The Chevy Volt

[kittycatback]

Volt is a joke!

[emforty2]

works just like a diesel-electric train where the diesel engine generates electricity

electric-gasoline engine=HYBRID

[Mike10060]

i saved 500 a month on gas but my elec. bill rose 500 =P

[comradepinko]

Since the electricity costs about 20% as much to get you the same distance you would save 500 on gas and your electric bill would increase by about 100.

So you'd save 400 a month.

[Membrane556]

Glad they got rid of that fugly giant cell phone looking center console they had in an earlier prototype and went to more traditional looking displays.

[emforty2]

any car is not the solution to our energy problem

build the bigger car

a RAIL car that is! commonly called as trolley, train, public transportation.

guess what the price of electricity is going up next ha ha !

[Rearah]

I will get one as soon as it comes out. They say it will be priced around $30,000. Luckily, I bought a 2008 Honda Civic, I hope to get a little over $12k on my trade in. Looks like I could have my hands on one of these in 2010

[sterlinghowell73]

I understand they'll be priced closer to $40,000...who the hell is going to drop 40K on a car the size of a Honda Civic? And who the ruddy hell wants to wait 6 hours for the bloody thing to charge?

[ctrmatt]

Who wants to pay $4.00 a gallon for gas? I'd much rather charge my car at night and never use a drop of gas.

[sterlinghowell73]

We're only paying $4.00+ for a gallon of gas because the clowns running Washington won't let us tap the trillions of barrels of crude sitting in the ground within our own borders.

I can't believe people are OK paying twice as much for a vehicle that works half as well as what's sitting in their driveway. We have enough oil in ANWR, The Dakotas, The Gulf Coast, The West Coast, and locked up in Oil Shale in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to provide us with cheap gas for a century.

[hotFusionReaction]

Tapping those sources of energy would cost TRILLIONS more than just switching to Electricity.

You apparently aren't aware of how difficult it is to pull Shale Oil out of the ground.

While not as hard, pulling Oil from the Dakotas is more than likely to expensive to ever contribute a great deal to the big picture.

Same for the coasts. As easy as it is to blame politicians, I'm afraid simple market economics are what is killing oil.

[sterlinghowell73]

I'm a geologist, man...I almost certainly have a better understanding of extraction processes than you do. Very nearly every calculation I have ever seen indicates that energy return will be about 3 to 1. Converting to electricity doesn't solve our high transportation costs. Electric vehicles simply don't have the range to replace gas/deisel powered vehicles at this point (how will converting to electricity help out truckers and those who have to commute 50+ miles a day)?

[hotFusionReaction]

I think your missing the big picture, which surprises me considering your a "geologist".

OIL WILL RUN OUT, ELECTRICITY WON'T.

Moving cars and pickups from petroleum/diesel to electricity will free up resources for larger 18 wheelers, which are farther away from being converted.

It would also cause the price of oil to DECLINE, as cars and pickups WOULD NOT BE DEMANDING oil anymore.

You see, this is the difference between GEOLOGY and ECONOMICS.

[sterlinghowell73]

Oil will eventually run out...but not for a hundred years or more(even longer if we built more nuke, and more coal fire plants) I'm confident that we WILL have a viable alternative to gas/deisel powered vehicles within a couple decades...we're not there yet. Electric vehicles make sense for people living in urban areas, but not for people in large western states where public transportation is ridiculous.

[hotFusionReaction]

Well, you and I agree on something.

I am a strong supported of building more Nuclear Power Plants.

I kinda on the fence about Coal, but not for the reasons most people spout. I not nearly as concerned about pollution as I am about cost.

I lean to side of Nuclear in the regard I think they are a sounder investment when it comes to possible laws concerning CO2 AND fuel supply.

We know for a FACT that with breeder reactors, the supply for Nuclear is virtually infinite.

[Membrane556]

I agree nuclear power has an undeserved reputation it's safety record in the west is far better then coal when you count the losses of life in coal mines and illness caused by the pollution from coal fired plants.

[sterlinghowell73]

Market Economics ARE NOT killing oil. I live in Utah, I talk to one of the guys developing advanced Oil Shale extraction techniques at least a couple times a month. Extraction IS NOT the problem...jumping through permitting hoops, and fighting to procure mineral leases are what is killing oil. Up to two million barrels a day would be flowing out of ANWR if the clowns running Washington hadn't blocked it. 2 mil. barrels a day would lower oil prices significantly.

[hotFusionReaction]

I guess that is a better story to tell their investors than

"Hey guys, this is all we've got left and as long as oil STAYS ABOVE $95 A BARREL, we're all set!"

[emforty2]

the VOLT will run on its 1.4 liter gasoline engine after the battery is depleted.

GM changed the design but did not tell the public yet!

[nucflashevent]

No one (accept you, apparently) ever thought any different.

This is how it was ALWAYS billed to run.

[bjhorton2005]

If it is ever no longer a "concept" I will get one.