The Volt: GM is, slowly but surely, screwing it up...

[efusco]

Originally Posted by DeadPhish

From Popular Mechanics a side view of the new Li-ion pack. You can get a relative feel for the size and shape. It's HUGE.

Chevy Volt Plug-in Car Batteries Ready for 2010 - GM Technical Center - Popular Mechanics

Considering it's only 4X larger than the Prius battery but will offer a 40 mile (or 32 depending on what you wish to believe) range using about 50% of it's total capacity I don't consider it 'huge'.
I do wish they'd have gone for an under-floor design to better accomodate a 5-seat design Something taller in the back (trunk/behind rear seat) and shorter in front (under rear seat).

I'm sincerely disappointed here...

[Rakimb17]

The Volt is a joke.If the General wanted to produce an EV, the Volt would have been badged as EV2. It should not take two years for them to "design" something they already have blueprints and patents for. Not to mention the fact that it won't have the range of EV1. The Volt is a gimmick. I'm saving up for the Zap-X. If its half as nice as advertised, i'm getting one.

[Chrome]

This isn't news, you guys. For people who get so uppity when people have Prius-ignorance, you sure are ignorant to the Volt. We've known about the 4-seater thing since last year at least.

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

400lbs?!?! God... and the Prius is 99lbs? <sigh> GM... That's why you never criticize people in life if you don't know what you're talking about.

Yes, 400lbs. The Prius' batteries aren't required to do what the Volt's have to do. The Volt is an electric car. The Prius is a gas car with a supplemental battery/electric motor. It's absurd of you to compare battery weights between these two vehicles.

[john1701a]

Originally Posted by Chrome

The Volt is an electric car.

The engineers' requirement to periodically run the engine certainly contradicts that claim.

Denial isn't helping your argument.

It's a "series hybrid".

.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by Chrome

This isn't news, you guys. For people who get so uppity when people have Prius-ignorance, you sure are ignorant to the Volt. We've known about the 4-seater thing since last year at least.

You wanna dredge up the press release where this was announced?
I've been watching the Volt progress pretty darn closely. I'm subscribed to 3 different Volt web sites plus watch the stuff posted on the various Prius sites and I'm a member of a GM sponsored research site where various customer preference questions clearly geared toward the Volt come up on a regular basis and at none of those places did I see a single announcement clearly stating that the decision to go with the 4 seat arrangement over the 5 was announced until just this past month.

There may have been a comment somewhere that I missed, but to snidely say that 'we've known' for a year is disengenuous as there have been no clear specs released or stated for a while. That said I knew the battery design would, likely, be an impediment to a 5 seat configuration, but was hopeful they'd find a way to do it anyway.

And, whether 'we all knew' or not doesn't change the fact that it's an engineering compromise that will have a negative impact on sales.

[Chrome]

Originally Posted by efusco

You wanna dredge up the press release where this was announced?
I've been watching the Volt progress pretty darn closely. I'm subscribed to 3 different Volt web sites plus watch the stuff posted on the various Prius sites and I'm a member of a GM sponsored research site where various customer preference questions clearly geared toward the Volt come up on a regular basis and at none of those places did I see a single announcement clearly stating that the decision to go with the 4 seat arrangement over the 5 was announced until just this past month.

There may have been a comment somewhere that I missed, but to snidely say that 'we've known' for a year is disengenuous as there have been no clear specs released or stated for a while. That said I knew the battery design would, likely, be an impediment to a 5 seat configuration, but was hopeful they'd find a way to do it anyway.

And, whether 'we all knew' or not doesn't change the fact that it's an engineering compromise that will have a negative impact on sales.

Press release? Was the original poster's information also from a Press Release? What year are you living in? Here in the age of the internets, information is released a bit more casually sometimes.

And you spelled disingenuous wrong.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by Chrome

Press release? Was the original poster's information also from a Press Release? What year are you living in? Here in the age of the internets, information is released a bit more casually sometimes.

And you spelled disingenuous wrong.

I'll take such snide unresponsive comments as an admission that absolutely can not produce any evidence that there was anything officially stating that the Volt would have only 4 seats a year ago. If you can, do it.

[john1701a]

Just ask a question about the heater.

What's more efficient... cranking out heat using only electricity or taking advantage of waste heat from a running engine?

The story about Volt continues to change as details get addressed. The ideal fades as each step forward is taken. And based on what they originally promoted, enthusiasts are becoming disenchanted along the way.

.

[usbseawolf2000]

Originally Posted by john1701a

Just ask a question about the heater.

I have been asking that question since Volt concept was announced. After more than a year, they came back with the answer "range will be reduced". Duh!

The concept just doesn't make sense. In order keep the ICE stay off, they will have to increase the expensive battery size and that will cost extra a couple of thousand dollar just to keep the cabin warm (and keep the same range). Yea, keep the ICE turned off and carry that dead weight.

The reason they have to keep the ICE off is to call it as an electric car with a range extender. If ICE helps out during acceleration or heating, it will become a series hybrid. Whatever.... During the extended range mode, Volt will be a series hybrid anyway since both engines will be in use.

[M. Oiseau]

Originally Posted by john1701a

Just ask a question about the heater.

Provide four pairs of battery powered hunting socks and eight pocket warmers with each vehicle as a special cabin warming package.