Chevy Volt
"I like the idea of electric cars, but the new Chevrolet Volt is so expensive. What's your opinion -- are electric cars ready for prime time, and are they really cost efficient when compared to gas-powered alternatives?"
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Is The Chevy Volt Really a Green Machine?
General Motors, struggling back from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, has announced plans to launch an electro-hybrid car in 2011. Dubbed the Chevrolet Volt, this car will feature lithium-ion batteries – the same kind found in laptops, cell phones, and other portable devices. The 16kWh batteries can be recharged from standard 120/240v household current, or from the internal combustion engine that does not power the car but only recharges the batteries of the electric motor. GM makes several claims for the Volt.
With fully charged batteries, the Volt will go up to 40 miles on battery power alone, which could satisfy the commuting needs of 75% of Americans. When the batteries run down, the gas engine kicks in to drive an electrical generator and extend the Volt’s range up to 640 miles on a tank of gasoline.
The Volt will cost about $40,000 when it debuts, a great deal more than the average American car. And according to what I've read, the features and amenties are comparable to cars that cost about half as much. Even so, GM does not expect the Volt to be profitable, even unto its second generation. (Ouch... isn't that the kind of thinking that got the car companies into the mess we have now?)
GM estimates that the Volt will save about 4.4 metric tons in CO2 emissions annually compared to a typical American car. If you are really into saving CO2 emissions, the Volt’s price and cost of ownership may not be an insurmountable obstacle. You may be the type of person who shops at Whole Foods and pays more for distilled water than for gasoline. It all depends on which you value more.
Re-Volting?
One cost analysis suggests that one would have to drive a Volt over 200,000 miles to break even on its price tag versus a typical gasoline-powered car. Furthermore, that analysis did not count the cost of electricity to recharge the Volt!
However, a government rebate of $7,500 is expected to shorten the Volt’s payback mileage to about 158,000 miles. Whew! But you know where that money comes from, right? So whether you want a Volt, or buy a Volt, you are going to help pay for Volts. Might as well get one.
Generating electricity at power plants creates pollution too, of course. But power plants are much less polluting per unit of work their power output does than are automobile engines. Even "dirty coal" burning plants emit a fraction of the air pollution per unit of power generated that a car does, and more modern power plants do even better.
The Volt seems to be a great concept for people who insist on eco-friendly products, and have the cash to back it up. Perhaps in a few years, the technology and manufacturing costs will come down. But for most of us now, the Chevy Volt is not even going to be in the running.
I'm sure you have your own opinions about the Chevy Volt, green cars, and related issues. Post your comments and questions below...
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Posted by Bob Rankin on August 20, 2009 03:14 PM
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Chevy Volt (Posted: August 20, 2009 03:14 PM)
Printed from: http://askbobrankin.com/chevy_volt.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
Most recent comments on "Chevy Volt"
(See all 26 comments for this article.)Posted by:
newzjunque
22 Aug 2009
Helen Isensee: I drive a 2001 Prius-original battery btw I have heard they are thousands but unsure.
There are 2 batteries. The one in the front that is the main source-engine and one in the back which is for the electric motor. That is rechargeable w/2 posts like a regular battery too. They are expensive to replace-$170. is the price I was quoted.
Posted by:
bill wald
23 Aug 2009
We are not told the KW draw per charging time. At 15 amps, 220 volts, 8 hours and 10 cents per KWH it would be cheaper to drive my '88 Chev Sprint.
Posted by:
raw
27 Aug 2009
Japanese quality rocks ... that's why Toyota is the leader in recalls and problems three years running. Even their magazine division, Consumer Reports, has trouble with them.
With the subsidy, the Volt will only be a few thousand more than the Prius, which is so totally outdated it isn't funny. Worth it? Debatable. But it will kill the Prius, other than for the people who refuse to notice what crap Toyota has been building the last few years.
With my driving, I would never need to buy gas for the Volt except perhaps twice a year.
Posted by:
Morseman
27 Aug 2009
Being an Electrical Engineer, and a bit of a pedant, the statement "120/240v household current" is incorrect.
The numbers quote are the voltage, not the current. The current is what flows (measured in Amperes, or shortened to Amps) when you connect a load to the electrical system, the voltage is the potential difference across the load.
Posted by:
Jackson
27 Aug 2009
So so much misinformation/misapprehension. Where to begin? I only have 4 paragraphs, so:
The Volt was actually announced in June 2007. GM has been unusually transparent and forthcoming in the project's developments for those of us willing to follow it.
The large format Lithium Ion cells chosen for the Volt's battery pack are not subject to thermal runaway and explosions. The pack itself is carefully monitored and balanced, and there is an active cooling system.
The battery actually uses only half of it's 16kwh capacity; it is never fully charged or discharged. As the car ages, more of the battery's capacity is made available so that you continue to get the 40 mile range for 10 years or 150,000 miles. The engine does not recharge the battery, it turns a generator to prevent the battery from discharging any further. The idea is to displace gasoline, using fuel to recharge the battery is the last thing you would want to do.
Posted by:
Kelly J
28 Aug 2009
Wait wait wait, hold on! Didn't they already do this? Does EV1 ring a bell to anybody???
Watch the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car for the real truth. Car companies DO NOT CARE what we want!
$40K, I dont think so!!! But hey, we are 60% owners in this failure!
Posted by:
howiem
31 Aug 2009
I suspect the strategy is"Buy a Volt and get a night in the White House".
This seems to be a race to see if GM can make a Volt before the end of the world from Climate Change, which begins on 31 December 2009., according to certain "experts".
But if the world doesn't end as planned by Al Gore, James Hansen and cronies, at least we have a good idea of when GM will need its next taxpayer bailout.
Posted by:
howiem
02 Sep 2009
I suspect the strategy is"Buy a Volt and get a night in the White House".
This seems to be a race to see if GM can make a Volt before the end of the world from Climate Change, which begins on 31 December 2009., according to certain "experts".
But if the world doesn't end as planned by Al Gore, James Hansen and cronies, at least we have a good idea of when GM will need its next taxpayer bailout.
Posted by:
JonB
02 Sep 2009
I am very concerned by this car. Nuclear power plants are only 34% efficient, if you want to put this in practical terms, for every Volt that is charging from a household outlet, there is energy in the form of heat being dumped into a heat sink somewhere equivalent to two other Volt's (making up the other 66%)
Also, comming from a canadian climate which is very cold, how will the winter months affect this vehicle. Cold kills batteries. Also, the heat in a standard car comes from the coolant in the engine that runs through a heater core. When there is no coolant, and no heater core, how is the cabin heated? If it is heated by an electic coil, you are effectively killing your mileage.
Another concern is the battery bank. What are the emmissions from mass producing these batteries? batteries also have a lifespan, how much will it cost to replace them? essentially I would like to see a life cycle analysis on all aspects of the Volt.
Posted by:
Frank Starr
06 Sep 2009
Having seen "Who Killed The Electric Car", I'll never buy another GM, or American, car. When I think of all the taxpayer money used to erase that car from the market, including the Bush administration suing California over their air quality standards, I wish there was a RICO investigation to imprison everyone guilty in this travesty.