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Great Article Regarding The Chevrolet Volt

Discussion in 'General Automotive' started by BuckNakedBooda, Oct 21, 2010.

  1. Oct 21, 2010 at 6:38 AM
    #1
    BuckNakedBooda

    BuckNakedBooda [OP] There's no place like 127.0.0.1

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    http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/ArticlePrint.aspx?id=550957

    Volt Fraud At Government Motors



    Posted 10/19/2010 06:55 PM ET

    [​IMG] Standing behind the first lithium-ion battery off the Brownstown, Mich., assembly line of the Chevrolet Volt in January were, from left, Rep. Sander... View Enlarged Image

    Green Technology: Government Motors' all-electric car isn't all-electric and doesn't get near the touted hundreds of miles per gallon. Like "shovel-ready" jobs, maybe there's no such thing as "plug-ready" cars either.
    The Chevy Volt, hailed by the Obama administration as the electric savior of the auto industry and the planet, makes its debut in showrooms next month, but it's already being rolled out for test drives by journalists. It appears we're all being taken for a ride.
    When President Obama visited a GM plant in Hamtramck near Detroit a few months ago to drive a Chevy Volt 10 feet off an assembly line, we called the car an "electric Edsel." Now that it's about to hit the road, nothing revealed has changed our mind.
    Advertised as an all-electric car that could drive 50 miles on its lithium battery, GM addressed concerns about where you plug the thing in en route to grandma's house by adding a small gasoline engine to help maintain the charge on the battery as it starts to run down. It was still an electric car, we were told, and not a hybrid on steroids.
    That's not quite true. The gasoline engine has been found to be more than a range-extender for the battery. Volt engineers are now admitting that when the vehicle's lithium-ion battery pack runs down and at speeds near or above 70 mph, the Volt's gasoline engine will directly drive the front wheels along with the electric motors. That's not charging the battery — that's driving the car.
    So it's not an all-electric car, but rather a pricey $41,000 hybrid that requires a taxpayer-funded $7,500 subsidy to get car shoppers to look at it. But gee, even despite the false advertising about the powertrain, isn't a car that gets 230 miles per gallon of gas worth it?
    We heard GM's then-CEO Fritz Henderson claim the Volt would get 230 miles per gallon in city conditions. Popular Mechanics found the Volt to get about 37.5 mpg in city driving, and Motor Trend reports: "Without any plugging in, (a weeklong trip to Grandma's house) should return fuel economy in the high 30s to low 40s."
    Car and Driver reported that "getting on the nearest highway and commuting with the 80-mph flow of traffic — basically the worst-case scenario — yielded 26 miles; a fairly spirited backroad loop netted 31; and a carefully modulated cruise below 60 mph pushed the figure into the upper 30s."
    This is what happens when government picks winners and losers in the marketplace and tries to run a business. We are not told that we will be dependent on foreign sources like Bolivia for the lithium to be used in these batteries. Nor are we told about the possible dangers to rescuers and occupants in an accident scenario.
    There's the issue of asking grandma to use her electricity for the three or four hours necessary to recharge your car so you can get home to charge it again. Where's the electricity going to come from considering that solar and wind don't work when the sun don't shine and the wind doesn't blow? We aren't building any nukes.
    And since electricity rates are necessarily going to skyrocket as a result of this administration's energy policies and fondness for cap-and-trade, what's the true cost of operating a not-so-all-electric car like the Volt?
    In 2008, candidate Obama pledged to put 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015. Not likely. It was a tough sell when we thought it was all-electric and could get 230 mpg. It will be a tougher sell now that we find it's a glorified Prius with the price tag of a BMW that seats only four because of a battery that runs down the center of the car.
    President Obama likes to talk about not giving the GOP back the keys to the car. It's his industrial policy and central planning that have driven us into the ditch.
     
  2. Oct 21, 2010 at 6:58 AM
    #2
    Pugga

    Pugga Pasti-Dip Free 1983 - 2015... It was a good run

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    These electric cars are a joke anyways. Yes, they will burn less gasoline but where do you think electricity comes from, sunshine and rainbows? Unless you're fortunate enough to live in a town with a 'clean' source of power (which not many of us do) the by products in producing electricity will make up for your car. And like the article states, what happens when a lithium battery pack is ruptured in an accident... I'll keep my Tacoma and pray for a diesel upgrade!
     
  3. Oct 21, 2010 at 2:02 PM
    #3
    Krazie Sj

    Krazie Sj Resident Jackass

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    It'll be a long cold day in hell before anyone in my house is driving a hybrid.

    Build more nuclear reactors and call it a day.
     
  4. Oct 21, 2010 at 2:06 PM
    #4
    BakoTruck

    BakoTruck Well-Known Member

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    I would never in a million years ever think you would say anything like that. :thumbsup: Unless you're being sarcastic. lol
     
  5. Oct 21, 2010 at 2:16 PM
    #5
    Krazie Sj

    Krazie Sj Resident Jackass

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    Oh fuck no, I'm super serious. The don't last as long, the battery is dangerous (Note the star of life under the avatar, I have work with these fucking things), the lithium mines has to be shipped from far far away which completely negates the fucking lack of carbon foot print these things are supposed to have, I believe the use much more resources in terms of manufacturing, and yes, then there is the whole recharge bullshit.

    They need to start pushing very heavily into more efficient diesels instead.

    I may lean like a ladder to the left politically, but I love guns and I believe there are criminals that deserve to be killed for their crimes.
     
  6. Oct 21, 2010 at 2:24 PM
    #6
    solus

    solus HOME!!!

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    blah blah blah blah... get the F over it
     
  7. Oct 21, 2010 at 2:27 PM
    #7
    BakoTruck

    BakoTruck Well-Known Member

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    Yeah I used to deal with those batteries a lot when I worked in the Hobby Shop Biz, very dangerous. They can go up in flames in an instant, and not stop. But I'm sure the ones they put in these cars are a little more safer than the ones I dealt with.

    The recharge factor is very lame, the only place I could see where these cars could be used good at is in big cities like L.A., etc. When you are stuck in traffic for large amounts of time, and if you don't have to drive long distances. Also only if the power you use to charge it up comes from a clean source, like a nuclear power plant (which some would not consider clean) and solar panels, etc.

    I believe the reason why some people get these cars is because it's an image thing, a green trend or image whatever you want to call it.

    More clean diesels would be better too.
     
  8. Oct 30, 2010 at 3:24 PM
    #8
    coffeesnob

    coffeesnob Well-Known Member

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    I had a 93 geo metro 5 speed 3 cylinder that thing got around 55 miles per gallon, paid less than 7 grand brand new inluding tax, title, destination charge. My point is they could build a cheaper car with incredible mileage if they wanted.
     
  9. Oct 30, 2010 at 3:35 PM
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    kite

    kite Well-Known Member

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    Actually, electricity does come from sunshine.
     
  10. Oct 30, 2010 at 3:41 PM
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    jtav2002

    jtav2002 Kenny Fuckin Powers

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    Who cares. This whole "fraud" BS about the car is getting old. Chevy NEVER claimed it was solely an electric vehicle. It may have made a ridiculous claim with the 230mpg thing, however they always said it ran on pure electric for +/- 40 miles and then the gas engine would kick in to produce more electric for "range extending mode." A pure electric vehicle isn't practical for most people unless you never leave your town because any trips would leave you worrying about how far the car would go. At least with this, if you have a short commute you're not going to use gas, but if you do have to travel further you have the range extending available to not worry about being stuck on the side of the road cause your batteries are dead.

    I think it's a much better compromise to the normal electric car, say something like the Nissan Leaf. I'd never buy a hybrid or electric vehicle myself though. Autoblog drove it and depending on how they drove the car they achieved anywhere between 27 mpg if they really beat on it or something like 89 mpg if they were easy on it.

    If I was that worried about gas I'd just buy a small fuel efficient 4 cyl compact.
     
  11. Oct 30, 2010 at 3:42 PM
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    achirdo

    achirdo I Weld!

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    3 cylinder?? that had to take forever to get up to 60 mph
     
  12. Oct 31, 2010 at 5:40 PM
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    coffeesnob

    coffeesnob Well-Known Member

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    Not at all.... had a five speed and was quite peppy, now if I had the wife and 2 kids in there it was different but it was a perfect car to commute the 110 plus miles i had back and forth from work everyday;)
     
  13. Oct 31, 2010 at 5:52 PM
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    BakoTruck

    BakoTruck Well-Known Member

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    I don't have a problem with those cars, great cars for the money.
     
  14. Dec 2, 2011 at 9:59 AM
    #14
    hillbillynwv

    hillbillynwv Well-Known Member

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    I just heard on the radio today that they are recalling every Volt that they have sold. The batteries are expolding on impact from side collisions. Now, if Toyota had made these, it would had made every headline of every major newspaper in America.
     

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