Featured Dashboard Summary Sept 2017

I take no joy in this: GM to Idle Volt Production

As of Oct. 1, Chevrolet has roughly 6,000 Volts in inventory, a 107 day supply. That’s an increase of 10 days from one month ago.
. . .
It is worth noting that the Volt’s irritatingly-phonetically similar cousin, the Bolt, has been getting the lion’s share of GM’s EV marketing dollars since its introduction. With focus on the 200-plus-mile range of the Bolt EV, the Volt hybrid has all but disappeared from automotive news coverage. Its relative obscurity can’t be helping sales.​

The data supports the Bolt is taking Volt sales.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm not sure the Volt is the best representation of a plug-in hybrid. Since we own two that bracket Volt performance, I can show what works and doesn't. For good measure, I'll include the Bolt:

	metric	BMW i3-REx	Volt	Prius Prime	Bolt
1	kWh/100 mi	29 kWh	31 kWh	25 kWh	28 kWh
2	EV range	72	53	25	238
3	charges/100 mi	1.39	1.89	4.00	0.42
4	charges/500 mi	6.95	9.45	20.0	2.1
5	CCS	yes	no	no	yes
6
7	gal/100 mi	2.6 (P)	2.4 (R)	1.9 (R)	0
8	gas range	78	377	615	0
9	refuel/100 mi	1.28	0.26	0.16	n/a
10	refuel/500 mi	6.4	1.3	0.8	n/a

• Urban driving
  1. Bolt - longest charge range and CCS
  2. BMW i3-REx - long charge range and CCS
  3. Volt - shorter charge range, no CCS
  4. Prius Prime - shortest charge range, no CCS
• Vacation driving, 500 miles (~7 hr @70 mph)
  1. Prius Prime - longest range, 1 tank, 10 min.
  2. Volt - long range, +2 tanks, 20 min.
  3. BMW i3-REx - shorter range, +6 tanks, 60 min.
  4. Bolt - +2 recharge sessions, 2 * (30 * 3) = 180 min.

Bolt recharging source: Fast-charging a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car

We would have required a second 30-minute session, probably even a third, to get the battery back to more than 200 miles for any kind of road trip.​

Unfortunately, I read something else and though GM was cited, it is shared by every manufacturer who sells a fast DC charging equipped car:

General Motors, however, has said flatly that it has no intention of putting any money toward national DC fast charging infrastructure.​

So the way I see it, the choices are:

• Single car - BMW i3-REx, Volt, Prius Prime
• Two cars, one gasser/diesel - Bolt

Bob Wilson

 

True but it also mirrors discussions in the BMW i3 forums when someone posts, "Which car should I get, BEV or REx?"

• Pro-BEV - longer EV range; better acceleration; simpler drive train; lower cost.
• Pro-REX - longest total range; higher resale prices; no second or rental car.

I've also seen "no true Scotts man" snark about going to the pure electric, end game while ignoring the reality of long distance or vacation travel.

Bob Wilson

 

And I am OK with this to the point of showing our family is in the split camp:

• 3-to-1 EV - BMW i3-REx for EV with a cross country capability
• 1-to-3 EV - Prius Prime for cross country with EV capability

Each car backs up the other and both have dynamic cruise control and collision avoidance, a hard requirement. It means we can safely go liability on both the BMW i3-REx and Prius Prime as each backs up the driving requirements of other.

If it weren't for the VW diesel penalty, there would be no significant CCS charging network growth. GM has already said 'hell no, not us.' Hummm, perhaps future EPA fines (if there are going to be any) might be paid for with public charging stations?

Bob Wilson

ps. Minor changes to signature after BMW i3-REx reached 27k ODO.