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Chevrolet Volt recalled for being too quiet...

Discussion in 'Chevrolet Volt' started by Mike500, Mar 13, 2015.

  1. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That's a really striking difference ... do you know of any explanation why the Volt looks so much worse?

    I see the measurement unit is grams per mile ... could be hard to say what 'mile' means for a Prius or a Volt ... is it possible the source of this graph is counting miles differently? The Volt's CO should be zero when operating as EV. Did they count its miles, for emission purposes, starting only after the EV capacity is depleted and the ICE runs, while counting all miles for the Prius? I don't know the answer, just wondering.

    -Chap
     
  2. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...see my post #20 I think maybe CA certified brings down CO (as well MPG ) during warm up period
     
  3. Zythryn

    Zythryn Senior Member

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    I wouldn't want a Prius running in a closed garage any more than a Volt.
    Either one, left unattended could kill you.
    I don't care if it happens in 30 minutes, or 60.

    This is a silly issue as there are already warnings if you open the door with the car running.
    I'm glad that they are adding the auto off as all cars should have it. There are so many other safety issues that should be addressed before this though.

    This is the epitome of making a mountain out of a molehill.
     
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  4. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    I wouldn't either.

    Even with just a riding lawn mower stored in the garage and a gas water heater, I still have a carbon monoxide detector just inside the interior door,
     
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  5. Tony D

    Tony D Active Member

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    Software update to correct stoopid drivers is what's needed more
     
  6. css28

    css28 Senior Member

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    My guess is that it's comparing Prius warm start with a Volt open loop cold start. No cat converter is going to emit like that once it kicks in.
    Stupid chart.
     
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  7. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    There is no carbon imported from OPEC in hydrogen to form carbon monoxide in the exhaust. The exhaust is H2O (water).

    Mirai can provide 60 kWh of electricity. That could power my house for 4 days, could stretch it out to a week with conservation. ;)
     
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  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    [QUOTE="Rude person's, post: 2152419, member: 87087"Even with just a riding lawn mower stored in the garage and a gas water heater, I still have a carbon monoxide detector just inside the interior door,[/QUOTE]

    The same CO detector would tell you whether any problem was developing with your Prius running there.

    Most of my CO detectors only honk, but I did buy one that has a parts-per-million numeric display, (The ones that honk do so soonest at 400 ppm or above, but should eventually honk for anything over 70.)

    The one with the display was able to tell me when the neighbors were having their carpets cleaned - the big stanley-steemer truck was out in the street with its engine running for a few hours. My windows were closed.

    -Chap
     
  9. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    Remote starters and garaged cars with houses that have attached garages are something I don't do.

    I'm NOT so lazy that I want to sacrifice the life of the car and my own life for the convenience of getting into a warm or cooled car.

    A car with the heater or air conditioner turned on at the time of starting and a lengthy idle puts a lot of extra wear on the components.

    I won't buy either a NEW or USED car that has a remote starter.

    There are cases of people who have died from carbon monoxide poisoning when they inadvertently started their car with a remote in a garage attached to the house.
     
  10. Zythryn

    Zythryn Senior Member

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    Well, one of those old fashioned cars that include an ICE at least ;)
    I rather enjoy prewarming my car in a closed garage, but I agree, I wouldn't want that with an ICE.
    With an EV, no wear and tear, no CO.

    In our next house, we plan to have no combustion sources that can generate CO. We probably still need the CO detectors per code, which isn't a bad idea as renovations are always possible.
     
  11. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    What kind you got Chap?
    I have a Kidde and Senco both with digital read out but they never seem to show anything unless I hold them right up to exhaust pipe.
     
  12. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    If the car is on and not moving for a certain amount of time, it shuts off.
    I was just thinking that.
    So, the 2010 Prius got dirtier?:)
    These are numbers from driving tests. Any data on emission amounts over time while idling or charging the pack? Presumably, a Prius will be kicking on its ICE more often than a Volt with any grid charge left.

    Which raises a question. Weren't these Volts plugged in? Does the car stay 'on' while plugged in? Even then, why would the ICE turn on with wall charge available?
    Plenty of people have left their ICE cars running in the garage. Forgetfulness and stupidity don't rely on sound levels.

    The GM factory remote starts on the automatics auto-shut off after 5 or 10 minutes. I only use mine for about 2 minutes at most.
     
  13. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    If you remote start the Volt, it shuts off after about 10 minutes, too.
     
  14. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The one I have with the display is a Kidde model KN-COPP-B.

    I bought it in advance of my furnace replacement project back in 2010 (in December, natch, because the tax credit was expiring and I'd had family emergencies in the fall when the weather was nice), and during the time between old-furnace-out and new-furnace-in I was upending sacred safety wisdom by letting the gas oven keep me warm. It worked out because my house is (a) small enough to keep warm on a fraction of the oven's rated output, and (b) 80 years old and nothing like 'tight' by modern standards. IIRC, my CO levels never even got as high as they had when the carpet cleaner truck parked out front all afternoon.

    I'm not recommending anybody else use that method of temporary heat - but in case anyone thinks of it, people usually seem to picture an oven door open and burner blazing away nonstop. No no no no. Better with the door shut and a temperature set on the dial just like baking something. The rate of heat loss from oven into kitchen is proportional to the set temperature. Rate of heat loss out of the house depends on inside and outside temperature (and wind, and sun) ... find an acceptable equilibrium and let the control just maintain it. :)

    Burner adjustment matters too. I have a friend who had been living (and baking) in a house for years before buying a CO detector, which then started going off predictably when bread was in. :eek: Found the air shutter on the oven burner set almost completely closed. Adjusted correctly, no more CO alarms on bread day....

    -Chap
     
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  15. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    I too have the Kidde COPP-B
     
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    pretty sure non cal cars are the same, just no warranty.
     
  17. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Prius all are CA certified versions. I do not think that it is case for FORD and GM.

    That's why FORD and GM cover CARB repairs if you live in a CARB state and your car is CA certified. They do not have to say: you had to purchase in a CARB state, because unless you did, you would not have a CARB certified version.

    In other words, I am predicting that the Volt CO issues were in non CARB states, or with non-CA-compliant CA Volts (the Volts that do not qualify for the green HOV stickers).
     
    #37 wjtracy, Mar 15, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2015
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    interesting, thank you.
     
  19. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    IIRC, the Volt has a CO spike upon engine start up, which is enough to push it over the SULEV limit. Last time I checked the Volt's build site, the emission add on that fixed this for HOV qualification was a no cost option to the buyer. Whether it is a default option on Volts outside of California would take some research of dealer sites. But in overall operation, it will be lower than a ULEV ICEV.

    Any running gasoline car in a garage is potentially a precussor to tragedy, despite what Hyundai's 'offensive' ad implied.

    Diesels, on the other hand, are naturally very low CO emitting. It's why they are used in mines. So the miners can live long enough for us to know unfiltered diesel exhaust is a carcinogen instead of just keeling over on their first shift.

    FCV's don't have the CO worry, but how much humidity will they fill the garage, and then house with? Enough to start some mold FUD?:)
     
  20. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    No, miners will die of silicosis or black lung disease, first.

    No, they will sure have to worry about finding a hydrogen filling station. Thee won't be many around.