What a Joke!

[chesspirate]

http://autoshow.autos.msn.com/autosh...mentid=1692328
Do they really expect us to believe this is hard to do?

[GasSavers_TomO]

Quoted from Video about the Volt= "I am shocked, truly shocked" <chuckle> being shocked by an electric vehicle....I wonder how that feels. and I hope that those gawd awful 20some inch wheels are light as H-E-double hockey sticks because that is a big waste of the cars electricity.

But seriously, they could've used a small diesel motor instead and probably saved even more on resources. Plus that range of 40 miles on pure li-ion pack sounds bogus, unless that is a small pack by EV standards.

[JanGeo]

Cars usually need about 1KWH per 5 miles so a 20KWH battery pack would be needed to go 40 miles. I just noticed that there is almost no travel room for the tires into the fenders and if the front wheels are turned . . . even less. 2777 Lithium cells weighting 444 lbs would be about a 20kwh battery pack and cost about $7000 with current pricing.

[cfg83]

Hello -

At first I was about to bash this car too, but I read some more and I think it is ok. I don't like the design, but I don't hate it either. Here are some more details :

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=119088

I always try to figure out what they were thinking. Chop top look that is justified by smaller frontal surface area. Loss of top leads to "sunken" side windows. Small commuter, maybe trying to take advantage of Pontiac Solstice aesthetic?

Keep in mind one thing about the 40 mile range. That is true if it is 100&#37; electric mode. The small "powerplant" engine is used to extend the range. As electric batteries improve (or when Chevron gives up the patent), this car could be retooled as a 100% electric.

That said, GM will always be public enemy #1 for foisting the Hummer on us.

CarloSW2

[GasSavers_TomO]

It states that the vehicle has a total range of 640 miles. It also states that it can go 40 miles on pure electricity mode. That leaves 600 miles on 12 gallons of gas (stated gasoline capacity), 600/12 = 50 mpg. That is if you drive the thing non-stop. It'd probably work out to more MPG given the fact that most people only commute a total of 40 miles daily and would recharge the battery via 110V house electricity.

This kind of brings up a question in my mind; If you can drive this thing without ever firing the ICE, how long would the gas stay good? I've heard stories of gasoline being exposed to air for 30 days becoming lower in octane.

[JanGeo]

Todays gas is good for maybe 3 months before it separates into unburnable junk. I always wondered about that though because it seems that my MPG drops as the gas gets lower in the tank if I don't burn it up fast enough - like typically I go about 3 weeks. I start off in the mid 40's and then struggle to get 40 towards the end of the tank.

[MetroMPG]

When I test drove the Blackfly, it had half a tank of seven year old gas in it. Started right up. Drove fine.

Though I'd probably put fuel stabilizer in it if I knew I was going to park it for a long time.

[thisisntjared]

its funny that that cars system pretty much makes the electricity cost the same as gas....

very close cent per mile to the currently economy vehicles.

[chesspirate]

Originally Posted by TomO

... That leaves 600 miles on 12 gallons of gas (stated gasoline capacity), 600/12 = 50 mpg. That is if you drive the thing non-stop. It'd probably work out to more MPG given the fact that most people only commute a total of 40 miles daily and would recharge the battery via 110V house electricity.

This almost makes me hate this car a little less... BUT, why should i be excited about 50mpg from an electric car? I thought the point of electric was to not have to burn gas? (at least pump gas) I think this is just another way of packaging something to look better than it really is. Not to mention we've got guys on here beating 50mpg with home-made, old-school, modified, gear head tech. Shouldn't the big guys be able to produce somethign a little bit better?

[MetroMPG]

I think the point of the Volt concept is that if you drive less than 40 miles a day (like, apparently, the vast majority of Americans), you'll hardly ever have to buy gas. You'll only need to fuel up for longer trips.