I come across something that said the Volt right now weights 3900lbs plus. Since this is a Delta based car I am assuming the weight comes from the battery pack and dual motors.

This got me thinking. In general, a future with anything powered by batteries seems to be heavier. Assuming pretty much every architecture going forward will be designed to accept some kind of Hybrid system that will get insane milage numbers for CAFE..what motivation do you have to really shed weight? Right now the main motivation to shed weight is increased gas milage. However right now weight reduction cannot be done without exotic materials, less content and performance, or added cost. If you move to a Volt style powertrain, that only rarely uses gas, then this becomes much less an issue. As the Volt style powertrain comes down in price, it will also sell in enough numbers to almost subsidize the other gas only cars on the architecture. Now sure the Volt could get a little bit better milage and be even cheaper to operate if it were 500lbs lighter..but electric is cheap (assuming you travel less than 40 miles a day) and it would not be worth the added cost.

I know this one has a few people on here wanting to throw their keyboards

 

As battery tech improves the extra 500lbs or so prbly added by the battery can be reduced.

 

It still costs more energy to move more weight - even if that energy is in the form of electricity. This is especially true when you have to accelerate dead weight from a stop - where the electric motor really shines. Thus, a ligher Hybrid will get better gas mileage, and more range from the battery, because it uses less energy to accelerate (or simply move) less mass (as opposed to accelerating more mass).

Doesn't mean that car weight will come down anytime soon....but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

In the year two thousand...

In general cars are getting heavier due to improved safety features anyway. Batteries will get smaller by the time EVs make a major dent in the industry as lithium ion and gel pack battery capacity and performance improve and their size decreases. However in general cars will continue to get heavier until the cost of lighter exotic materials used for chassis/body parts comes down and can be used on mainstream bread and butter appliance vehicles.

I still beleive EVs/Hybrids are not a one stop solution. Biofuels, fuel cells, etc will also be in place at some point in our future.

 

People don't want smaller cars, which is the easiest way to get weight down. Materials, etc. are important, but like you said the fuel source will also need to be "fixed". The good thing about car designs like the volt, it's easy enough to "swap out" the power source for something else, like bio-fuel or fuel cells.

 

Good points all around.

1. People don't want small cars, and they don't give a hoot about weight as long as the thing gives good fuel economy.

2. cars may be getting heavier due to safety features, but far more weight is being added due to both NVH improvements and the always forgotten "bells and whistles" that were once dreams which are now standard equptment. In most vehicles, it you piled on a scale all the power motors for windows, seats, tailgates/trunks, etc, they would all weigh nearly 100 pounds all on their own.

Although to the thinking person, they realize that it still takes energy to move a heavy vehicle, you post a sticker on a 3900 pound Fusion Hybrid that says 40mpg or one on a 3900 pound Volt that says 200+ mpg, and any other number (especially weight) simply disappears.

You could paint the weight on the hood in big red letters and people would look at it and say "Wow!..... I know I'll be safe in this... and it gets great mileage too!"

Personally, although my favorite car is the featherweight Fox Mustang (my '85 LX weighed barely 3200 pounds), I've also later saw how flimsy those things were. After I saw one cut apart and and actually could bend parts of the metal (especially the floorpan) with my bare hands (rather, fingers), even though I still admire them, I've never wanted one for myself again. I don't feel safe in them anymore (the 4th gen F-bodies by comparison are a frigging tank!).


So I'm not as concerned about weight as some here. I used to spend phenominal amounts of time traveling, and on road trips. I see how sorry people's driving is. As long as I'm out there with those a-holes (let alone having family in the car with me) I'm not exactly open to the idea of a vehicle that could be punted like a football if hit by a speeding minivan piloted by a mom yacking in her cell phone with 3 noisy kids in the back, or an SUV driven by someone putting on makeup, eating, or looking for another CD to put in while they're driving 85 mph.

But that's just me.

 

I agree. With my husband being a truck driver, I get running commentaries, over the phone, of how bad these drivers are. The number who almost die, by being stupid around an 80K pound truck.............. and are only still alive, due to the due dilligence of my husband, is really eye opening.

My daily driver IS NOT my fun-to-drive, great handling, take day trips to Hannigans Meadow for lunch, car. It is my SD. When I get my SHO, that will make an interesting compromise, however.

 

ha.

I'm just waiting till 2015 so I can retrofit my Formula with a Mr Fusion

 

Remember the volt basically has two drivetrains...one gas, one electric. Hard to save weight when you are doing that. I imagine pure EV's will be lighter.

 

Still not convinced weight is an issue to anyone but hardcore enthusiasts that have an issue with particular numbers.

Is a Volt buyer going to know what the weight of their car is or the EPA fuel mileage figure?

Does a Camaro buyer more intrested in the weight of the car or the looks and performance?

Does a BMW buyer know that their 7 series nearly 400 pounds heavier than a same size Chrysler 300 SRT8 or that their Cobalt sized 3 series weighs more than that Mustang GT in the next lane, or that they are driving a car with a reputation of being a "driver's machine".

Do Viper owners care that their car is 3400 pounds?

On the flip side, does the Z08 owner know or even care that his car is within a couple of hundred pounds of a 4 cylinder Solstice GXP?

What people care about is fuel economy numbers, horsepower numbers, how it drives, how it feels, is it a value, does it meet their needs or wants, and can they get a good deal.

Weight isn't even on the radar screen.


The only people who care about weight are the very ones that are often blasted for making vehicles too heavy. Automotive engineers.

These are the guys who have to meet the demands of new regulations. But the bigger challenger by far is the demands of the buyer. Those who want a granite-like structure that's as quiet as a sealed bank vault, with just about every electronic and electrical gizmo ever thought of by man and some that haven't, and lots of power.... and they want size too.

Meanwhile, these engineers have to find ways to get good fuel economy and keep these behemoths handling well. Not just for enthusiasts and opinion making car magazine writers, but as lawsuit protection as well.

 

Exactly. And actually, I wonder how many weight saving techiques and materials designed for EV's, will make their way into mainstream cars.

 

We saw during the tour of pre-production build of the Volt that it has metal and not plastic body panels. An odd choice for a vehicle with the objective of maximizing fuel economy.

 

My point is..weight in an EV is probally not as important. I mean if a Volt was 500lbs lighter, who really cares..electric is cheap and most people don't drive more than 40 miles a day.

 

Forget hardcore enthusiasts. Talk to anyone who lives in the snowbelt and they will tell you low weight is good for stopping in slippery conditions. I outfit both my audi and mazda with snow tires. Mazda weights just under 3000 lbs, and the A6 weighs about 4025 lbs. Their stopping distance on ice or snow is very, very different.

It's not about putting brembos and large rotors, it's simply have to stop a large mass.

Whereas compensating for weight with horsepower and larger brakes may work on dry/rainy surface, it does crap in the winter.

 

yup, that average person doesn't care about weight. Safety, fuel economy and performance are what matter to them. If a 3900lbs. car meets their expectations in those 3 categories and looks good going it then they are happy.