GM may actually be trying to sabotage electric vehicels.

Red Hawk · September 8th, 2008, 09:51 PM

First the PR disaster from the ev1.

Now they butcher the volt to an ugly prius wannabe.

I know concepts are just that but jeesh.

Try a little style sometimes GM.

http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/bl...uction-photos/

coyoteshockeyfan · September 8th, 2008, 10:46 PM

GM certainly did sabotage their own product with the EV1, but they're learning from that. There's little question that a lot of the company's fate is riding on this car, and they seem to be on the right track. The Volt's design has nothing to do with a desire to emulate the style of the Prius, and everything to do with efficiency. Unfortunately with a rumored price tag north of $35k, the Volt is going to have to squeeze out every possible mpg to make the cost worth it to the customer, necessitating a body design with the lowest drag coefficient practical. Hopefully as this new technology improves auto makers will be able to bring style back, but until then go function first and the form will follow.

CardFan67 · September 9th, 2008, 02:58 PM

That is a plug in... This will be a short lived venture... To charge a plug in car it will take the power of some 13 large screen televisions for the duration of the charge. It is estimated now with current power production that the existing power infastructure would fail at 1 plug in vehicle per 40 on road vehicles.

coyoteshockeyfan · September 21st, 2008, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardFan67

That is a plug in... This will be a short lived venture... To charge a plug in car it will take the power of some 13 large screen televisions for the duration of the charge. It is estimated now with current power production that the existing power infastructure would fail at 1 plug in vehicle per 40 on road vehicles.

13 large screen televisions? I'm not seeing it. The Volt's 16 kwh battery pack requires about 9 kwh of energy (including charging loss) when plugged in to get the all electric 40 miles of distance. The average 50 inch plasma TV uses roughly 400 watts of power when turned on, so that's 2.6 kwh of energy if that TV is on for 6.5 hours (the recharge time of the Volt). Basically, that's about three to four TVs for the duration of the charge, not thirteen. That may still sound a lot, but consider that 9 kwh at 11 cents per kwh (about the average rate in the US) is right at $1. To be able to go 40 miles on a buck in energy costs would be unparalleled.

GM may actually be trying to sabotage electric vehicles.