How the Chevy Volt Will Transform Fuel Economy

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briennebou of IA 7:55AM August 20, 2009

i guess someone and i hope its greenies will try this out. hybrids have not been overly succesful for the very reason that dkagni from texas pointed out. when you compute extra cost and a battery replacement into the mix plus super expensive repairs on any mechanical problems on a hybrid you are not any better off than if you purchased the normal auto. writers need to do a better cost comparison to be taken seriously.you can always find the folks that laud a new product and i'm not bad mouthing the attempt to serve the public with better effiency in dollars spent for travel, but your job is to give good info not be a cheerleader. most of the time you have to drive the diesel or hybrid to ungodly miles to reclaim the difference spent up front and after purchase to just break even.

HOWELL CLARK of TX 4:05PM August 19, 2009

There is a big consipiracy why automotive companies dont talk in real terms of $$ spent per mile $/M. This is a real cost to consumers, irrespective of the fuel, technology, type etc.
I bet when you put $40,000 as sticker price and $2/day fuel cost (eletricity), you would be looking at lot more $/mile cost when compared to car like Honda-insight, which is $20,000 and nearly 40MPG.
In the end, its driven by "dollars in your pocket" and not "oil in your car"
VERY SIMPLE, but media just does not care to promote this as standard, forget about EPA

dkagni of TX 1:13PM August 19, 2009

Unfortunately you forgot about newer technology that's almost ready. Per EEStor, they are close to the manufacturing stage of producing an ultracapacitor that can drive an electrical vehicle 300 miles per charge and be charged in 5 minutes (and discharged in seconds for realllllyyyyy fast acceleration if desired).
They are an American company by the way.
So who would be the dictator of the world then 15??

wowlfie of CO 6:22PM August 18, 2009

The battery is expected to cost $10,000 and not $15,000 and be warrantied for 150,000 miles and not 100,000 miles. So your way off in this calculation. Daily electrical costs for charging the Volt will only cost about $1 to $2 a night depending on your off-peak rates and where you live. Get your facts straight.

wowlfie of CO 6:20PM August 18, 2009

As long as you don't all heat your coffee during the same 6 hours that the car is charging it's fine. Most will charge from 10pm to 6 am. The grid can easily handle millions more charging their cars during this time in off-peak hours. Remember crazy talk your AC is on most of the day and your coffee is fine so your just plain talking nonsense

wowlfie of CO 6:17PM August 18, 2009

you got the math wrong here. Your ignoring the efficiency of an electrical motor (90 to 95%) versus a gasoline motor (30 to 35%) as it converts stored energy to kinetic energy far more efficiently than does a gasoline motor. You need to reduce that by a factor of 3 for the cost of the only $1.20 and in reality it's much less than that-closer to $65 cents per the experts on this.

wowlfie of CO 6:13PM August 18, 2009

In California on a hot day I can't even use my appliances. However, we could plug in 1,2,3 million (or more) electric cars for 8 hours each and have enough electricity for morning coffee?? It doesn't add up.

jwbrit of CA 12:16AM August 18, 2009

Thanks Randy for standing in line to chop down General Motors
even more. At least they are making an effort whether its MPG, KPM or KPG.
I suppose you drive a foreign import as well.
I assumed you cheered that Reader's Digest has bit the dust too.
Especially since it has REAL stories and REAL America in its content.
Be sure and go out and buy today's Hollywood tabloid to get
more pointers of journalism at its worst for tomorrow's story.
I'm part of the public and the public is getting tired
of all this "cut the country down"frenzy. We've hit bottom
and now its time to come back up.
I can't wait to plug in my vehicle to charge it from my own
solar source of energy.
Take another swig off your plastic bottled water, put your foreign made
shoes up on your desk, straighten your imported shirt, flip your Chinese
pencil or pen into the air and get back to "good" journalism
after reading this rebuttal to your article.
Gp Millican, commonsensehere.com

Gp Millican of AL 2:10PM August 17, 2009

Oops. Your equivalent MPG just went down even more. It all adds up.
P.S.
Chris Reid, nice splaining of the Kilowatt Hour and Gas equivalent for everyone......

TC of MN 1:31PM August 17, 2009