Not good news for the Chevy Volt!

[ATOMonkey]

No. But not knowing the expense, it might be just as well.

The Marines' KLRs are original 650 engines converted over.

It would probably be faster to just R&R the whole engine/gearbox.

Especially since you'd have to tear it all the way down to the crank case.

 

[ghunter]

The Messiah-mobile is a false prophet with no profit.

 

[96firephoenix]

this car is a joke. it is so big that it wears itself out just driving itself. the one electric car from the 90's actually had a decent range, just no one wanted it cuz it was ugly.

the future of the electric car lies in capacitors, not batteries. capacitors charge extremely quickly and will discharge as needed, while batteries lose their charge just sitting. the only problem is that capacitors tend to surge (from how I understand it) and would fry the fuses all the time. plus capacitors have the same storage capacity with about a third of the size and weight.


Sidebar:

So many critics of ethanol, but Brazil has been doing it with cane sugar for a decade and a half.

Michigan used to produce the most table sugar from sugar beets.

If only they had a pair they could have actually started an industry up there.

It appears Michigan only likes to break things, though.

I have no problem with ethanol made from sugar cane other than the fact that the engine has to be tuned for it and its not as efficient as gasoline. I have a problem with foodcrops being used for fueling our cars, such as corn, when there are people starving to death in the country.

/threadjack

 

[ATOMonkey]

I also have a problem describing a fuel as "renewable" when it is a net energy loser.

Ethanol is a novelty, IMO.

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

Fuel storage and range is always a problem with alternate fuel on vehicles.

What is the energy density of LP gas vs diesel? Would trucks still have the same range?

Not LP - CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). City bus fleets have been running these for 20 years. I worked my way through school driving one back at UC Davis 20+ years ago. They drive similar to the existing heavy diesel, and range is similar. The engine used back then was the same diesel engine. Only diff was the fuel injection system. Burns WAY cleaner, no diesel fumes. At the time is was about even in terms of cost - so the draw was that it was cleaner. NOW, however, Nat Gas is WAY cheaper.

The main problem right now is lack of fueling stations - and retrofitting the fleets.

Here's a url with a map of fueling stations - few and far between, along with the comparable "per gallon of gas" price...

CNG stations and Prices for the US, Canada and Europe

 

[rhino]

CNG is a great idea for mobile stuff like vehicles. Nuclear is the best and probably only viable long term solution for centralized generation of electric power.

Ethanol made from food is just stupid in terms of the costs vs. benefits. Using ethanol in IC engines has other emission problems that we've not yet had in quantity yet. Go to Rio or Sao Paolo in Brazil. When they burned methanol, they had huge problems with methanal (formaldehyde) emissions due to incomplete combustion, and now they have similar problems with ethanal from the ethanol.

 

[longbow]

more bad news

Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf Show Lackluster Sales in February - Megan McArdle - Business - The Atlantic

Those sales figures are horrible. I thought the libs would be sucking these up. I sense a big rebate coming .....

Less than 1,000 sold, but how many are sitting around as inventory?
edit....
Found it....Production is about 800 units per month. They have produced 4,500 units and sold less than 25% of the inventory.

 

[longbow]

I just found two articles saying GM is ramping up parts, production and staffing to produce up to 120,000 units in 2012.........but they could scale back if sales fall short.

where are they going to store all the unsold inventory?

 

[Leadeye]

Bad timing to try and market it during a recession. It's an expensive limited use vehicle any way you look at it. How many folks have the extra cash and extra space to gamble on it? Either way I think Obie and Co. are going to pump more tax money into the project, it's already too big to fail.

 

[$mooth]

more bad news

Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf Show Lackluster Sales in February - Megan McArdle - Business - The Atlantic

Those sales figures are horrible. I thought the libs would be sucking these up. I sense a big rebate coming .....

Less than 1,000 sold, but how many are sitting around as inventory?
edit....
Found it....Production is about 800 units per month. They have produced 4,500 units and sold less than 25% of the inventory.

To be honest, that's not terrible for a vehicle that just launched. 4500 units means ~1 per Chevy dealership. As this is a vehicle that brings people into the showrooms, often car companies do not want them sold until their is a larger inventory base.
If I'm buying a brand new car, there is very little reason for me to settle on color and trim. I'd be willing to bet there's a substantial dealership mark-up as well. There are 60 combination of Exterior color(6), interior color(5) and trim(2). These factors add up to just released products not making huge sales until inventory levels are up. It why some manufacturers produce vehicles for a few months before releasing them for sale.

 

[mdemetz]

CNG is a great idea for mobile stuff like vehicles. Nuclear is the best and probably only viable long term solution for centralized generation of electric power.

Ford was way ahead 60 years ago. Ford Nucleon

 

[mrjarrell]

What they need to bring back is Chrysler's Turbine cars. They'd run on darned near anything.
Chrysler Turbine Car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IF0VbUb_Ug[/ame]

 

[ATOMonkey]

What they need to bring back is Chrysler's Turbine cars. They'd run on darned near anything.
Chrysler Turbine Car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

YouTube - Chrysler Turbine Car

Chevy had a turbine car as well. We have the engine and auto trans in the museum here at work.

Turbines will burn just about anything and make terrific power, but they guzzle fuel like you wouldn't believe.

That's why they're almost exclusively used in aircraft, where power/weight ratio is vitally important.

 

[rhino]

Anyone know how much of a subsidy per vehicle GM is getting from our tax dollars to be able to sell this debacle at the current price point?

 

[Dave00c5]

Sorry to see this posted on the chevy volt. Why not have a natural gas option on vehicles once if ever we get the infrastructure (filling stations) in place. We have more of that than oil over here.

 

[mrjarrell]

Here's another reason not to get an electric. The new Nissan Leaf doesn't perform as advertised. 100miles on a charge? Not quite. No reason to think the Volt, or others would be any better.

Jalopnik: Obsessed With The Cult Of Cars