive question for you engineers. Try not to laugh.

Wouldn't an electrical engine actually prove simpler to maintain and less prone to breakdown than an internal combustion engine? I thought I read that somewhere, but my engineering knowledge is zip.

While we wait for the engineers, I'll give you a non-engineer answer that I think probably makes some sense. I tend to believe you're right about electric engines because my guess would be that the heat and force that's exerted in the cylinders from the constant explosion of air and gas and the friction that has to be overcome and all that puts more stress on all the parts. Plus I imagine an electric motor has less moving parts. Thus, they would be less prone to breaking down or at least tend to be more durable.

[SouthLink02 8]

I am all for things like this but I tend to agree with CCT as I am sure the problems will come up hard and electricity will still cost the user some money to charge the car

Local radio had some guy on here who they claimed was the father of electric cars in the US....some professor in California that does this type of thing

He talked about how cars would just need to charge up after long drives in a parking lot, etc....where the hell would a car charge in a parking lot? Maybe I just mis-heard him

[TitanTiger 21,100]

I think that's the greatest appeal of this car though. It can run all electric, but it's not limited to all-electric. If you need to drive further distances, you just do it and the gas engine will kick in to keep the batteries charged and even when that's happening, you're still getting 50 mpg in that mode. If you can plug in somewhere, you do it but you're not chained to an AC outlet.

[LegalEagle 22]

I'd like to know the battery life and replacement cost. I think the hood and roof ought to be solar panels. If you are charging it at home with electricity made by a coal or gas burning power plant, you're still using natural resources and sending CO2 into the atmosphere. You are sending out CO2 when the gas motor is running.

What's the warranty?

[TitanTiger 21,100]

I'd like to know the battery life and replacement cost. I think the hood and roof ought to be solar panels. If you are charging it at home with electricity made by a coal or gas burning power plant, you're still using natural resources and sending CO2 into the atmosphere. You are sending out CO2 when the gas motor is running.

What's the warranty?

If it's anything like the Prius, the warranty will likely be 10 years/100,000 miles on the battery pack. As of about 3 years ago, the replacement cost on the battery (parts & labor) was around $3500. Honda and Toyota so far are showing a failure rate of the battery packs after warranty of around .003 percent, which is quite low.

No one said it's the perfect vehicle. But I bet that the energy used to charge the batteries from a coal or gas burning power plant is lower than the energy used in a conventional motor, thus it's putting less CO2 out there. And yes, the gas motor running puts out CO2, but since it's only coming on when needed to charge the battery and not having to expend energy to propel the car, the engine is much smaller and efficient so again, much less CO2 than a conventional car or even the current generation of hybrid.

[LegalEagle 22]

I'd like to know the battery life and replacement cost. I think the hood and roof ought to be solar panels. If you are charging it at home with electricity made by a coal or gas burning power plant, you're still using natural resources and sending CO2 into the atmosphere. You are sending out CO2 when the gas motor is running.

What's the warranty?

If it's anything like the Prius, the warranty will likely be 10 years/100,000 miles on the battery pack. As of about 3 years ago, the replacement cost on the battery (parts & labor) was around $3500. Honda and Toyota so far are showing a failure rate of the battery packs after warranty of around .003 percent, which is quite low.

No one said it's the perfect vehicle. But I bet that the energy used to charge the batteries from a coal or gas burning power plant is lower than the energy used in a conventional motor, thus it's putting less CO2 out there. And yes, the gas motor running puts out CO2, but since it's only coming on when needed to charge the battery and not having to expend energy to propel the car, the engine is much smaller and efficient so again, much less CO2 than a conventional car or even the current generation of hybrid.

After I entered my post, I thought it might look like I an negative about the car. That's not true at all. It is certainly a step in the right direction. If oil stays high, there will be a vast improvement in fuel efficiency across the board.

I would caution you not to rush out now and buy a fuel efficient vehicle. Even three years in the future will make a great difference on the mileage and price. If you have a gas guzzler paid for, figure out how much you will really save within 2 - 3 years on gas and compare that with the cost of a new vehicle. Hold out if you can. You'll get nothing for your gas guzzler trade in today, and you'll pay a premium for a fuel efficient model.

If I could just find one that runs on pessimism . . .

[Defense(clap clap) 4]

I'd like to know the battery life and replacement cost. I think the hood and roof ought to be solar panels. If you are charging it at home with electricity made by a coal or gas burning power plant, you're still using natural resources and sending CO2 into the atmosphere. You are sending out CO2 when the gas motor is running.

What's the warranty?

If it's anything like the Prius, the warranty will likely be 10 years/100,000 miles on the battery pack. As of about 3 years ago, the replacement cost on the battery (parts & labor) was around $3500. Honda and Toyota so far are showing a failure rate of the battery packs after warranty of around .003 percent, which is quite low.

No one said it's the perfect vehicle. But I bet that the energy used to charge the batteries from a coal or gas burning power plant is lower than the energy used in a conventional motor, thus it's putting less CO2 out there. And yes, the gas motor running puts out CO2, but since it's only coming on when needed to charge the battery and not having to expend energy to propel the car, the engine is much smaller and efficient so again, much less CO2 than a conventional car or even the current generation of hybrid.

After I entered my post, I thought it might look like I an negative about the car. That's not true at all. It is certainly a step in the right direction. If oil stays high, there will be a vast improvement in fuel efficiency across the board.

I would caution you not to rush out now and buy a fuel efficient vehicle. Even three years in the future will make a great difference on the mileage and price. If you have a gas guzzler paid for, figure out how much you will really save within 2 - 3 years on gas and compare that with the cost of a new vehicle. Hold out if you can. You'll get nothing for your gas guzzler trade in today, and you'll pay a premium for a fuel efficient model.

If I could just find one that runs on pessimism . . .

Try this one -

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30431

[stoic-one 1,586]

Here's my naive question for you engineers. Try not to laugh.

Wouldn't an electrical engine actually prove simpler to maintain and less prone to breakdown than an internal combustion engine? I thought I read that somewhere, but my engineering knowledge is zip.

While we wait for the engineers, I'll give you a non-engineer answer that I think probably makes some sense. I tend to believe you're right about electric engines because my guess would be that the heat and force that's exerted in the cylinders from the constant explosion of air and gas and the friction that has to be overcome and all that puts more stress on all the parts. Plus I imagine an electric motor has less moving parts. Thus, they would be less prone to breaking down or at least tend to be more durable.

Ok, I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I'll take a stab at simplifying some of the salient applicable points.

To open up with, there are 3 categories of technology involved here:

1. Mechanical

2. Electro-mechanical

3. Electronic

I think most people are pretty clear on what each of those are, but come clarification is probably still in order.

Mechanical

Pretty clear cut I would think. We're talking about gears, bearings, linkages/levers, and for purposes of this discussion, hydraulics (actually fluid mechanics but hey), you get the idea. Manufacturing tolerances and proper specification thereof are key to producing good mechanical components. Component wise, pretty simple. For an assembly, it can get pretty complex.

Electro-mechanical (EM)

A simple squirrel cage motor is an EM device, it has a rotor, stator, casing, and bearings and output shaft. Usually some minor misconceptions here, the fact of the matter is that any modern vehicle is an EM device. You have all manner of electrical, electronic, and mechanical disciplines at work in a car. A good electrical motor for example will have good mechanical characteristics, as well as proper sizing of conductors and rotor and stator coils. A medium complexity device, generally speaking.

Electronic

We're talking theoretical differences here, suffice to say we are referring to something like the onboard computer for your car, we are talking about solid state devices. The computer itself and not the input devices, as it relies on peripheral sensors which are usually electromechanical. An example of that would be an oil pressure sending unit. Straightforward, but component wise, contain thousands of devices.

Now that we have muddied the waters as much as possible, lets muddy it some more.

Wouldn't an electrical engine actually prove simpler to maintain and less prone to breakdown than an internal combustion engine?

Maintain, yes and no, historically as technology advances, things have migrated away from mechanical and toward the other 2. Is that good?? Well lets put it this way, remember when a "shade tree mechanic" could fix most anything on a car?? Typically a car like this would be easier to maintain, but require more skill to repair, a distinction which must be made. Is it less prone to breakdown? Only if the proper engineering required is fully understood and applied to all three required disciplines.

Is it possible that we will be downloading firmware upgrades for our cars in the future, or enabling automatic updates via wifi, satellite, or cellular connection? time will tell... Lets face it, most people find it easier to "get their head around" mechanical things than either of the other 2. It's just that way. This vehicle will have a lot of technologies all rolled up into one.

Confused yet??

[AUJarhead 70]

Maintain, yes and no, historically as technology advances, things have migrated away from mechanical and toward the other 2. Is that good?? Well lets put it this way, remember when a "shade tree mechanic" could fix most anything on a car?? Typically a car like this would be easier to maintain, but require more skill to repair, a distinction which must be made. Is it less prone to breakdown? Only if the proper engineering required is fully understood and applied to all three required disciplines.

Is it possible that we will be down loading firmware upgrades for our cars in the future, or enabling automatic updates via wifi, satellite, or cellular connection? time will tell... Lets face it, most people find it easier to "get their head around" mechanical things than either of the other 2. It's just that way. This vehicle will have a lot of technologies all rolled up into one.

Confused yet??

And that's why I spent the better part of my time at Auburn in the Lowder Business Building, as opposed to Ramsay Hall.

[Defense(clap clap) 4]

Here's my naive question for you engineers. Try not to laugh.

Wouldn't an electrical engine actually prove simpler to maintain and less prone to breakdown than an internal combustion engine? I thought I read that somewhere, but my engineering knowledge is zip.

While we wait for the engineers, I'll give you a non-engineer answer that I think probably makes some sense. I tend to believe you're right about electric engines because my guess would be that the heat and force that's exerted in the cylinders from the constant explosion of air and gas and the friction that has to be overcome and all that puts more stress on all the parts. Plus I imagine an electric motor has less moving parts. Thus, they would be less prone to breaking down or at least tend to be more durable.

Ok, I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I'll take a stab at simplifying some of the salient applicable points.

To open up with, there are 3 categories of technology involved here:

1. Mechanical

2. Electro-mechanical

3. Electronic

I think most people are pretty clear on what each of those are, but come clarification is probably still in order.

Mechanical

Pretty clear cut I would think. We're talking about gears, bearings, linkages/levers, and for purposes of this discussion, hydraulics (actually fluid mechanics but hey), you get the idea. Manufacturing tolerances and proper specification thereof are key to producing good mechanical components. Component wise, pretty simple. For an assembly, it can get pretty complex.

Electro-mechanical (EM)

A simple squirrel cage motor is an EM device, it has a rotor, stator, casing, and bearings and output shaft. Usually some minor misconceptions here, the fact of the matter is that any modern vehicle is an EM device. You have all manner of electrical, electronic, and mechanical disciplines at work in a car. A good electrical motor for example will have good mechanical characteristics, as well as proper sizing of conductors and rotor and stator coils. A medium complexity device, generally speaking.

Electronic

We're talking theoretical differences here, suffice to say we are referring to something like the onboard computer for your car, we are talking about solid state devices. The computer itself and not the input devices, as it relies on peripheral sensors which are usually electromechanical. An example of that would be an oil pressure sending unit. Straightforward, but component wise, contain thousands of devices.

Now that we have muddied the waters as much as possible, lets muddy it some more.

Wouldn't an electrical engine actually prove simpler to maintain and less prone to breakdown than an internal combustion engine?

Maintain, yes and no, historically as technology advances, things have migrated away from mechanical and toward the other 2. Is that good?? Well lets put it this way, remember when a "shade tree mechanic" could fix most anything on a car?? Typically a car like this would be easier to maintain, but require more skill to repair, a distinction which must be made. Is it less prone to breakdown? Only if the proper engineering required is fully understood and applied to all three required disciplines.

Is it possible that we will be downloading firmware upgrades for our cars in the future, or enabling automatic updates via wifi, satellite, or cellular connection? time will tell... Lets face it, most people find it easier to "get their head around" mechanical things than either of the other 2. It's just that way. This vehicle will have a lot of technologies all rolled up into one.

Confused yet??

Not really. The jist of it is that we'll need more specialized mechanics to work on these cars, which makes sense because of possibly putting 3 technologies into one. I'm assuming service costs might go up because of that as well.

[stoic-one 1,586]

Not really. The jist of it is that we'll need more specialized mechanics to work on these cars, which makes sense because of possibly putting 3 technologies into one. I'm assuming service costs might go up because of that as well.

We have a winner!!

Fact is, it is pretty much a universal truth, technology marches on and all that.

[Defense(clap clap) 4]

Not really. The jist of it is that we'll need more specialized mechanics to work on these cars, which makes sense because of possibly putting 3 technologies into one. I'm assuming service costs might go up because of that as well.

We have a winner!!

Fact is, it is pretty much a universal truth, technology marches on and all that.

To be honest, I'd rather pay more for a mechanic to fix an electric car than for gas.