GM says new Volt to get 230 mpg in city driving

GM says new Volt to get 230 mpg in city driving

news.yahoo.com

WARREN, Michigan – General Motors Corp. said Tuesday its Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car should get 230 miles per gallon (98 kilometers per liter) of gasoline in city driving, more than four times the current champion, the Toyota Prius.

The Volt is powered by an electric motor and a battery pack with a 40-mile (65-kilometer) range. After that, a small internal combustion engine kicks in to generate electricity for a total range of 300 miles (480 kilometers). The battery pack can be recharged from a standard home outlet.

GM is marketing the 230-mile (370-kilometer) figure follo

(visit the link for the full news article)

Now thats awesome. Too bad it cost 40k so I'm not going to buy it at that price, not to mention the technology is still new as well as the vehicle so I rather wait for a few more years when they deal with all the problems it may face, as well as any problems that the people deals with when driving, parking, charging, etc. Even if it does not bode will, at least we can improve this technology which is still a hybrid since it says it has a combustion engine in it.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Ha...GM says a lot of things...still having battery storage problems, I hear...

reply to post by deltaboy


The problem isn't that it will cost so much. The problem is this.....

HOW DID THEY LEAP SUCH A HUGE MPG FIGURE IN SUCH A SHORT TIME? Oh, I know. They already had and HAVE had it for many years now. It's a joke. It's also why Cap and Trade will work out in the long run for the PTB. The jump in electricity costs will help to replace much of the loss in gas costs. It's a game to these people.

Yes, this is good news that this technology will be released. However, it just pisses me off that they think we are ignorant enough to believe that ALL OF A SUDDEN they can achieve this kind of mileage after bankrupcty and years of saying that this kind of mileage was a decade away.

While most will say that this is a great thing, I say it simply proves that these big business people are criminals.

reply to post by deltaboy


And they did not say it is a combustion engine. They say it is electric. They say that the Prius is a comustion engine. Anyway, there has been battery technology that has been bought out by big auto and oil for the past decade plus that would have easily allowed for these MPG figures in the past. Big business (oil and auto) killed the electric car that was in perfect working condition. Watch the documenatry on it. Great watch. Very informative. Of course there will always be the skeptic that says it is a biased film (which all films are in a way) but it does present many valid issues.

Just my opinion but I do think that the future of private transportation belongs to the electric car. The issues of energy storage are FINALLY getting some attention and a new generation of batteries will offer nearly twice the range as these first generation hybrids or dedicated electrics.

GM is on the bubble to live or die as upstart companies like Coda are already preparing that first generation of plug-in electrics.

The oil age is indeed slowly oozing into history. It won't go easily or quietly but it will, eventually, go.

...

There is already a thread for this HERE.

Check out:
blogs.wsj.com...

2 excerpts below.

"That tells us that you would need to drive the Volt approximately 229,000 miles before you break even for paying more to buy it. "

"There's a little more help that Volt drivers will get -- from Uncle Sam. There will be a government rebate of $7,500 available when you buy a Volt. That lowers its potential price tag to $32,500, reducing the difference in 2011 prices between the Volt and Corolla to $16,689. As a result, you would need to drive approximately 158,000 miles to break even, based on my other original assumptions."

Well I have one on order just waiting for them to ship. I can't wait to set my hands on it and actually test out this new car.

If anything this just shows to me that at least GM is attempting to break out of the big oil mold and provide us with a sustainable car that won't gouche your wallet.

And if you think about it 40K isn't that bad, especially considering what you will save on fuel every year.

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower

And if you think about it 40K isn't that bad, especially considering what you will save on fuel every year.

I heard about this on the news and am waiting to find sources, but the MPG they say it gets is very deceptive. If you drive less than 40 miles a trip, you will be good to go. However, cross-country travelers, such as myself, will not see it. Everytime the battery runs down and needs the gas engine to charge it, the MPG drops. In the end the MPG is 68 MPG.

reply to post by tamusan


Well according to the article, they have yet to test it for cross country or out of city driving, however with the EPA standards they are using, GM espects the mileage to be triple digit.

Now if that's true, if you even get 100 MPG ouf a FUEL powered car, that's pretty amazing.

As well if gas stations begin to provide customers with charging outlets, you could literally charge while you ate at a dinner or something of that nature.

The possibilities are very good. I think were a bit jaded because of how screwed we've been with the car industry for so long, it's hard to imagine them attempting to make anything worthwhile for us.

But it's gonna happen eventually, there's always one good company out there, and let's hope it can be American this time.

~Keeper

they've probably had this technology since like the 1980s and just hid it from us.

It's obvious that their going to ream every bit of money out of everyone, but it can only be a good thing that GM (of all companies) is at least giving in, opening the door to everyone else and their inventive minds. Wonder if they've thought of that, and if they have, is the inventive tech we come up with still going to be hampered at every opportunity.

My question is...Is it going to last for 20 years, or do we take it to the power company to get it fixed when it inevitably has serviceable issues?

And yeah, it's totally not a Prius. The only combustion engine this will have is the rice-burner used to generate the electricity it employs to run with after the clearly stumped batteries run dry.

EDIT (after tenth below): BTW Star/Flag Great thread. Also...I can't wait to feel the torque from the gate.

Tenth...as comfy as the car manufacturers are with the service industry, I find it difficult to believe they've left them out of the equation...even being forced. I'm sure all the vo-tech schools will update their info A.S.A.P. I'm gonna do some more research on the physical attributes of this electric engine before really getting too much further into what has the potential to be an exciting debate. Good point though, for sure.

Wonder if we'll be able to adapt something like a weed-eater or lawn mower engine to it, or if they'd even compare with the 230mpg they're boasting.

Still...very positive thread for the most part, 'specially since we're obviously able to wade through the fertilizer ooze they're trying to push on us.

No GM...you're still as greedy as ever, you can't fool us anymore. You are still as complicit as ever in what could be called one of the crimes of the century.

[edit on 11-8-2009 by lagnar]

reply to post by lagnar


From the information I received when I pre-ordered, the company is saying that the batteries will last 10 years before you have to change them, and maintenance should be fairly low since there won't be as many moving parts.

~Keeper

GM had a electric car that they leased several years ago that went a 100 miles before recharge, however they killed the program and Sony made a movie on “Who Killed the Electric Car”.

Cord had the first major electric car in 1908 and it was killed by the oil companies also (Jay Leno owns one). Rayovac made a 'almost instant' recharge battery in 1932 and the patent was bought and buried by Gm.

Tesla said the gas was out dated even before it went to into a auto, but as we see now the oil companies had their way.

And the plot thickens!

Tru

reply to post by tothetenthpower

But it's gonna happen eventually, there's always one good company out there, and let's hope it can be American this time.

I have that same hope. The only reason I haven't left this country for good is that I am an American through and through. However, my last American car was a Saturn SL2 (GM), and it went through an engine and 2 transmissions in a very short time.

Still haven't found anything on line showing what I heard on the news this morning.

Wonder how far you could increase that initial 40 miles if the entire surface where covered with the most efficient solar cells available. Also a Solar recharging unit at home would be nice. It charges batteries while your out driving. When you get home you plug it in and charge the car from the solar power created during the day.

So Obama's plan to take over a failing piece of # car company that specifically made cars that break within two years and are sub-standard garbage and turn it into a company that actually produces good cars and *gasp* an electric car is actually working? I thought the oil industries and car manufactuers were surpressing electric cars and killing off their inventors left and right. You're telling me the President of the United States stepped in and just quleched that shiz well giving us the surpressed technology?

I personally would never buy an American car but I'm interested and if these cars are reliable I'd considering getting one.

[edit on 11-8-2009 by CuriousSkeptic]

Originally posted by dariousg
reply to post by deltaboy

 

The problem isn't that it will cost so much. The problem is this.....

HOW DID THEY LEAP SUCH A HUGE MPG FIGURE IN SUCH A SHORT TIME? Oh, I know. They already had and HAVE had it for many years now. It's a joke. It's also why Cap and Trade will work out in the long run for the PTB. The jump in electricity costs will help to replace much of the loss in gas costs. It's a game to these people.

Yes, this is good news that this technology will be released. However, it just pisses me off that they think we are ignorant enough to believe that ALL OF A SUDDEN they can achieve this kind of mileage after bankrupcty and years of saying that this kind of mileage was a decade away.

While most will say that this is a great thing, I say it simply proves that these big business people are criminals.

Jump in electricity costs? Time to invest in your electric companies stocks people! Find a nice low and bam!

But you know the adage old saying...it takes money to make money, and sadly I do not have money.

A little bit of Math will tell you it is a pure waste of time to get this car.

I use roughly about $1,200 dollars a year in gas. That means that the price of the VOLT $40,000 (plus the interest after it's paid) will buy me almost 30 years worth of gas.

So basically, you're spending $40,000 for a car with a life span of roughly 5-6 years to save yourself from having to spend $6,000 worth of Gas!!!!!

For the life span of the Volt (about 6 years) if I owned it, I will have spent roughly $1,150 bucks in Gas ( at 250MPG) . So $40k + $1,150 = about 41k total cost for 6 years worth of driving. Not to mention the electric bill increase for charging this sucker.

Now take my car that I currently own. 6 years costs me about $7,000 dollars.
So $7k + 0 (car is already paid for) = $7k. So by simply keeping the car I have, I come out ahead by about $33k. Hell I can even take a few thousand bucks and fix my car up like new. Or even buy a completely new engine for it and drive train!

Then you might say that I'm saving the environment. But the electrical demand on the power plants itself negates any advantage I would see in natural resource usage.

So what's the point? Are they trying to get us to believe that a car can actually be an investment?

HOGWASH!!!!