http://media.gm.com/content/media/us...4_volt_battery

Awesome!

 

For Pete's sake... I wish they'd stop trying to market this thing as an electric vehicle.

 

But it has batteries!!!

 

From what I've heard batteries pretty much never fail on EVs unless there's a significant design or manufacturing defect. Last I heard Toyota claimed they'd never had a Prius driver replace their battery due to normal wear and tear... all replacements were either due to accidents or defects. But basically those batteries are meant to last the life of the vehicle.

I think that's something a lot of people still don't understand... they think battery replacement is going to be something like getting their timing belt changed or something... except way more expensive.

 

This seems cool too:
http://www.dailytech.com/GE+Announce...ticle19028.htm

The WattStation cuts charging time on a 24 kWh battery for an electric vehicle from 12-18 hours to approximately four to eight hours. In addition, the smart grid technology will aid utility companies in managing the effect of electric vehicles on both regional and local grids, which will ultimately allow them to gauge electricity demand and provide access to more charging stations.

I imagine we'll get these installed at work.

 

Given most people's experience with batteries, it's a natural concern. The lead-acid battery in normal cars barely lasts 4-5 years. The Ni-Cads in cordless drills crap out in less than three. Even lithium batteries in a laptop don't seem to make it three years. So why would they expect the batteries in their electric car, which seem to have a much tougher job propelling a 3000+ pound vehicle, to fare any better? Of course, people don't understand the extremely sophisticated charge/discharge algorithms that go into designing an electric car, so all they can go on is their experience with other rechargeable batteries, and that's largely not a favourable experience.

 

Why shouldn't they? It has an electric motor driving the wheels and doesn't need gasoline for driving around town.

 

Awesome.

I'd been behind on my Volt news -- just did some reading to catch up. I'm really glad to hear that they're doing so much of the manufacturing and assembly in Detroit, Flint, and surrounding areas. Both cities will really benefit economically from increased factory activity.

Is your joke detector broken?

 

it must be cause I don't get the joke! Can you explain it to me so I can stop feeling like the dummy in the room? Did they repeat it over and over again in the article I didn't read? (damn, i'm the dope that didn't read the article before posting, aren't I? Nuts)

 

When the batteries run out of juice, the gasoline engine/generator provides power to the electric motors. It does not recharge the batteries. Therefore the motors only act as inverters and are powered by either electrical stored energy or gasoline generated energy.

Its therefore not a true EV.

 

okay so what you said wasn't intended as a joke then. However, what you just said doesn't make sense to me. The electric motors are always powering the wheels. If it isn't the battery, then it's the gasoline-powered ELECTRIC generator supplying the juice to the electric motor. I'm not saying it's the pinnacle of what an electric vehicle can be, but it is an electric vehicle.

 

I think it's an electric vehicle without question. It's simply not a battery-only electric vehicle.

 

Battery powered electric vehicles are nothing new. Heck back in the early 1900s there were actually more electric cars than gasoline powered cars. However even those were battery powered.

I personally don't care about the semantics of its an electric car because an electric motor turns the wheels, regardless of how the energy is developed. That's just buying into the bs the marketing boys at GM are selling us. Its not a "true" electric car because its not battery powered 100% of the time. That's the bottom line.

 

So if they removed the gas powered generator, would it then be a "true" electric car? Or does it need to go 150 miles on the battery to be a "true" electric car? Maybe 400 miles is the arbitrary cutoff point... it sounds like your argument is very much about semantics.

 

GM is planning a battery only version of the Volt too. http://www.goodcleantech.com/2010/01...econd_elec.php

All the Ford Escape NYC Taxis are still running on their original batteries (300,000mi+). That is one of the best torture test you can put them through.

http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/...000-plus-miles