Driving The Chevy Volt

[CI9TK]

GM is a big player behind the dismantling of the L.A. trolley system, I am not a fan of theirs. I also owned one of their cars - once.

I am very PRO electric vehicle. I think it is funny that the company with the very successful EV-1 powertrain is taking so long to mate an onboard charging system to that kind of product.

We import about 80% or our oil, it is environmentally disastrous. GM could make a tidy profit on electric vehicles, but oil is more profitable for major shareholders.

[starview1]

There seems to be confussion...The Chevy VOLT is always powered by batteries,the gas motor only is there to charge the battery after 40 miles of drive,between the charge and the gas supply the cars range is 800 miles.The car always operates on battery power and has better hwy performance than the prius because of expanded capacity the prius 2010 doesnot have,Right now the ford fussion hybrid is a good choice

[mark2073]

You better get your act together GM, Nissan is releasing the LEAF pure EV with 100 mile range at the same time the Volt is coming out, and it will be significantly cheaper. Unlike you, Nissan actually wants to make an EV and they're going to do a better job than you are, although producing a successful product has never been a high priority for GM management, has it.

[TexasRejectsleader]

i wonder why they don't make a diesel engine to power the car after the battery runs out of energy since with a diesel you will get more mpg then with a gas

and also make it to where you can make it run on bio diesel

[oiseautempete]

@TexasRejectsleader

yes but diesel is expansiver,heawier and produce much more vibrations, noise and carbon particels...

At constant and best rpm, is the consumption difference between a high efficiency gazoline engine and a diesel engine relative low

[cyberian2000]

GM made all this fuss about the Volt. and it's taking FOREVER...then China made its Plug-in out of nowhere. its called the BYD (Build Your Dream) and it IS a plug-in hybrid. perhaps GM should step aside and let other companies who do it better, faster, take their market share.

[cyberian2000]

what do you (everybody) think will be the future of this car now that GM is filing for BANKRUPTCY? is GM finaly paying for what its done with the EV1? if they had only continued their R&D with that car a good portion of the general public will be driving a zero emmission vehicle now. gas prices would be so high because of the lack of demand. . . only if. . . they had acted right in the begining

[11JAYP11]

GM will continue to make significant investments in future products and new technologies, about $5.4 billion in 2009 and from $5.3 billion to $6.7 billion annually from 2010 to 2014. Development and testing of the highly anticipated Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car remains on schedule for start of production by the end of 2010 and arrival in Chevrolet showrooms shortly thereafter.

[mark2073]

How much of that research money is devoted to the red herring of hydrogen fuel cells?

[Account6879]

HFC technology is laughably underfunded, most of the money comes from federal and private grants. And most fuel cell vehicles had to be purchased before they were converted to HFC use.

Having driven a fuel cell powered Chevy Equinox, and been thoroughly surprised by the powerful electric drive-train, I think we need all the competition we can get.

[11JAYP11]

The EV-1 program ended due to the lack of suitable batteries. Although many people said they wanted an electric car, when faced with a range of 80 miles or less between overnight recharges, most went elsewhere. Other carmakers EV programs of that era met a similar fate the batteries werent quite ready for prime time.

Because of legal requirements to provide warranty service and spare parts, it was too expensive to leave the vehicles in service once the leases ended.

[mark2073]

But Toyota left its Rav4 EV's in service after the lease expired.

The last version of the EV1 had a range of 160 miles. And you just said that your trips to work are less than 40 miles.

The batteries were no longer suitable because GM sold the patent on them to Chevron, who then swiftly prevented every car maker from using them in EV's (except for inefficient non-plugin parallel hybrids like the Prius who pose not threat to oil sales)

See "Who Killed the Electric Car", available on Youtube.

[nowhereboy]

40 miles! Pathetic. Tesla can do up to 300. Why can't they use decade-old battery technology to get up to 100 or 150 mile ranges? Sounds like they're trying to kill it before it's even out of the starting gate, just like with the EV1. They'll never learn... backward into the future, and remaining mired in bankruptcy.

[mark2073]

The lithium ion batteries this car uses are expensive, so to keep costs down they limited the size of the battery pack. After 40 miles a small gasoline-powered generator kicks in to charge the batteries after this, at which point you can go as far as you want if you have the gas. This is a series hybrid, which is much more efficient than a parallel hybrid like the Prius.

[nowhereboy]

Yeah, and that means you're not charging from the grid... It defeats the whole purpose. Gasoline being used to generate electricity, stored in a chemical battery, then converted to kinetic energy, is a VERY inefficient process, and you will probably end up buying as much petroleum as with a gasoline car. 40 miles is just too small a distance for many people... they need to offer a longer range battery. Sounds like it was designed by the oil companies... going backwards to the future.

[mark2073]

But the first 40 miles can come from electricity from your wall plug (it's a PLUGIN), so if you keep all your trips less than 40 miles you'd never need gasoline again. I agree that GM could do much better, this is certainly not cutting edge technology as they are making it out to be, and are dragging their heels as much as they can, and are probably caving to oil interests.

[11JAYP11]

Still, my trips to go to work are not longer than 40 miles! I can charge it once for the day and thats it... and IF EVER I want to go further ... then I have gas

[dontlietoo]

My guess is that car had an extremely heavy duty suspension that the volt will never have. I am guessing gm's statement about the same propulsion(electric motor) is true, but all the batteries in that "test" car probably weigh over half a ton, just to give a test drive of 70 mph. It's hard to believe the real volt has the juice to go over 25 mph. Hope I'm wrong, but remember you drove a mule, and they wouldnt let you drive it for more than a few minutes, because it might have run out of juice.

[leeroyjenkinsii]

It is absurd that the government is no pouring money into this. THIS IS THE FUTURE!! THIS WILL CREATE MILLIONS OF JOBS!! What do you think happens when folks start driving electric vehicles.  The electrical infrastructure has to be upgraded. Where does the money come from for that? It comes from the 1.5 trillion we throw away anually on gas. Now that money will be a yearly stimulus for good ol American electrical jobs AND research into solar, wind and tide for energy sources. HURRY UP!!!

[leandro5k]

no mostraron un carajo. nada mas que el diseño .cuanto levnta?en cuanto acelera de 0 a100?y cuanto consume x km recorrido? tan dificil es mostrarlo andando fuerte?

[TrueDeltaTV]

Government praise for the Volt is limited because there's no way it will improve GM's finances for at least the next few years.

So about how quick did it feel? Top speed you drove the car?

[jeffgilbertwwj]

I did mostly freeway speeds 60-70...nice acceleration, as you tend to find in electric vehicles. A lot of people don't seem to understand that this vehicle is not seen as the "savior" of GM. It's more a first step in a long journey to the future.

[Bosondude]

I heard the BYD is not street legal here in the US because of safety issues... I do whish they bring it here though, but with a 7500 tax credit, the volt might come down to 30000, i cant wait for it to come out already!

[robertackerlind]

Hope the BYD F3DM will be sold to the public. 80 produced at $22,000, only sold to fleet buyers. There is no other PHEV or EREV being produced anywhere. No more Renault Kangoo's. No more plugin Sprinter Vans. Chrysler's prototype ENVI cars go fast. GM's Volt isn't even a working prototype above their 10 miles an hour show car. The test mule Chevy Cruise goes a little fater. Volt is estimated to cost more than $40,000. Ford any new ideas? Do the oil companies own the car companies?