Volt chief engineer takes first drive in integration prototype [w/VIDEO]

There's a thread about Peak Oil Garage converting RAV4's in batches of 6 & selling them as new cars. Their site: 2009 RAV4 Limited Electric Vehicle Peak Oil Garage

 

Bravo for Peak Oil Garage. But the credit goes to P.O.G., not Toyota! There are people (lots of them, actually) converting old Chevy pick-up trucks to electric, but you would not say that GM is "making electric cars" on account of them.

 

I wouldn't peg GM as number 3. Don't forget Mitsubishi already has the iMiev pretty much in production and will be availble in many other countries. Nissan seems to be pretty close too with their EVs. Ford is even in the game has working protoypes of an ev focus. The only ones that seem to be left in the dust are GM, Chrysler and oddly Honda (unless you consider the FCV).

 

Since the Volt has an engine it is not an electric car but instead a series hybrid. I can't count the number of people that think the Volt is an electric car and laugh at the quoted range of 40 miles. I think GM's marketing people are creating a huge amount of misinformation that will be hard to overcome by call the Volt a "range extended electric vehicle".

 

There's a fuzzy line between plug-in series hybrid and range-extended EV. A true range-extended EV would have something like the promised 40 miles before the ICE kicks in. Of course, since the Volt does not exist and probably never will, everyone can make up their own specs and call it what they like.

I'd say the difference has more to do with how it's used than with absolute specs: A car that generally runs the ICE and uses the series hybrid arrangement to achieve better FE than a pure ICE car would have, but can be plugged in and run short distances without the ICE is, to my way of thinking, a series PHEV.

A range-extended EV would be, to my way of thinking, a car that is generally used as a pure EV, but that can run the ICE for those rare occasions when you need to go farther than the EV range.

For different people the line would fall at different numbers.

A car that can go 7 or 8 miles on pure EV and then gets 25 mpg when the ICE kicks in, would be, IMHO a useless piece of trash, and pretty much what I would expect from the company that dismantled public transportation in the U.S., crushed the EV-1, and pushes gas-guzzling SUVs with poor safety records with the promise that they are safer than proper cars. If they ever do market the Volt, I expect it will be over-priced, will go only short distances on EV, and will get lousy FE. GM's management cares about obscene personal compensation, and let the customers and the stockholders be damned. Expecting them to build a quality EV is like expecting beavers to migrate to the north pole and fish for marlin.

 

Nice looking LITTLE car.

 

gm shouldn't have a number at all, they have ZERO EV cars on the road right now...

has anyone see the Miles mods lately? the Miles is a 4 door all battery EV. there is a company in indiana...or illinois...or in that region lets say that is modifying the Miles to drive up to 60 mph and maintain a 60 mile range. now, i have not test driven a Miles in a few years, so i can only hope that driving one at 60 mph will not scare the living daylights out of me, but fact is,

gm has nothing on the road... there are dozens of small car companies that do. now, i will say what i have been saying all along...

the sooner GM fails the sooner we can start paying attention to the companies that deserve it. unfortunately, i can only dream about what these small EV companies could have done with just half of the money the government gave gm, mostly because the proposal is let a handful of companies split about 1/100th of the money gm was given...

 

GM still has some S-10 EV's on the road. Unlike the EV-1, they sold some of the S-10's directly to customers so they couldn't take them back. Chevrolet S-10 EV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I occasionally see one come up on Ebay.

Are you talking about this Miles? Miles Electric Vehicles If so, they only make NEV's not highway capable vehicles. They claim they will have a highway capable EV for sale in 2010 but as with all EV claims, I'll believe it when I see one for sale in a showroom.

 

yep that the one and Miles is not producing the vehicle, the vehicle is being MODDED by someone else... now will the mod pass the test of time and reliability?? ... we shall see

 

That is scary. A NEV that doesn't meet crash standards modified to go 60 mph.

 

very true, but i have an NEV that does 38 mph...not scary at all. have coasted down hills at 45 mph...that is getting on the edge.

but having a car that "can go" 60 mph means that i can get a car that "will go" 40 mph up that hill i travel to work every day...the one i currently do at 26 mph (pretty much the lowest speed my Zenn will go no matter how steep the hill)

plus, i would love the opportunity to "burn em off " every once in a while

 

People are modding the Xebra to go 50 mph, but I had mine up to 50 going downhill once, and it was very scary. OTOH, a Corbin Sparrow will go freeway speed, and if you put lithium in it, you can get pretty fair range out of it. Safety? It's a motorcycle! Safety is not a word you use when talking about motorcycles.

 

Can't be any worse than being hit on a kawasaki at 60mph. And easier to keep upright in the rain.


.

 

When I ride my motorcycles I carry my protection on my person. Full-face helmet, armored riding suit, back protector, gloves, boots.

I would much rather crash my motorcycle at 60 than a non-compliant car.

 

ok, well good luck with that. I'd hate to see that happen to you. If I had a dollar for every youtube video showing dirt bike riders at MUCH lower speeds heading for the pearly gates, I'd be retired. btw ... what was the name of the trick rider we posted about not too long ago? ... attempting the flip? Fatal accident? can't remember.

 

Riding on the street is much different than attempting to do no-handed backflips 60 feet in the air. Dirt bikers are usually hurt when the miss landings on jumps. While the speeds may look slow, most are traveling in excess of 50 mph.

Yes riders do crash and die while riding on the street. However, proper gear greatly reduces the chance of injury. (I've personally crashed 6 times, twice on the street and 4 times on a track.)

 

my cousins son is a pro rider (also a cage fighter!!) he hits 75 mph on the straights!! so its easy to see why the accident rate is high, but most accidents are caused by SOMEONE ELSE hitting you which causes you to lose control

 

hey I just read on autobloggreen that Gm expects the Volt to the sportier alternative to the prius and the insight. That just doesn't fly IMHO. Maybe GM should have worried more about the EV range than the "sportiness" of it. By the time the volt is produced there will be plenty of sportier alternatives like Infiniti (their hybrid will be available in the M sedan next year)and Tesla Model S. If Gm were smart they would stop comparing it to the other hybrids and make a distinction that it is a ev first and it is range extended.

I honestly can't see that I-4 being that efficient once its going. The set up would give maybe a 20% rise in fuel economy vs the typical ICE config.

 

ound: "If GM were smart" ound:

 

LOL. Your confidence in GM is amazing.

I was sort of a Chevy guy myself... <3 the new Corvettes!

(Also love the look of the new Camaro, although to start making them again NOW when we are finally making good headway with greener vehicles seems really stupid...)

But anyway, I'm only 22, and now that GM is going through these financial troubles, who knows where my loyalties may lie in the future...

All I know is that I'm never buying ICE-only again!