Breaking news! Chevy volt technically driven by gas engine!

[rgathright]

The Great Chevy Volt Hybrid Mishap Explained - KickingTires

As many of you already know, I was excited about owning the first Chevrolet Volt in my hometown. I built a solar power plant at my house and was prepared to pay the estimated $45,000 price tag because I had the belief that owning an electric car was the right thing to do. Fundamentally, electric cars have fewer parts which equates to less maintenance and lower cost of ownership per mile.

My mood changed today after reading the referenced article above. Specifically, it points out that the gasoline engine is an integral part of the Chevrolet Volt design. As we can all assume, that means GM's announcements about an all electric Volt were false. Worse this means we will have to contend with many moving parts and maintenance will be a nightmare.

Why did we bailout GM? One of the reasons, is at the time, many people thought they were going to produce an electric car to solve the acute gas crisis.

Thanks for reading and pass this on to anyone you know that was interested in an ALL AMERICAN electric car. Turns out it was just a marketing scam similar to Enron.

[imzjustplayin]

Yup, overpriced Prius would be a fair assessment.. Worse yet, it gets WORSE mileage than a Prius while being significantly more expensive than one. We bailed out GM because government is dumb and wasteful. However, with all of this said, this is actually good news because the Volt was a crappy electric car to begin with but now is just a merely ok/overpriced Plug-in hybrid. This system is technically more efficient since now there is no loss in the engine charging the batteries which is used to power the electric motors but instead the engine directly propels the drivetrain. If anyone was satisfied with the range figures they were quoting previous, then specifically this announcement shouldn't affect that. The announcement that the range is 25-50 miles on the other hand, now that should piss you off, though IMO shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with the ability to smell bull****.

Anyway, I'm glad of this announcement because it not only confirmed a few held beliefs I had about the vehicle but also explained certain things like why the car didn't actually charge and top off the batteries once the generator got started, and the reason is because it's a plug-in hybrid....wouldn't want the gasoline engine charging the batteries if the batteries are going to be charged by the wall outlet anyway now would we?

[theclencher]

^That's a very good assessment!

Although, the relatively small range should be no surprise since it is so much larger and heavier than EV1 and the tech isn't really any better.

[jadziasman]

Here's the best article I've found yet explaining the Chevrolet Volt PHEV. Looks like another instance of fool me once. Thanks for nothing GM.

http://www.motortrend.com/features/e...cks/index.html

[pgfpro]

GM Hear that??? That's the sound of all the other car manufacturers laughing their arses off at you!!!

GM Volt, what a joke

[GasSavers_GasUser]

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...est/index.html

MT tested it

[theholycow]

The good news is that it's a slightly more efficient design than previously implied. The bad news is that they misled us, or perhaps even directly lied (it's hard to keep track now). Why wouldn't they have dispelled the misinformation?

Bad GM!

Originally Posted by jadziasman

Here's the best article I've found yet explaining the Chevrolet Volt PHEV. Looks like another instance of fool me once. Thanks for nothing GM.

http://www.motortrend.com/features/e...cks/index.html

From the article:
Chevy’s engine and motor/generator both remain decoupled from the whole works most of the time.

Chevrolet’s approach permits full EV capability over 30-40 real-world miles

So, it still operates as we always thought. You plug in, charge up, and drive an electric vehicle for up to 40 miles; then if you don't recharge you are powered by gasoline. Granted, it does make sense to allow the gas engine power the wheels when it's running, as it is quite wasteful to turn rotational energy into electricity only to turn it into rotation again, but I don't think that is what we were sold.

The part that sucks is that it is no longer the easy stepping stone we thought it would be, where the gasoline engine was supposedly modular so you could remove it and replace it with a larger battery pack, a diesel, or whatever else you wanted.

It's still a stepping stone, but the next step is another car, not a modification.

Outside of technical discussions like this, this discovery won't make a difference to most people.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Here's my $.02 worth... I've been kicking around the idea of purchasing a new DD once the bike is paid off, and only drive The Beast when hauling or 4wd were required. Despite what everyone's saying about it, the Volt is still very appealing to me. Why? Because I live 2-3 miles from work. I can charge the vehicle at work, and drive on 100% electric power for about 95% of my weekly driving. Factoring in the gas I would not be purchasing, the $7,500 tax credit, 0% APR financing, and charging the vehicle at work, I could afford it.

On top of all that, its a nice looking car. Not like a Prius, which IMHO is even uglier than an AMC Gremlin.

[rgathright]

I just need an EV that can cruise at 65MPH and go over a tall interstate bridge on a daily 35 mile round trip. The 40 mile range in the Volt is going to be stretching it!

Does anyone remember the first few Chevy Volt commercials that were promising all electric and much longer ranges?

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

Here's my $.02 worth... I've been kicking around the idea of purchasing a new DD once the bike is paid off, and only drive The Beast when hauling or 4wd were required. Despite what everyone's saying about it, the Volt is still very appealing to me. Why? Because I live 2-3 miles from work. I can charge the vehicle at work, and drive on 100% electric power for about 95% of my weekly driving. Factoring in the gas I would not be purchasing, the $7,500 tax credit, 0% APR financing, and charging the vehicle at work, I could afford it.

On top of all that, its a nice looking car. Not like a Prius, which IMHO is even uglier than an AMC Gremlin.

May I suggest the Nissan Leaf instead? Polar bears love it!

[dieselbenz]

Remember the good old days when the GM spin machine was in full swing?

Smooth move GM.