Chevy Volt - 100 KM's on 1L of Gas

[Captaincanada80]

http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/1...ne-100-km.html

http://gm-volt.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt

$40 000 US
30 already made
Can produce 10/day
Expected launch of 2011

Isn't a terrible looking car either

[Dion]

Nice car but it will be out of the price range of a lot of Canadians. I don't see this car being a huge hit with car buyers.

Maybe GM should build a car that most can afford.

[Tyler]

Lots of concern over mileage. It appears they're measuring it in a new, sketchy way:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/11/c...-ship-in-2010/

[ken0042]

What is the maximum range of this car before you need to plug it in again?

[Regulator75]

At least GM finally built a decent looking vehicle.

[SportsJunky]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt

For trips less than about 40 miles (64 km) per recharge cycle, the Volt will not use any on-board gasoline. Assigning a fuel consumption value which only refers to on-board fuel might not be appropriate.[61] Once the Volt's battery has discharged to its lower limit set-point, the Volt's range-extending gasoline engine is expected to get from approximately 50 mpg-US (4.7 L/100 km; 60 mpg-imp) to as much as 150 mpg-US (1.6 L/100 km; 180 mpg-imp) depending on its run-time duty cycles. Once the battery has been recharged to an upper limit set-point (by the gasoline engine driven, 53 kW on-board generator), the internal combustion engine will again shut off. The variables that contribute to the specific duty cycle of the internal combustion engine will need to be factored in to the Volt's final fuel economy rating as determined by the EPA.[62] On August 11, 2009, GM released their estimated EPA urban cycle (aka city) fuel economy rating for the Volt of 230 mpg-US (1.0 L/100 km; 280 mpg-imp).[63][64]

[You Need a Thneed]

In the OP, the pics are of the original concept vehicle, not the production vehicle.

Regarding mileage, they pretty much had to invent a new way to measure mileage, because the way they were doing it basically would have been meaningless to electric cars. Mileage is something that could vary greatly in a car like this. I don't know if there is an easy way to compare vehicles that have this kind of powertrain, and especially not in terms of comparing the amount of gasoline they use.

[photon]

Yeah, here's the production car:

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Dion

Nice car but it will be out of the price range of a lot of Canadians. I don't see this car being a huge hit with car buyers.

Maybe GM should build a car that most can afford.

I agree, I think its about 10-15k too much to be a big hit....at this price its more or less bordering on being a luxury vehicle for most people. The Prius, while not cheap, is at least within the range of most car buyers.

It seems like GM is banking on this car to change their future (how long have they been working on this now, and its still years away)....but I have my doubts. I hope there are several other Volt Jrs in the works.

[burn_this_city]

Once production picks up the cost will go down. Its cost a lot in R & D and it takes time to reduce the costs and pass the savings along to the consumer.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Once production picks up the cost will go down. Its cost a lot in R & D and it takes time to reduce the costs and pass the savings along to the consumer.

Im sure they are doing this to an extend already, but maybe they need to subsidize a good chunk of the initial cost then in order to make it popular (like Apple/At&t did with the iphone, or Sony with the Playstation). Production won't pick up if nobody is buying the car. I just don't see that many people buying a compact car for 40 grand right off the bat.

[MarchHare]

How many kWh of electricity does it take to fully charge the battery? Will the amount you save on gasoline purchases offset your increased power bill?

From an environmental angle, if you're living in an area where your electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, will driving this vehicle increase or decrease your carbon footprint?

[burn_this_city]

Considering they're bankrupt I dont think they can give heavy discounts. Plus if people factor fuel costs into the purchase price they might see the economics in owning a more expensive car.

[alltherage]

I think it's a nice looking car too. Could be the savior of GM honestly. I think lots of rich people will buy it for the same reason they buy smart cars, macs, priuses, etc. It's a cache thing... "I'm environmentally concious."

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Lots of concern over mileage. It appears they're measuring it in a new, sketchy way:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/11/c...-ship-in-2010/

The comment that the shipping date is now moved to an undisclosed month and year could mean it may never come out. Were they just dangling it to get bailout money? Shame on them for making oil companies sweat.

[Jayems]

This explains it fairly accurately:

So let's say the car is driven 50 miles in a day. For the first 40 miles, no gas is used and during the last 10 miles, 0.2 gallons are used. That's the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon. But, if the driver continues on to 80 miles, total fuel economy would drop to about 100 mpg. And if the driver goes 300 miles, the fuel economy would be just 62.5 mpg.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/11/auto...ion=2009081108

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

How many kWh of electricity does it take to fully charge the battery? Will the amount you save on gasoline purchases offset your increased power bill?

From an environmental angle, if you're living in an area where your electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, will driving this vehicle increase or decrease your carbon footprint?

The Volt will need to be plugged in at night to recharge. The company said it estimates it will need 10 kilowatt hours for the recharge necessary to travel 40 miles. That should cost a total of about 40 cents at off-peak electricity rates in Detroit, Henderson said.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/11/auto...ion=2009081108

[photon]

http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/200...230_mpg_on.php

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Considering they're bankrupt I dont think they can give heavy discounts. Plus if people factor fuel costs into the purchase price they might see the economics in owning a more expensive car.

they were never bankrupt, they entered bankruptcy protection, which they left after only 30 days.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Swarly

they were never bankrupt, they entered bankruptcy protection, which they left after only 30 days.

They also now have a good chunk of their company owned by the Government of course. As a US tax payer, I would actually rather invest money into something that will be good for the long-term (such as electric cars), as opposed to ensuring some high-school educated union worker keeps getting 160k a year.