The Chevy Volt actually exists

Moping floors? Space missions?

The Volt is also a replacement for traditional vehicles. Was that hard?

 

Hopefully, the oil industry has seen it's best days. Everyday we see the oil gushing into the Gulf is another day they lose power and influence! Hopefully. Maybe GM will take the Volt concept a little more seriously as groundwork for a more FE lineup.

 

Here's a refresher for failing memories...

The concept model looks like the production? No, not even close.

Nicely under $30,000? No, not by a looooong shot.

CS-mode delivering 50 MPG? No, test-drives place it at about 40.

Enough will be available to be a game-changer? No, just niche quantity.
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Regarding the concept vs. the production model:
Lutz: Chevy Volt aero might have been better if we put it in the wind tunnel backwards — Autoblog Green
Chevrolet Volt: It Won

Besides what john1701a said:
The Chevy Volt range extender will remain E85 capable — Autoblog Green then http://priuschat.com/forums/chevrol...vrolet-volts-reportedly-wont-e85-capable.html.

They initial claimed it'd use a 1.0 liter 3-cylinder (Efficient Three-Cylinder Engines are Coming to America ... Again | GreenCar.com and all over the place in the press.) Then they switched to a 4-cylinder that'd be E85 capable. Whoops, see above.

GM Volt Gains a Cylinder, Loses a Turbo-charger : TreeHugger
Cylinder | GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

 

I am fairly sure I remember TV commercials a long time ago with the Volt and it looked like the new camero... I thought that was a genuinly good idea. Those that want something more efficient but still want it to look sporty would buy the volt at under $30k, then around $22 or so with the tax credits.

The whole game has changed. It is fugly, expensive, and cheap looking. I do not understand why anybody would even consider the volt, especially with the Leaf coming out. The 2007 volt, I understand. The mythical production volt, I just don't get...

 

I don't care.

Important not to lose track of the goal - reduced emission & fuel use. Eventually I want one BEV and one PHEV in my house. Volt is a good start.

 

Don't all cars look exactly like the concept car? True, only GM would make the real think LOOK different.

Price is still unknown.

No, actually they don't, this one has been argued to death, we still don't know the answer.

You have the right to complain about the lack of information, you are off base to state the concept and the real think are totally different.

 

In GM's defense, they stated that the Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch would look just like the concept, and indeed it did... exactly.

 

"the pre-production cars have been living up to the initial hype"

But it's ok to claim that. Interesting.
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That is the plan for me too, one BEV and one long range vehicle.
However, due to me driving habits (large percentage of trips are 70 miles), the Volt will give me little improvement over my plug in Prius.
So, depending upon the CS mode, the Volt might, at best, replace the prius once it dies a natural death.
But by that time I expect 200-300 mile BEVs to be available.
At that point we will have two BEVs and rent a car if we need to travel further.

In short, GM missed their timeslot IMO.

 

GM has never allowed anyone to drive the Volt far enough or fast enough to assess any of the claims. Right now, it's just GM's claims, and GM does not exactly have a reputation for honesty.

Actually, as long as we keep buying gasoline, the oil industry remains as powerful as ever. It continues to rake in the money, and with that money it continues to purchase our legislators. Oil execs don't give a flopping bunny if they lose a few hundred million barrels of oil into the ocean and kill the coastal environments of a few states. All they care about is that you and I keep buying gasoline.

And 12,000 Volts will not change the per-capita consumption of gasoline.

 

Just saw three Volts at a Shell station just north of Denver.
One driver said they were doing high altitude testing and calibration.

He (GM employee) said they were very happy with where they were at and just
needed a little more testing/tweeking.

Said they were getting just shy of 40 miles all EV, city, summer driving (at 5,500 ft).
No photos because no camera. Quick look under the hood told me this was the real deal, not a chevy with a Volt emblem.

Was gassing up to leave on vacation!!!

 

Interesting. That's pretty much best-case scenario... something the enthusiasts claimed would get well in excess of 40 miles.

Highway will reduce EV range. So will summer at a lower altitude (need for A/C). And of course, winter will squeeze to the depleted point really fast from use of the heater.
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Oh I really do not think so ... congress will keep spending our tax money to shore up GM .... and the UAW

 

I saw one a couple of weeks ago on the I-94 in Indiana...close to Porter. It was going the opposite direction. I did a double take when I saw it.

 

don't know yet -
See, GM has been run by corrupt goons for so long that even their corporate philosophy is nothing short of deceit. Take their ongoing ad campaign:
"More 30mpg cars than any other manufacturer"
(sigh)
2010 Chevy Equinox To Get 32 MPG Highway, While GM Will Axe 12 of Its 20 Highest-Mileage Vehicles - Green Car Reports

In other words (to exaggerate the GM Philosophy) you take a GM car (for example) like the Cobalt:
GM Recalls 1.3 Million Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac Vehicles - AboutLawsuits.com
It's a piece of junk ... so folks don't run out in droves to buy it ... but it get's mpg's in the 30's. THEN,
you sell it with 2 doors
you sell it with 4 doors
you sell it with chrome
you sell it with sport trim
etc etc
and there you have a GM truth ... more 30mpg models than any other

Wow ... how stupid ARE we U.S. consumers ... if THAT's the kind of story that makes us feel warm & fuzzy about a mostly U.S. government owned company ... a remnant of which has come out of bankruptcy brought about by corporate mismanagement. Now ... understanding GM in THIS light ... who can say what really exists from GM ... or what MAY exist ... If GM builds a few thousand or so, and they're over priced or under performing then GM simply says YOU are the fault of Volt's failure because YOU didn't really want it. (al la EV1) Even so, I hope the Volt will some day be a roaring success.

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+ 1

-Brad

 

+1 from me about test-drives too.

We've got Toyota providing long-duration data-collection opportunities, 600 vehicles around the world, and we can't even get GM to offer brief observations... not to mention the sharing of any performance info like CS mpg.
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In Feb I drove one on a little downtown loop during SXSW. No opportunity to judge range or even high speed driving. Note this is more than the availability of the leaf or plug in prius.

I doubt that CS mode mileage would have more of an impact than Nissan, who released LA4, the old epa city milage that was much more optimistic than today's city. The leaks from toyota on the phv prius give it disappointing specs compared to price of the normal prius, volt, or leaf. Given the hype machine and low production numbers I would expect that volt owners will love them like the ev1. If you drive more than 100 miles most days and hate gm don't even look at the volt.

Hoping, but not expecting the volt to be a good addition to the range for efficient vehicles.

 

Toyota Prius PHV - Full Test

2010 Toyota Prius PHV Prototype Full Test and Video

Sure, track testing has its value, but it's the fuel economy that this car is designed to deliver. We're still logging fuel consumption over our month-long loan, but as of this writing, we're happy to report the PHV delivers on the promise of exceptional fuel economy.

We recorded our best effort in a 106-mile trip that incorporated some hypermiling techniques and got over 72 mpg. Our most fuel-inefficient trip over 90 miles generated 53 mpg. Our running average of 62 mpg over 500 miles shames the EPA's estimate of 50 mpg combined for a standard 2010 Toyota Prius.

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