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prieten47
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Would you buy this car?
August 31, 2007 - 04:37 AM
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A major American auto company (one of the Big Three) now has plans to produce this electric car by the year 2010:
1) Drives 62 kilometers on electric batteries only.
2) Once 62 kilometers has been driven, a small 1.0 liter gasoline engine begins recharging the batteries, allowing a total driving range of about 1000 kilometers.
This technology will allow daily commuting of less than 62 kilometers to occur with NO gasoline consumption. You recharge the batteries overnight.
Or, if a long vacation drive is planned, the car will achieve 21kilometers per liter of gasoline (Americans: 52 miles per gallon).
This is not a "micro-car" but a mid-sized car that will seat four comfortably, drive at comparable speeds to gasoline only cars with the same acceleration.
But most importantly, the car would significantly reduce green house gas emissions.
Too good to be true? IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN! I think this is the best news I have heard in years. What do you think?
Frankly, I think the car is a little too over-engineered: There is no need for a car to drive faster than 100 kph or accelerate like crazy. But I will stop complaining when the car comes out.
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AhMaD
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Re: Would you buy this car?
August 31, 2007 - 06:59 AM
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Nice Car !!!
I like that very very much ....
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Wassim Derguech
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Re: Would you buy this car?
August 31, 2007 - 11:16 AM
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Will they call her ECO-car ? 
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prieten47
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Re: Would you buy this car?
August 31, 2007 - 10:58 PM
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The cars name is the VOLT.
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David
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 1, 2007 - 10:52 AM
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If it was available and in my price range i would seriously consider it.
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MohamedYousry
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 3, 2007 - 05:21 AM
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Really ... Nice Car , good specifications
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Nick Yeo
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 4, 2007 - 06:08 PM
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While I'm all in favor of the theory behind an electric car as described, the reality is that any car with those sort of specs is really only beneficial to city dwellers IMO.
I think that this is a step in the right direction though...
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prieten47
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 4, 2007 - 09:28 PM
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DeepEndZen wrote:
While I'm all in favor of the theory behind an electric car as described, the reality is that any car with those sort of specs is really only beneficial to city dwellers IMO.
I think that this is a step in the right direction though...
That's not quite right. According to the claims of the carmaker the car can go beyond 60 kilometers by using a small gasoline motor to recharge the batteries, achieving a driving range of 1000 kilometers (620 miles). That's comparable with a normal gasoline car's range. You are right that most city driving can be accomplished using just the batteries without the need for the gasoline engine to kick in.
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Raine
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 5, 2007 - 11:49 PM
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it sounds good, but how much gas would it take to make the electricity to run it?
as for buying the car, not all Americans are as rich as the steriotypes. most of the cars my family buys have had 2-4 owners before they reach us so i wouldn't be able to, at least not until it had been used by someone else for about 10 years. 
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prieten47
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 6, 2007 - 12:09 AM
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JennySmith wrote:
it sounds good, but how much gas would it take to make the electricity to run it?
as for buying the car, not all Americans are as rich as the steriotypes. most of the cars my family buys have had 2-4 owners before they reach us so i wouldn't be able to, at least not until it had been used by someone else for about 10 years. *
I hear you loud and clear. I, too, buy my cars used. Our current car, a Toyota Tercel, we bought when it was seven years old; it is now eleven. But it still gets about 30 mpg in city driving and 50 mpg on the highway (12 km/liter and 20km/liter).
This VOLT car is not going to be cheap. They are projecting a $30,000 price tag. That's about the same as the Toyota Prius or a regular gasoline SUV. One has to factor in the gasoline savings to this price. If one drives 12,500 miles a year, at 25 mpg (not many cars get that much) a typical gasoline powered car would use 500 gallons a year. I don't know what a gallon costs in the USA right now, about $3.00? So a VOLT would save you $1500 a year. That's assuming you only drive it less than 40 miles a day in the electric only mode.
Yes, you are right. The electricity would have to be generated somewhere, maybe a coal-fired electric plant. So it will still have some environmental costs.
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 6, 2007 - 08:00 PM
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Cool,
I'm in a 97 Lexus myself - looking to get a new used car - Lexus makes a Hybrid but at $104,000 the price is almost absurd.
usually my question with electric cars is - what kind of get-up-and-go does it have?
how long from 0-60?
anyway I am glad to see economics finally pushing more efficient vehicles.
for one thing we should push the government to convert their fleets - there are probably many vehicles doing simple government jobs that only need to go 62km
the obvious move in terms of infrastructure is to provide alot of charging stations so you can charge while you park mid day.
the other question posed about the ratio of gas to electricity, in terms of charging the car - is very apt and I would love to know what it is.
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prieten47
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 7, 2007 - 10:09 AM
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luke wrote:
usually my question with electric cars is - what kind of get-up-and-go does it have?
how long from 0-60?
the other question posed about the ratio of gas to electricity, in terms of charging the car - is very apt and I would love to know what it is.
First question about "get-up-and-go". The car is supposed to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds. Max speed is 125 mph.
My immediate reaction to these claims is, who needs such performance? 0 to 60 in 12 seconds is plenty fast for most purposes. Who in their right mind drives at 125 mph???? This is again a case of typical American thinking: biggest, fastest, etc. I worry that actual performance will not live up to the hype, and people will say, "See, I told you so." Besides, if one accelerates like that AND drives at 125 mph, the car is not going to make it to the advertised range of 640 miles (but then again, neither would an all-gasoline powered car driven like that!).
Your last question I don't know the answer to. The articles I have read say the first 40 miles would be ALL electric power without the small 1.0 liter gasoline engine even turning on. Once 40 miles have been reached, the small gasoline engine begins generating electricity to drive the electric motors. It shares this task for about 20 miles with the remaining charge left in the batteries and then takes over the job of providing electricity to the electric motors. The gasoIine (E85, biodiesel or whatever) in the 12 gallon gas tank will keep the electric motors going for 600 additional miles, giving a total range of 640 miles. The articles say that means mileage of 600miles/12 gallons or 50 miles per gallon, if one exceeds the 40 miles on battery power alone.
Remember any mileage less than 40 miles before recharging uses no gasoline. Carrying around 12 gallons of gasoline if you are not going to use it, sounds stupid to me, but one can always wait to gas up before a long trip.
I'm sorry, I don't have the background to explain ratios or anything like that.
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 7, 2007 - 11:47 AM
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the reason you want good acceleration is more for manuevering in traffic - entering traffic where you need to get up to speed like entering a highway - I live in LA
so this performance is relevant - don't need to go 120 MPH - but in negotiating traffic around here, when I hit the gas, I want the car to get up and go.
with the gas/electricity ratio - I was talking about what would be burned to generate the electricity to charge the car in the first place.
in LA we actually have special parking spaces for electric cars equipped with charging stations - they are mandated by law.
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prieten47
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 8, 2007 - 12:12 AM
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luke wrote:
the reason you want good acceleration is more for manuevering in traffic - entering traffic where you need to get up to speed like entering a highway - I live in LA
so this performance is relevant - don't need to go 120 MPH - but in negotiating traffic around here, when I hit the gas, I want the car to get up and go.
with the gas/electricity ratio - I was talking about what would be burned to generate the electricity to charge the car in the first place.
in LA we actually have special parking spaces for electric cars equipped with charging stations - they are mandated by law.
It seems the need for fast acceleration and high speed is something like the theory behind MAD (mutually assured destruction): because everyone else is accelerating/speeding so fast, I have to accelerate/speed fast. Maybe if everyone drove more slowly, cars wouldn't have to be so fast?
I don't have an answer on the energy use of coal/nuclear/hydro/renewable energy power plants that would generate the electricity. I suspect it is far more efficient to generate and distribute electricity than it is to drill in the earth for oil, refine and distribute liquid gasoline. Probably even the pollution problem can be dealt with more effectively at the power plant location than in each individual car. As loath as I am to believe in conspiracy theories, I think the oil companies are very worried that the electric car is going to take away a big part of their business. That is why they are pushing hydrogen. As for me, I hope increased use of electric cars will improve the urban environment (they are quiet, too) AND take away a lot of money from Middle East terrorists.
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dum
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Re: Would you buy this car?
September 20, 2007 - 08:20 PM
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the only thing that prevents me from buying an ecologic car is the money 
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