When does my Volt get to join the party?

[trollbait]

The Cadillac SUV 4WD hybrid got 20mpg city and 23mpg highway. The 15mpg number might be for the non-hybrid. The 150mpg number for the Volvo XC60 PHV includes electricity from the wall. An early EPA proposal for PHV mpg calculations gave the Volt a 230mpg rating. What do people that can drive their PHV all on electric get, infinite or zero mpg?

Someone's knowledge of automatic transmissions and American engines hasn't left the '70s. Same with the suspensions. The only non-truck currently sold with leaf springs is the Mustang, but that's changing with the next model. I think the Crown Vic had them, but production of the fleet model stopped in 2005. I don't think Ford bothered changing the design since the '90s. Why bother when only taxi fleets and police departments were buying. Low price was important to the buyers.

There are some fine Interstates in the US, but most of us don't do our daily driving on them. Pennsylvania was the first state to put in paved roads. In many areas, the dog leg turns going around farmers fields still exist. Some of the pot holes go down to the original concrete pavement. But I concede our roads are in better shape generally. They have to be considering that a private car gets driven nearly twice the difference in a year as one in the UK.

As to British cars, well, um, let's just say it isn't their British divisions that Ford and GM looked to when they felt the need to poach something from Europe.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by trollbait

Same with the suspensions. The only non-truck currently sold with leaf springs is the Mustang, but that's changing with the next model. I think the Crown Vic had them, but production of the fleet model stopped in 2005. I don't think Ford bothered changing the design since the '90s. Why bother when only taxi fleets and police departments were buying. Low price was important to the buyers.

Another data point: My 1980 Buick Lesabre (full-size B-Body platform is GM equivalent to Ford Crown Victoria's Panther platform) has coil springs at all 4 corners. We're talking 34 years old here. It wasn't special, leaf springs were abandoned in most applications four decades ago, even full size rear wheel drive.

[trollbait]

I'm not even sure the Mustang uses leaf springs. I just assumed so because it still uses a live rear axle.

[Charon]

Out 2001 Crown Vic had coil springs all around, as did our '89 Town Car. The Lincoln Town Car, the Ford Crown Victoria, and the Mercury Grand Marquis were essentially the same car. Air suspension was an available option on some models.

[VX_Arky]

Originally Posted by Charon

If you just wanted to brag about how little gasoline you used, why didn't you get a Nissan Leaf or a Tesla? Then you'd have burned no gasoline at all.

Are you attacking him? Who said he was bragging? Seems to me he asked a reasonable question.

[Ziv]

Just filled my fuel tank up to see how my Volt is doing so far this year. 2481 miles and I needed 1.99 gallons. And I filled until it clicked off three times.

The Volt may not have as much rear seat legroom as I would like, but it is a fun car to drive and using American electricity to power it the vast majority of the time is pretty darned cool.

And VX Arky, maybe I was bragging a little bit. When an American car maker gets it right, a little boasting isn't too terrible a thing.

Buy American when possible. The job you save may be your own.

Here is a link to my Voltstats page showing my miles driven and the mpg.

http://www.voltstats.net/Stats/Details/3381

[Draigflag]

Do you guys get any grants from the governement? In the UK the government gives buyers £5000 about $8500 towards an electric car (but not hybrids)

[Ziv]

I leased the Volt, so I don't get the $7500 tax credit directly. Ally Bank gets it. But the lease price reflects the tax credit that Ally got. If we keep buying more electric/PHEV/high efficiency cars every year, the reduced demand for gasoline will push the price of gas down. And given the ongoing increase in the US fleet efficiency, that is already starting to happen. People that drive F-150's are paying less for every gallon of gasoline because there are millions of Prius/Prii out there. And the Volt/Leaf sales are helping as well.
Plus, even a "coal fueled" Volt/Leaf/Tesla is cleaner than almost any other car on the road.
So we are making your gas cheaper and your air cleaner.

Originally Posted by Draigflag

Do you guys get any grants from the governement? In the UK the government gives buyers £5000 about $8500 towards an electric car (but not hybrids)

[Draigflag]

I wouldn't be sure about the price of gas coming down. Our goes up and down all the time but not by huge amounts. It is pretty cheap at the minute at just over $10 a gallon (UK gallon)

I wouldn't be so certain about the air being cleaner either. Hybrids and electric cars have huge batteries do they not? Have you seen the process involved in mining, distilling and processing all the chemicals and the effect it has on the surrounding climate? I'm guessing from the battery making process alone, it would take decades to break even with the carbon footprint!

[trollbait]

If the impression of dirty mining for traction batteries is due to the Sudbury nickle mine in Canada, that damage was done was done decades before the Prius showed up. Nickle is a major component for stainless steel. So most of the blame is on everyone, that uses or depends on; flatware, surgical instruments, food processing equipment, kitchen sinks, sanitary countertops, non-hybrid cars, etc. The batteries for the Prius and other NiMH using hybrids was a tiny percentage of this mine's output.

These and the lithium batteries will have a usable life in the decades. At least 10 years in a hybrid. After their capacity has dropped too far for vehicle use, they have a long life in stationary power uses such as UPS units for cell towers. Toyota is already building units from old Prius batteries for peak shaving at their dealerships in Japan. That will save them money and reduce emissions.

Once the batteries are truly dead, they can be recycled for lower emissions than the initial mining.

If emissions and landscape destruction from mining is a concern, look into what it takes to get Canadian tar sands out of the ground, and to the point where it can be shipped to the refinery for gasoline and diesel.