Now that the Chevy Volt is a hybrid and not an all electric car...?
Was it worth it to invest taxpayer dollars in just another hybrid?
And if a railroad engine uses diesel to generate electricity to turn the wheels, most people call it a diesel engine. Since the Volt uses gasoline to generate electricity to turn the wheels, will it be called a gas car or will people call it a gas-electric car?
2012-04-03T13:46:03Z
Jay, I know how a Prius works, here is what the Volt web page says about the Volt, "And there's also an onboard gas generator that produces electricity so you can go up to a total of 375 miles on a full tank of gas"
Here's the source:
http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/
Seems inefficient and no mention of regenerative braking like on the Prius and at least one or two other hybrids
Anonymous2012-04-03T13:38:15Z
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"Was it worth it to invest taxpayer dollars in just another hybrid?"
No.
Now we have a car with a battery that IS a fire hazard with gasoline on board as well.
I would not buy one, ride in one or allow my loved ones do so.
It doesn`t matter what we call the "VOLT" ; it is simply just another Obama / UAW Government Motors` "Green" Failure !!!! March 2012 .. General Motors plans suspension of Chevy Volt production as sales sputter , all at US Taxpayer expense subsidies ??
The 2011 Chevrolet Volt hasn't sold as well as General Motors had hoped. Later this month, General Motors will temporarily stop production on its plug-in electric hybrid, the Chevy Volt. Sales of the vehicle have been below expectations and rather than start discounting the vehicle, General Motors will try to sell through inventory before restoring production.
General Motors is unplugging the production line for it's electric Chevy Volt.
The factory in Detroit where the cars are manufactured will undergo a five-week shutdown as the vehicles sell more slowly than had been anticipated. According to Bloomberg, GM will stop making Volts from March 19 through April 23.
In February, just 1,023 Volts were sold, far short of the number to meet the 45,000 sales planned for the year. With production running full-out, GM had to choose between turning off the assembly line or offering deep discounts to keep the inventory moving, or halting production while vehicles sell through.
Tim Higgins, automotive correspondent for Bloomberg News, said the Volt has had a lot of issues that have led to its low sales figures, including bad publicity stemming from a government investigation of the vehicle's safety surrounding flammability. Though the Volt got a ""clean bill of health from the government,"" there were a number of headlines questioning the vehicle's safety.
But even beyond the bad publicity, the Volt is, very simply, very expensive. It sells for about $40,000 a year, though a tax break does push it down into the mid-$30,000 range.
"Some people have a hard time making the case for buying it," Higgins said.
Automakers are also making fuel-efficient traditional gasoline engines, which provide competition to these electric cars, Higgins said. For example, customers can get the similarly sized Chevy Cruze for much less than that, about $17,000. Sales were up 10 percent last month for the Cruze.
Higgins said GM may have to confront the reality that their expectations for sales, even without the negative publicity, are just too high.
In general, gas is NOT used to generate electricity. What happens is that the electric motor is powered by battery. The battery is charged by things like regenerative braking.
In other words, the battery is charged by places where there efficiency LOSS. But, no, this is NOT a gas generator where gas is converted into electric power.
A hybrid is really that: it has a gas engine (powered by gas) and an electric motor (powered by battery which is charged by things other than a gas->electric generator).
This says nothing of you question about whether it was worth it. But you shouldn't go around making incorrect statements caused by your ignorance of how hybrid cars really work.