Chevy-Dealing Congressman: “There Is No Market†For The Volt

Sounds like your daughter needs to be a poster on PriusChat!

At least get some pics!

Bales of hay - I was referring to a 2006-ish story that was for un-bashing the Prius, due to a comment from a "governor" that the Prius was a useless car in his state, you can't move hay with it.

 

A little OT but anyone willing to live with the limitations of a Volt needs to look at Honda's new CBR 250. Single cylinder and fuel injected for enough umph on the highway and according to the mileage thread on CBR250.net if you ride one of these like you drive your Prius you're more likely to get mileage in the low 90's then the stated 75mpg US. $4000 msrp. And with a minimum 200 mile range (can be up to 300) I'd take "fair weather only" over the Volt's limitations - especially at less than 10% of the price. As for eco-friendly - think of the materials - and the fact that the electricity for the Volt has to be generated somehow, then transported with the unavoidable line loss.

 

I see Volts once in a while on the Bay Area roads, but I see Leafs more often.

 

i've tried, but she refuses to join any place that would accept me as a member.

 

Cool dealers can make all kinds of money selling volts back and forth collecting fed. and state rebates. I said long ago this volt was dead from the start ,internally and politically. Sad, just such a waste, Government motors is just incredible.

 

I really don't get some posters. EVERY car/vehicle has some type of limitation.
You could just as easily say 'anyone willing to live withe the limitations of a Prius...' or 'limitations of a F 150' etc etc.

No car can do everything. But each person should be able to find a car that does everything they need it to do.

I don't need to haul 2 tons, so I don't own a pickup :cheer2:
I don't need to drive 180mph so I don't own a Farari.
And because of our family's driving patterns we can avoid burning more gasoline by driving a Volt than a Prius. Others have driving patterns such that they would save more gasoline by driving a Prius rather than a Volt.
I would hope those would buy the Prius.

Most people will buy the car that best fits their needs, not try to force their lifestyle to fit the vehicle they buy.

 

I also don't get some posters. They think a hybrid should use one engine (instead of two) for full acceleration. They force that idea to others by claiming that it is better.

 

Exactly, one car can't possibly be 'best' for everyone.
One of the reasons I love what Toyota is doing by expanding into a whole family of Prii. Much larger market for their awesome hybrid family.

 

may not make sense but it did its job by making cents. it got you talking about it and that is all commercials are supposed to do. raise brand awareness. put that subliminal suggestion into your head.

commercials are not supposed to sell you something, at least not to anyone over the age of 15. i mean how brainwashed can you get in 30 seconds? most people zone out on them anyway and that is what advertisers want. zoning out gives them quicker and deeper access to the subconscious. its filter-less entry into the file cabinet of the brain.

 

Two look pretty darn impressive based on what I've seen...

That's what I captured while holding the photo button on my video camera. The consecutive series documents 6 minutes of driving and plug-provided electricity is being drawn from the Prius PHV lithium battery pack. The RPM value indicates the gas engine activity; notice the MPG efficiency even at 70 mph.

 

The power of blending. PHV pack boosted gas efficiency to around 230 MPG. The question is, what's the rate the PHV pack was drained at? I bet it is much lower than the Volt (36kWh/100mi) or the Leaf (34kWh/100mi).

John, in 6 mins I would say the average speed is 66 mph. It would cover 6.6 miles in the video/slide show. How many percent of the PHV battery drained? Did you record the SOC difference before and after?

Most of the time, ICE was spinning under 1,000 rpm. Was it burning gas? i.e: Does MID show power arrow from the ICE?

 

I try to avoid mpg figures in the 200's instantaneous. It implies inefficient ICE use.

 

when the dealers start dumping the volts for $20k, I'm going to grab one.

This car will be a future collectible. Shunned by the public initially as too radical and too expensive, it will die. 10-20 years from now they will have a cult following.

 

spot on. ^ you'll need to be a pretty good tech to keep it running tho. gm won't have anyone qualified, even if they're still around.

 

Unfortunately, I was shooting from the hip... literally!

It was a chance opportunity with too much to absorb all once. Remember, I was enjoying myself at the same time. It was a pleasure getting to drive the PHV when & where I wanted. So, I just jumped onto the usual route armed with a camera.

When I get my own in the spring, there will be lots of detail to share. My 16.6 mile commute to work (video here, in my 2010) the day before on that same highway at pretty much the same speed resulted in 166 MPG showing on the display... if that helps.
.

 

That would mean you used 0.1 gallon of gas. If you depleted the PHV battery, that's another 0.107 gallon equivalent (3.6kWh/33.7kWh).

16.6 miles / 0.207 gallon equivalent = 80.2 MPGe

That's slightly lower than the official 87 MPGe, probably because you drove mostly highway. The city traffic pattern used in the EPA test would boost that MPGe up, due to lower speed and slower acceleration. That 80.2 MPGe (blended with gas) for a highway driving is very impressive.

My big assumption I used in the calculation is that you deplete the PHV battery (when you arrived to work) and used 3.6 kWh to charge it the night before.

Do you have a slower speed / urban city drive data that I can use in my calculation?

 

The 2012 Volt has an MSRP of $39995, Invoice of $39212 & AAA price of $38705 9.9 miles from 08077.

The Corvette started out sitting on dealer lots.

My family is from Portage, not as far west as Pittsburgh but probably not very different from the small towns out there.

 

He is Back!
The same Chevy-dealing congressman from Pennsylvania, now proposes a Bill to repeal the Plug-In Vehicle Tax Credit.

House Bill Proposes Repeal of Plug-In Vehicle Tax Credit; H.R. 3768!

House Bill Proposes Repeal of Plug-In Vehicle Tax Credit | Hybrid Cars

Rep. Mike Kelly on Neil Cavuto Discussing the Chevy Volt - YouTube

 

You know how I can tell he's a congressman? His mathematical arguments don't make sense. Last time I checked "4 weeks" was less than or equal to "30 to 40 days."