Looks like they are trying to control the logic of the charging system in the volt to only charge during off-peak times.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1216...googlenews_wsj

 

Thats good, but what if you need it charged right away so you can go somewhere?

 

That's what I was thinking...I presume there will be some button or something that will over-ride that logic.

 

It is going to take hours to charge. I am not sure how good a button push would work for this.

But, I can see the case of, oh, I forgot to plug it in last night, I have x hours before I need to leave.


It will be interesting to see what they do for this.

 

You can always leave the Volts clock at blinking 12:00am

 

I love that idea.

 

Well if you go for a 10 mile trip in the morning, and know that int he evening you have another trip that's 20-30 miles, you might want to charge to ensure you don't need to use gasoline

 

It also has a gasoline engine...

 

LMAO. Everyone forgets this part.

EDIT- It would actually be very simple for the charge controller to contain a chip that the power co. could address through the power lines, and send a signal to enable/disable charge as load permits. Demand management could be a good thing for keeping rates down, as well as maximizing current available capacity.

 

I gave another example where you might need it. Read the rest of the post.

 

Something I would do...

 

So, you are going to market your amazing PHEV as getting amazing mileage, and being able to do all of your running around one electric power only.............. and there will be this little asterick at the end of the advertisement.





Go to the bottom of the page, and it will read.
* These mileage figures are based on the charging computer letting you charge the vehicle when you are able to charge it, and may change, without notice. All mileage estimates are just that, and your actual mileage may be the same as a standard C-class gasoline only car. Congratulations on your $40K C-car purchase.

 

Interesting......tell me how is Ford's groundbreaking never been mass produced new form of energy car doing in this department? Do they have their asterisk paragraph as colorful and accurate as this Chevy one will be?

 

Sounds like much of this will be on the power company side, instead of the car.

The upside is that if you get a smart meter installed, you should be able to get a lower rate for charging the car at night versus the day. That should encourage people to remember to plug it in.

Hopefully whatever GM is developing will become the standard protocols for all EVs.

 

Gosh, thats funny............... I don't remember bringing up Ford in my post at all. Did I miss something???

My point was, this is not a cheap car. You are marketing it as a PHEV. If the electric company can dictate when you can, and can't charge your car............ then they are castrating the technology.

Believe it or not, there are millions of people who do not work during the day, and sleep at night. For them, restricting them to just being able to charge at night will basically take them out of the buying pool.

Ford has nothing to do with that.

BTW, I guess my opinions on stupidity mean less, because I own both Fords and GM's. Good grief.