Journalist experiences Volt's electric-to-hybrid transition, says it needs improvement

[cwerdna]

From Journo experiences Volt's electric-to-hybrid transition, says it needs improvement — Autoblog Green, a NY Times reporter recently got to drive a Volt in charge sustaining mode.

See The New York Times > Log In.

[bighouse]

I'm so weary of hearing about the Volt- why is it taking GM SOOOOOOO long to come out with this vehicle? Sometimes I feel like it's just hoopla and the production car will never see the light of day.

[ljbad4life]

I guess my previous assertion was right. As I stated before, The big slow down in the volt timetable is probably the ICE. The ICE will be the roughest part of the Volt. Can you imagine how the ICE will sound to someone that has stayed within its 40 mile EV range for months and decides to take a long trip? It will probably terrify them and having an ICE sit for that long will probably run very rough.

I hope GM get's the kinks worked out... This does make me wonder about the Karma Fisher that is supposed to launch in 2010....

[john1701a]

GM is stuck on how to promote Volt. It's a design that depends heavily upon a significant drop in battery cost, leaving them with nothing competitive to sell in large volume in the meantime (many years). They also have a post-bankruptcy image to be concerned about.

They'd like to focus on the EV abilities, having you think of the engine as a emergency device rather than something used sparingly from time to time. That forms a mindset of being more advanced than the competition, even though the efficiency difference between that and a motor powered PSD with the engine stopped has yet to actually be quantified.

CS (Charge-Sustaining) mode has become a PR problem. Knowing how efficient the engine is while generating electricity to propel the vehicle remains a big mystery, despite so many asking about it. The fact that its operation still needs refining at the validation-build stage makes it even more of a touchy subject.

With an entire year to go before the select-market Volt rollout begins and Toyota advancing with their plug-in rollout, it is anyone's guess how this plays out. People want something to actually purchase, not just observational reviews.
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[DeadPhish]

With Toyota rolling out the PHEV Prius on a limited basis in the near future, there will have a good year of real driving by a variety of users in its research databanks before the Volt gets ready to debut.

[ljbad4life]

Originally Posted by DeadPhish

With Toyota rolling out the PHEV Prius on a limited basis in the near future, there will have a good year of real driving by a variety of users in its research databanks before the Volt gets ready to debut.

GM does have the volt mules out there now. If GM is actually having the mules run in charge sustaining mode as well as ev mode, then gm will be on equal footing with toyota in regards to data collected.

I am not particularly impressed with toyota's PHEV program. 5 miles on EV... seriously, which I do remember reading that it was supposed to be 12 miles, is a joke. The price of the toyota's PHEV will be less, but the same argument could be made with the prius vs a non hybrid that is cheaper... so that argument is moot.

*edit* as john1701a stated it's anyones game for the next round. Toyota could be taking the slow approach and not get the expectations up for their PHEV and suddenly announce something that could blow the volt away. I also have a fear that GM may pull a "GM" and offer a substandard quality car that does not perform up to the expectations set by GM. I really and truly feel like that 230 mpg campaign will come back to haunt them.

[patsparks]

Originally Posted by ljbad4life

GM does have the volt mules out there now. If GM is actually having the mules run in charge sustaining mode as well as ev mode, then gm will be on equal footing with toyota in regards to data collected.

I am not particularly impressed with toyota's PHEV program. 5 miles on EV... seriously, which I do remember reading that it was supposed to be 12 miles, is a joke. The price of the toyota's PHEV will be less, but the same argument could be made with the prius vs a non hybrid that is cheaper... so that argument is moot.

*edit* as john1701a stated it's anyones game for the next round. Toyota could be taking the slow approach and not get the expectations up for their PHEV and suddenly announce something that could blow the volt away. I also have a fear that GM may pull a "GM" and offer a substandard quality car that does not perform up to the expectations set by GM. I really and truly feel like that 230 mpg campaign will come back to haunt them.

That 5 mile EV range will get me to the shops and back or to the top of my 2 kilometre descent onto the Adelaide Plain from my house. But when I can buy an Enginer conversion with 40 miles semi EV range for under $3000 why get a new plug in Prius or a Volt?

[john1701a]

Originally Posted by ljbad4life

I am not particularly impressed with toyota's PHEV program. 5 miles on EV... seriously, which I do remember reading that it was supposed to be 12 miles, is a joke.

Do you know where the "5 mile" claim came from?

20 km has been the target, but even then the aspect of range was based upon the lack of any other capacity measure. Consumers don't understand kWh.

Plugging in a Prius provides a significant efficiency BOOST. The upgrade is best depicted in terms of MPG improvement, not range. The joke twist comes from greenwashing, attempts to make the technology look inferior rather than acknowledging the cost & volume business opportunity.
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[hill]

The GM marketing / noisy transition quandary is in part due to status quo / same ol same ol / good ol' boys that are still running GM (into the ground). They were finally getting rid of Lutz ... then they rehire him:

G.M. Brings Back ‘Mr. Horsepower’ - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com

GM is stuck with these leadership knobs that think the public wants a car that'll out handle anything ... burn rubber pulling a 5th wheel trailer ... and yet be emission free. There's a reason dinosaurs go away ... but not at GM. The volt may work someday in spite of Lutz and his fellow knuckleheads, but it'll take a miracle.

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[ljbad4life]

Originally Posted by john1701a

Do you know where the "5 mile" claim came from?

20 km has been the target, but even then the aspect of range was based upon the lack of any other capacity measure. Consumers don't understand kWh.

Plugging in a Prius provides a significant efficiency BOOST. The upgrade is best depicted in terms of MPG improvement, not range. The joke twist comes from greenwashing, attempts to make the technology look inferior rather than acknowledging the cost & volume business opportunity.
.

The 5 mile range I read about was on autobloggreen, which I remember reading on that site previously that toyota is shooting for 12 miles with the test fleet they had in japan.

I understand that the efficiency gains of the phev prius, but lets be real, for the money the volt is providing an ev with range extender while toyota's PHEV prius is a Hybrid with mild ev range. If a person wanted to "never" visit a gas station again, I would see that being more feisible with the Volt than with Prius. I truly believe in a gas-less future and the Volt fits that need for more people than the phev prius. There are plenty of people that do have short commutes, but there seem to be more people with longer commutes (here in the USA).