Chevy Volt

System

The Chevy Volt was released today! Lots of photos and the full release is here. Some specs that stood out:

• the Volt is powered only by electricity stored in its 16-kWh, lithium-ion battery.
• can be plugged either into a standard household 120v outlet or use 240v for charging.
• The vehicle's intelligent charging technology enables the Volt's battery to be charged in less than three hours on a 240v outlet or about eight hours on a 120v outlet.
• The Volt's electric drive unit delivers the equivalent of 150 horsepower, 273 lb-ft. (370 Nm) of instant torque
• Using peak electric rates, GM estimates that an electrically driven mile in a Chevy Volt will be about one-sixth of the cost of a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle
• cost savings of $1,500 annually.
• Charging the Volt about once daily will consume less electric energy annually than the average home's refrigerator and freezer units.

I can't wait to see these things being powered by solar. Heck if you are saving $1,500 pr year on gasoline, you should have some extra money lying around!

Solar Guppy

Re: Chevy Volt

Actually, it was first shown in dec 2007 at one of the big auto shows

production release for a customer purchase is optimistically pegged at Nov, 2010

A site that follow everything about the volts is www.gm-volt.com and has done so since the car was displayed in 2007

current rumors for cost is mid 40k range, up from the 2007 estimate of 30K

System2

Re: Chevy Volt

They kept remarkably close to the 2007 concept car, especially in the guts of the thing.

SolarJohn

Re: Chevy Volt

Check my math and tell me what you think:

If electricity costs ten cents per kwh then it would cost 0.10 times 16, or $1.60 to fully charge a dead Volt battery pack. A full charge is enough to propel the car for 40 miles. This is the same as buying gas for $1.60 per gallon when you compare the volt to a car that gets 40mpg. It's the same as buying gas at 80 cents per gallon when you compare the volt to a gar that gets 20mpg.

I know there will be losses, but on the other hand, the 16kwh volt battery will not be fully discharged when you recharge it. Topping off the LI-ion battery may only require 8kwh or 12kwh.

If you have a big enough PV array to charge the volts battery, you'll be driving on free power from the sun (for the first 40 miles each day). I want one! The purchase price might be high, but you'll make it up in gas savings pretty quick.

I don't agree with the statement that charging the volt will cost as much to operate as the average refrigerator and freezer. My refrigerator and freezer consumes only 2kwh of electricity a day.

John

niel

Re: Chevy Volt

this is technically still a hybrid because of the gasoline generator on board to extend the range beyond 40 miles. is that range also the same for the city and highway because they stated the difference in needing areodynamics to achieve the 40 miles on the highway? i also feel they overinflated the price so as not to sell as many, but like anything else good the savings get eaten up in the initial costs. too bad they didn't think to put say 200w of pv into the body allowing for a possible 1kwh of power to be generated during the day allowing for up to another 2.5 miles of travel free, so to speak.
now some real problematic points of sale will be no a/c and no heater. don't know about a stereo either. i also don't believe it will take them 4 years total to gear up to produce the car because there's actually less involved with an ev. oh, in rereading they're waiting on government incentives. that could be real trouble.
btw sj, you are right and that works out to be $.04/mile and not the $.02 they claimed. in hind sight, some of the stuff they say doesn't add up right like having 16kwh of batteries and then they say it costs $.80/day. well you judge as here's the quote, "At a cost of about 80 cents per day (10 cents per kWh) for a full charge that will deliver up to 40 miles of electric driving."

icarus

Re: Chevy Volt

There is some considerable conversation in the Hybrid/Phev/Ev community that the Volt will NEVER be a mainstream vehicle, even if GM can ever get it into general production. I myself am neutral on the point, but given past history, I keep betting my money on Toyota.

As a very happy Prius owner getting a consistent ~51mpg, I lookforward to the days when those that are on the grid can get a plug in hybrid. As I have said before on this forum, the huge advantage of Phev is the ability not only to buy power from the grid, but to SELL power back to the grid at times of peak demand. The ability to do so greatly reduces the spinning idle capacity of the grid, as can serve as a gigantic, disaggregated PV battery source.

For those that are interested try here:http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-hybrid-news/ or:http://priuschat.com/forums/chevrolet-volt/

Tony

niel

Re: Chevy Volt

you know tony i tend to agree that toyota will probably come out with one sooner and cheaper that outdoes gm's feeble attempts, but then again in remembering the movie "who killed the electric car?" and remembering they had good working models that they scrapped, who knows? anybody hear anything from tesla motors lately?

icarus

Re: Chevy Volt

Tesla doesn't have the scale to make a significant impact on the market, IMHO. I would look for them to be absorbed into a Major at some point.
I have less than zero faith in GM in the current environment. Can you spell Vega?

Tony