Early (Chevy) Volts hit 40-mile target on batteries, engineer says

[LuckyTheDog]

Early versions of the Chevrolet Volt are going 40 miles on electricity as hoped, the program's chief engineer said Monday.

"I'm very confident that the batteries are delivering the energy that they need to deliver and that the vehicle's efficiencies are where it should be," said Andrew Farah, Volt chief engineer. "We're still doing a few last-minute tweaks and tunes on the aerodynamics but, again, that's just to stabilize some things."

More here: http://www.freep.com/article/20100413/BUSINESS01/4130304/1331/business01/Volts-hit-40-mile-target-on-batteries

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. saw my first TESLA yesterday.

the roadster was simply beautiful.

[Romulox]

2. That's because the Tesla is a reworked version of a Lotus Elise

Here's a 2005 Lotus Elise (notice the gas cap!)



Here's the Tesla:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. both are gorgeous.

was in an Elite one time, even got to drive. I hit 110 without realizing it, and slowed down real fast.

gorgeous car.

Australian Ford once built the Ford Fairmont. Not the lousy, shit for car rust bucket they used to sell on this side of the pacific pond, but a wedge shaped, turbocharged, sleek, gorgeous sportster. When they learned where I was driving, the rental agency welded on a 'Roo bar to the front. it looked crazy, but they explained that the Roo would fly over the car, instead of into the windshield. I graciously accepted.

Talk about a great car. wow.

The Fords of today are so much better vehicles. That Focus is pretty neat. It is about time that we are seeing great personal transportation devices that have a tiny footprint.

[slackmaster]

4. When I first read about the Tesla Roadster, I was seriously tempted to sign up for one

Even at $109,000.

[jtuck004]

5. That's funny. There's already multiple people building and converting

cars into electric cars, already getting 40+ miles from a charge. In their garage. The hardest part appears to be creating an adaptor
that will hook the tranny to a new electric motor.

It would have been bigger news if Chevy _had not_ gotten 40 miles per charge ;)

I do realize this will be mass production. The interesting part would be if garage mechanics could compete by buying up
gas cars which will drop severely in price as oil increases, drop in an electric motor and a a pallet of batteries, and
create a whole fleet of city range cars for commuters at a price cheaper than the Volt.

Not so much new manufacturing, less stuff out the smokestacks, etc. And it would be a kick in the need for solar, since
we have to change the capabilities of our current grid.

Thanks for the heads up.

[david13]

6. 40 whole miles? That is a ridiculous nothing. But that is exactly

what I would expect from GM. Nothing.
Go back 100 years ago. What did the Baker Electric get?
Probably more.
dc

[Divine Discontent]

9. around 400 miles on an 8 gallon fillup isn't bad. and, I drive more than 40 mi a day maybe twice a

month. So, no gas charges for me except 2-3 times a month, so about 20-30 bucks a month in gas to go 1300-1400 miles? pretty awesome. with a credit it puts it down to around $32K for those that can afford that.

[Stevenmarc]

10. If you live in an urban area it's not nothing

is this the car for everyone, no, no car is. I know I drive less than 40 miles a day in fact if I drive 25 miles a day that's a lot. This is a car I might consider in the future.

[blue_onyx]

11. Typical comment from you

You always bash GM, no matter what the news. You have, however, been conspicuously absent from recent Toyota threads....I wonder why.

[Statistical]

12. Did Baker electic meet modern safety standards?

Could you extended the range another 400 miles by having the ingenious engine/generator recharge battery pack.

I am no Chevy fan (they have had way too many misteps) but the engineer in me sees the beauty of a design like Volt.

My commute to work roundtrip is 47 miles.

So 49 weeks a year * 5 days = 245 days a year.

So volt would cut my gasoline consumption on commute portion of my driving from 230 - 300 gallons down to 34 gallons annually.

Like most people the daily commute is 70%-90% of driving.

[mdmc]

7. ..

[Divine Discontent]

8. I am certain, much like the iPad, when this comes out, MANY more people will want one than do

right now.

Most people drive under 40 miles a day, so for all intensive purposes, they'll spend less than a $100 a year on gas. And, if you take a longer trip, say 200 miles, your cost normally would be around $24 now for gas, but it more than likely will be less than half of that with the Volt. There's going to be a govt credit to buy this thing too, I'm pretty sure.

It's gonna be a big hit if they keep diligently working on it for release later this year.

[Johonny]

14. seems more useful than the Ipad

:)

[Divine Discontent]

15. no argument from me there! :)

[Omaha Steve]

13. The Volt in photos

To late for an R. :-(

Volt info here: http://www.chevrolet.com/pages/open/default/future/volt.do?evar2=HP_Mast_Volt