GM's Volt electric hybrid car

Snowboarder Ryan

http://www.autospies.com/news/DETROIT-AUTO-SHOW-GM-Volt-Concept-in-Action-11478/

Due 2010... they're way behind. They have the technology to come out with this yesterday. After they killed the EV1 from the late 90's I wonder what's going on. Conspiracy theories?

This one has a 1L gasoline engine, runs 40miles on batteries alone, 640mile range on battery & engine.

Still... the EV1 Version2 did over 80miles on batteries alone and had excellent performance. So much for improvements.

About time. Wonder what the performance is like.

If you haven't seen it yet, take a look at the movie "who killed the electric car?" http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/whokilledtheelectriccar/, while it's a bit one-sided... I'd sure like to have a car that I charge at home to go 70kms a day and cost me $200 a year in "fuel" vs $5000 of my F150!! Never-mind no oil changes, no oil filters, no air filters, hardly any brake pad/caliper changes (regenerative braking), etc, etc.

NukeChem

Heh.. yeah, a hybrid gas-electric is probably the most practical even in the GVRD where winters are mild (normally) by Canadian standards. I am going to have to ditch my LTD Crown Victoria at some point I think. Be nice to have a replacement small, economical vehicle, eh?

Smartso

Thing is, where does the power come from in the US? Either coal burning or nuke plants. With coal, you are burning all that coal to transfer it to (1)heat, then use heat to (2)boil water, then (3)turn a turbine, then go through (4)miles and miles of power lines, to a transformer, your house, the car, then (5)stored in batteries, and only THEN (6)power the vehicle. At each step OVERALL efficiency is reduced, and you still burn carbohydrates anyways.
Also, you cant get something out of nothing.

Your F150 is bigger, faster, and can carry more than EV1.

luxferre

how fast can that thing go? >.>