GM exec confirms that this cat is out of the bag

I'm not jumping into the "Volt Sucks" wagon either. I just wish GM could be honest for once. They say they're building an EV with a charge sustaining generator ... then this. Heck GM could have done it THIS WAY ... and had a real EV ... and a less expensive charge sustaining generator!



You pay an extra $15 for a trailer license, and you don't have to lug the generator/ICE around with you during the 90% of the time that most people don't need to drive more than 100 miles in a day. Baaah ... call me crazy.

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Now Hill has an excellent idea. I was thinking of the same thing only not as classy looking. I thought that on a long trip in an EV I could just attach my small trailer and load on my 8000 watt generator I use for emergency power around the house. A few electrical attachments and, voilá, 120V or 220V plug in as required. The only caveat is whether the car can be charged while on the go or if you have to be parked to charge the batteries.

 

I really hope 2012 Rav4 EV have that range extender trailer option.

It probably would would not make sense to own it. The dealers should rent it.

 

That's a nice accessory. I'd be more likely to just go to Home Depot and get one of those little pull-start generators and toss it in the back of the vehicle. I'm sure pulling a trailer has some inconveniences.

Here's a little one that only weighs 29 lbs and costs $296. If you called the Auto Club, it would take 45 minutes to get a tow truck anyway, so if you have to run a little generator for 10-15 minutes so that you could hypermile those extra 2-3 miles home, no big deal. Generac iX800 800 Watt Gasoline Powered Generator - 5791 at The Home Depot

Update: I just saw USBseaWolf's idea of renting a trailer with a larger generator. That sounds like a great idea at first. But, I have to ask ... if you knew you were going on a longer trip, you'd probably just take the Prius though, right? I mean, if you were going on a trip that required you to rent a generator, would you really take the EV?

 

Thats a great idea. Most people wont like it, or if the Volt did it this way people would bash them for having to pull a trailer around. But i like it.

 

Well, just stop by a Toyota dealer on your way to rent the generator.

Owning a generator trailer is not a bad idea either. Keep it at home as an emergency backup generator.

 

If folks are too cheep pay for yearly trailer tags, you could also make up a unit that mounts is one of these thingys:



This way, there's no worry about trailer flats, too. :eyebrows:
As long as the generator is sized properly for the EV's consumption, you don't need the Volt-style PHEV. You could have a real EV ... not one that sometimes directly powers the vehicle with it's heavy on board ICE. Heck, the generator idea is more like what GM said the Volt was supposed to be anyway.

And YEA ... who ever in this thread suggested just 'renting' the generator ... that TOO is excelent. The only thing you'd need is to have the cables and traction pack hookups made.

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Give the trailer set of standard connectors with a liquid coolant loop. Use compressed natural gas so the unit normally stays at home and co-generates for house power and heating. Actually, it can also have a heat-pump and provide cooling.

Bob Wilson