Electric Car a Farce?

First, you could make water sound like a terrible thing if you write about it using certain techniques. It is more in the writing than the subject. The Volt is not a pure electric car. It is not even a pure series hybrid. After about 70mph the engine is powering the wheels and by-passing the electric motor so it is kind of a "hybrid-series hybrid" or a "sometimes parallel hybrid." GM seems to have made a number of false statements about the Volt.1 If lying were a death sentence there may not be too many people, including writers, around these days.

Having 2 drive-trains naturally makes it more expensive than the pure electric Nissan Leaf by around $8000. It is not clear from your quote that the government tax credit comes off the 41,000 price and not the other way around. Is being misleading a lie?

But I would agree that many large operations would not stand on their own without government subsidies. Oil as an energy source for example: see "Might as well leave the oil in the ground!" http://planet.betterplace.com/forum/topics/electri... There are times when the government takes "your hard earned money" to save some from crying when they would lose even more later as society falls apart. There is sometimes a social benefit in subsidies even though we perhaps have too much and too many now.

There is a saying that "figures lie and liars figure." In truth there are several different numbers on the Volt mileage. Here are test drive results showing mileage around 90 mpg for the non-electric portion of the trips: http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/2010/... This is from the same people who previously helped to point out how GM lied. It seems that the "mileage will vary" subsantially depending upon the driving conditions and who is doing the testing.

At this point, it seems that every auto manufacturer is building or working on some form of electric car. Some don't like to see that happening, but it may be like trying to stop Spring and Summer from coming and it may ultimately be in our best interests. It will be interesting to see who will buy the Volt, how many will be sold, and if GM will crush them after 3 years.

I got to test drive a Volt. I'm not sure if it qualifies as a hybrid - it's more of an electric car with an onboard gasoline-powered generator. The gasoline engine never turns the wheels; it only recharges the battery.

Their claim is that the fully-charged 16 kWh Li-ion battery will take it 40 miles, then the battery is depleted to the point where the gas generator comes on. I suspect this is under ideal conditions, so I wouldn't be surprised if the real range on pure electricity is more like 15 or 20 miles.

It looks like it gets about 3 miles per kWh - put another way, 30 miles to the dollar. If gasoline is $3 a gallon, and a car gets 30 MPG, then this car saves $2 every 30 miles, as long as it's running pure electric. That's like 6 cents per mile. If a person drives 10,000 miles a year, that's $600 savings in gas over a year.

The car will be hard to justify on cost grounds alone. But then again, the first Prius was hard to justify, too, yet the line has taken off. I'm not ready to spend on an electric car yet, but then again, I'm not much of a driver. Our family has 2 cars, but as I bike to work, the 2nd vehicle gets driven less than 2000 miles a year.

Oh boy, where do I start.

The idea with the Volt, is that the gas is just for back up.

If you divide total miles driven in a typical driving cycle, by total gas used, then add the amount of gas it would have taken to supply the amount of energy in electricity you used, you get an equivalent MPG, and it's in between the 230 and the 30s to 40s numbers. The 230 is figuring gas use alone.

BTW, high 30s in the city AND highway, is still pretty good. That's figuring for the rare occasions when you go on long trips with no plugging in. It's the absolute worst, worst, worst cast scenario.

So you're comparing the worst cast scenario volt cycle, with the best case scenario cheap little 4 banger shtt box. How's that fair?

That brings up the next point: The Volt is actually a pretty damn good car. so smooth, quiet, powerful, comfortable.

Why don't you look into it for yourself, develop an original idea of your own, instead of parroting what the conservative media tells you?

Don't really agree with the hybrid concept! For now I drive a 100% electric conversion for grocery & around town errands. For the long-hauls (cross-country) I drive a 1971 Dodge Dart slant-six that averages 32-36mpg ;)

(an average 86% of every tank of gas is wasted within 5 mile commutes)

Everybody knows GM can't build a proper car!

As of now few green energy ideas can pay for itself over time.

My 2000 Escort gets better gas mileage. And on top you have to spend $3000.00

to adapt house power to recharge that Volt . rip off.

ANOTHER OBAMINATION. Here we are again when the rubber meets the road, and

all the Rhetoric is gone. The Obama administration 61% owner of GM. Along with

Stewardship of GM going to the UAW. We have a piece of JUNK being offered By

Buckwheats new car lot, that has the lowest preformance standards of any car like

it. O my , How is that not a Surprise. OBAMA LIED AGAIN.

Face it. If it has a "green" label it's a lie.

Didn't we learn anything from the global warming/climate change/global climate disruption scam?