The Chevy Volt to be Priced $41,000 (or $33,500)

[antilycus]

and yet it is ugly as balls. It looks cheap and the lines are poor. Look at the european cars or even what Ford is doing. The blunt nose, less curves, more defined lines are what today's market is looking for. Not this cookie cutter civic/toyota look that has been copied a million times over already.

 

[maestintaolius]

[citation][nom]rhelme[/nom]I love how everyone jumps all over the Chevy, but seems to praise the Prius and other "hybrids".The fact is what Chevy is doing with there gas motor to recharge the batteries is running it at a specific RPM where it gets the most energy efficient output. Its not like when it goes to running on the gas motor that you will hear the gas motor change RPM... NOPE.... It will run and charge the batteries... Thats why They have DIESEL-ELECTRIC trains.... because to run pure DIESEL would require more of them to pull the same load (torque distro) and the fact that its more efficient to run the DIESEL Engine at a known tuned RPM.Same with this car... you go over 40.... its not like the drive train switches to gas... thats not how it works... The batteries still drive the car 100% and the highly tuned and much cleaner and efficient gas engine charges the batteries...Everyone is saying FAIL, yet I am watching Lexus and other car companies RUSH to do this SAME tech... but I'm sure you non American car haters will call those successes, even with their huge price premium...[/citation]
Not exactly correct, they do maintain the diesel rpm at it's most efficient point. Trains are hybrids because the diesel engines only have an effective operating torque range over 300-900 rpm. They use a hybrid system to eliminate the need for a 20+ gear transmission. There's also the benefit of electric motors having insane torque at 0 to low rpm making it possible to get the train moving in the first place, which is where internal combustion engines struggle. You'd have to have a much larger diesel engine to get the train started from a standstill if it wasn't a hybrid which would be wasting energy once the train was moving because it doesn't require terribly much power to maintain it's speed.

 

[cekasone]

Would rather buy a Camaro

 

[michaelahess]

"The Chevrolet Volt will be the best vehicle in its class…because it's in a class by itself,"

I'm glad some of you saw that too. What boneheaded marketing people they have, just as bad as their cars.....

 

[omnimodis78]

This is so exciting! Now, let's just hope that GM will stick to their guns and not cave in within 5 years and give up on this one as they gave up on their first attempt... Also, let's hope they won't be shipping off the jobs to India as soon as this becomes profitable. Make it and keep it American, and start employing your own people for God's sake! If they have jobs, they will have the money to buy these cars. Very, very simple isn't it?! Remember GM, it's the AMERICAN people who saved your a**... with Chiense borrowed money, of course, but that's a different story.

 

[lamorpa]

[citation][nom]rhelme[/nom]... The fact is what Chevy is doing with there gas motor to recharge the batteries is running it at a specific RPM where it gets the most energy efficient output. ...[/citation]

This fact is if I could give you some feedback about your comment you posted I might have an easier time understanding what your writing about if you included punctuation when their are multiple clauses in you're sentences like the one above for example that you can see.

 

[Guest]

at one time or another we had very few gasoline infrastructure, given enough motivation it could happen, for now home charging stations works as a stop gap solution, the amount of trips that require me to do 100 miles or more is like 2% of my yearly travel..... it like buying a flat bed for the one occasion every year that you might need it, for 98% of my travels that require a car, 100 miles is more then enough

 

[Guest]

@ikefu

if i plan on traveling 1000 miles, i think i consider taking an airplane

 

[bildo123]

[citation][nom]wydileie[/nom]I'll wait for Hydrogen fuel cell cars. They have a much brighter future IMO. As was stated before, "0 emissions for 40 miles" is a sort of ruse. Not even counting the initial production and transportation of said batteries, the electricity has to be created somewhere, and most electricity is created via fossil fuels.[/citation]

True, but that's a "for now" statement. Still, this is all too much into its infancy. When another non-fossil fuel source of energy becomes financially feasible this is where the years of development and releases of such products will have paid their weight in gold.

 

[megamanx00]

A civic with a manual transmission can get the same mileage and costs alot less.

 

[maestintaolius]

[citation][nom]bildo123[/nom]True, but that's a "for now" statement. Still, this is all too much into its infancy. When another non-fossil fuel source of energy becomes financially feasible this is where the years of development and releases of such products will have paid their weight in gold.[/citation]
As nice and fuzzy as alternative energy sounds, I don't think you'll ever be able to compete with coal until there simply isn't any left. It's ridiculously cheap to process to a usable fuel and very cheap to dig up. I'm all for alternative energy, but as long as coal costs 2-5 cents per kWh and alternatives cost 8-17 cents, coal will be here to stay.

 

[hispeed120]

[citation][nom]lamorpa[/nom]And the 0 cost, 0 environmental-load-for-production hydrogen comes from where?[/citation]

Exactly. Though hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it is not naturally occurring here on earth. Therefore, as lamorpa said, we have to make it somehow. And guess what, that comes from some form of fossil fuel. Pair that with the lower energy density of hydrogen, transport it through pipelines (like we do today with petroleum products), and you have used slightly less than half of the energy output to transport it.

The ONLY way hydrogen could be viable is to make it on-site with renewable energy sources. That's what I'm hoping to do some day: rainwater collector paired with solar/wind to power a home hydrogen fueling station.

 

[HappyBB]

Do I read this right? The batteries can only last the first 40-mile of the trip and then the "gas-powered" engine kicks in? I thought this is a pure electric car, no gas needed!?

 

[lueszu]

[citation][nom]nord_musician[/nom]pricey[/citation]

but you save a LOT on gas... you can "save" the car value in 2 years.

 

[Stryter]

I'll keep my '85 Camaro. Yes it isn't nearly as fuel effecient as these types of cars, but i also don't have ridiculously high car payments, ridiculously high insurance, high-cost maintenance, computers that take a dump at the slightest hicup that occurs, or sensors on every bolt and moving part.

Plus my car looks sexy, sounds like a beast, and goes.... fast (especially fast ;D).

So I have a little extra spending money to put gas in it.

 

[Railgun1369]

Good initiative.
Bad execution.