Will the Chevrolet Volt be a failure or a success?

I vaguely remember that power loss is proportional to the square of the current. Or I could be completely wrong
It might be interesting to try the lower current at 240V setup.

 

That's not an option. The portable EVSE I use to connect to standard outlets has a button to select the normal or slower rate. The hardwired 240v unit in my garage does not, it is either plugged in or not plugged in.

I'm no electrician, but my understanding is my guy used wire rated to 30 amps (in case faster charging equipment may need it in the future), but its currently supplied through a 20 amp breaker.

 

Not sure if this has been posted before, (but I'll post it anyway )

Where the Volts are:

Chevrolet Volt Electric Car | Available Nationwide End of 2011 | Chevrolet.com

 

oh heck i thought this was a link to orphans or something. WA State says this month but there are none available other than a few reported at $10,000 over MSRP... or maybe it was $5,000 over??

 

Hey dave, they should be shipping to washington Later this month. I'm in one of the launch cities, and some people have come from as far as florida to get one. I think the only leaf here got given to the guy, a friend asked at a dealership last month and was told not for at least 6 months. Hopefully next year gm and nissan will get their plants ramped up.

 

because of EV ownership over the past 4 years, i have talked extensively with people interested in the technology and there is a strong Volt market here and 98% are retired single car households.

in fact one fellow Olympian also bought a Zenn and has solar so the EV part of it will be a no-brainer for him. right now he has two cars but the Zenn is his daily driver and he is very keen on the Volt because that will allow him to get rid of his long range car as well. his wife does not drive due to vision issues

 

A poster on another board mother is a perfect canidate for an EV. She only goes 20 miles at most when she does go out, but she can't get past the what if of the EVs current hard range.

My father recently got and Accord Crosstour because my mother was concerned that her car and his old car are at the 100k mile mark. Emotion plays a large part in purchases for most.

 

100k is a psychological point at age for a vehicle, others being 150k, 200k, etc. so even though vehicles are much more reliable than in days gone by many still want to retire their vehicle then.

In some sense, at least right now, there is no perfect EV driver; a person who's driving little enough to not have range issues is also driving little enough to not save much money with their EV's fuel use over a much cheaper ICE-based vehicle.

 

Did you guys see that GM officially greenlighted the expansion of the Voltec powertrain to a cadillac model? Should be similar to the Converj concept from a while back, but apparently they are calling it the ELR.

I'm hoping that having an actual premium version will lead to the Chevy version basing down a bit to appeal to more mainstream buyers.

 

I sure hope it goes down, not up. 2012 Volt lease now starts from $400 instead of $350.

 

Volt is back at the dealership service department, primarily for routine rotating of tires, but also to investigate a slight rattle I am hearing from a piece of interior trim.

Rattle might even be too strong a word, its almost undetectable, and would be in an ICE car, but the Volt is so quiet even slight sounds become irritating over time. I'll let you know if they are able to determine what it is or are able to correct.

 

The power wiring is too large. You are hearing the electrons rattle.



Tom

 

Can you do the tire rotation yourself? I bet you'll need a big jack to lift it up and give you a good work out!

 

I think you are correct and the same problem with the Prius. When it is silently creeping any little noise or buzz or rattle is amplified and would never be heard if driving an ICE car.

Judging from the stories on here, it seems like if you pinpoint the source yourself, they are more capable of de-rattling that area.

 

I think it is unrealistic to expect not to hear anything at all in a car that is moving with ICE and stereo off.

 

you need to take a ride in my Leaf. your expectations are in for a very rude awakening

 

How big do you think you need? The smallest hydraulic jack I've seen is 1.25 tons. Of course, before the 'spare tire optional' era, you wouldn't even need that to rotate your own tires. It get tedious using the emergency jack though.

 

I mean quiet is good, but I think with ICE off, Stereo off, you are likely to hear other noises (inside or outside of the vehicle) that would normally be covered by the running engine and the stereo; anything from wind or tire noises, and noises from other cars.

 

oh ya definitely other noises do become new "irritants"

which makes me think we should start a new thread...

"My Car is So Quiet, the sound of... bothers me!"

ok...i will start.

My Leaf is so quiet, the sound of rocks stuck in the threads of my tires on the pavement is practically DEAFENING!

 

Dealer only charged $19.99 to rotate the tires, much cheaper than my time doing it myself.

The noise was coming from a piece of trim on the dash, they decided to just replace the whole panel, part on order. I was afraid they would think I was nuts but they really took it seriously.

I'm not looking for silence or active noise cancellation or anything, but stuff I can control I want to. It adds to the overall solid feel when nothing is creaking or squeaking.