RUMOR: Could GM offer a lower-cost, 20-mile range Chevy Volt

The article makes a lot of assumptions and most are false. I especially liked the part where they say it could be much more cost effective than the Prius. LMAO!

 

Minor problem - Volt gets 37 MPG after the pack runs out, ewwwwwwwww.

 

Exactly! Without a serious boost in ice efficiency this would make the Volt even more lame!

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call the current version lame. It appears to be a nicely built car and can be VERY efficient in reducing gasoline use in the right circumstances. The price is what is lame. If it was much less expensive then I think it would be just another cool alternative to the Prius. Since a lot of Volt owners seem to like them who are we to argue?

 

The $7500/car subsidy is lame.
The GAziillion dollar bailout was/is nauseating.

 

A 20 mile EV range Volt would be a lot cheaper, but it would also put the Volt in direct competition with the Prius PHV. That would be bad for GM. Really bad.

 

New Volt running on regular, or still premium?

 

So much fantasy. First, the Volt's range is only really ~35 anyway. So if you halve it you've basically got close to Prius PHEV range. And the Prius PHEV we already know is going to be cheaper than $30k and it absolutely manhandles the Volt for gasoline fuel economy (and utility with five seats). The last thing in the world the Volt needs is to try and go toe to toe with a short-range-EV Prius because then it becomes Apples to Apples and it is going to come out much worse, that is unless GM can come up with a much more efficient way to provide electricity when the batteries run out.

The opinions of fanboy early adopters should always be taken with a grain of salt and that includes not just Volt owners but early Prius adopters and others. These people pay top dollar for something and will by that nature have a hard time objectively apprising what they just spent half a mortgage purchasing.

In fact, unless the Volt can greatly increase its fuel economy, this is the exact wrong direction for the car. The car when running on gas is a hideous waste of money. Its saving grace is EV range. You lower that and you're basically hacking out at the knees the only thing that separates it from the pack. What's next after "20"? "10"? Then you basically turned it into a really inefficient four seater hybrid and it will get eaten alive by the Prius, Insight, Fusion, etc. Volt should be doing everything it can to increase EV range while keeping costs the same. Lowering it really seems a terrible path to take. Madness. Kick it down the hole.

 

I generally agree although I tend to trust Chelsea's judgment on the Volt.

 

Choices are always good. 20 miles means when it came out, it will really be 15 miles.

15 miles EV range can actually 67% of American one-way commute. If you can charge at work, why pay $10k more for a bigger battery?

Toyota has been saying smaller battery is better. This would be a validation that they were right.

 

yeah but Volt at 15mile EV range is not a good car compared to Prius PHEV.

You will be running in limp mode most of the time, in car that will be around 30% less efficient than Prius and considerably slower with less passenger and cargo space.

Also, isnt Prius PHEV test car more efficient even in EV range?

 

So if the actually come out with the lower ev mode will GM say the "Mini-Volt" is an EV with extended range ability or will they call it a PHV?

 

Maybe they will call it the Millivolt 500?

 

Yea, Prius PHV should have the advantage in cordless MPG, lower emission, interior room and cost. It is becoming clear that blending is a great thing for plugin hybrids.

If Volt 2 becomes more like Prius PHV, that would be the ultimate validation that Toyota had it right and EREV concept does not work well in reality.

 

Clever

 

It's a bit of a corner the Volt has backed itself into. Once EV range is gone the system has introduced an additional step. An ICE converts gas into movement in the Prius and other cars. In the Volt it converts gas into electricity, which is then converted into movement. Unless they can increase the battery capacity, thus reducing reliance on the inefficient generator approach they have OR they can come up with an alternate fuel source for generator (like fuel cell, which maybe we'll see by the time I die of old age in a cost-effective package), they've in a sense jumped the gun.

 

I don't get why you think getting better mpg than 95% of cars sold, is junk? It's like me saying the older prius gets 46 mpg EWWWWWW whats wrong with people that don't get over 50mpg they need to sell their car and get mine.

 

Keep in mind the classic 2001 Prius is rated 41 MPG combined (42 city / 41 highway). Even the assist hybrid (Insight II) with 15hp electric motor gets 40 city / 43 highway MPG.

In that perspective, Volt's 35 city / 40 highway is unacceptable for a hybrid standard.

 

Because it's by far the most expensive hybrid.