GM is saying it will get 230 mpg. Also they have 30 of them now and are producing 10 a week.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/...m_volt_mileage
GM is saying it will get 230 mpg. Also they have 30 of them now and are producing 10 a week.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/...m_volt_mileage
I honestly hope it does very well. Crude is up today due to Chinese demand which is something like double of what is was this time last year and I only think they'll keep trending up.
Chrysler has been kinda of low key about it but one watchdog website caught this;
andChrysler has sent out a brochure which proclaims, “Watch for one of these exciting new models to appear in 2010.” Pictured are the Dodge EV, Chrysler EV, and Jeep EV – modified versions of a Lotus (Dodge Circuit), Town & Country minivan, and Jeep Wrangler.
John Bozzella, Senior Vice President—External Affairs and Public Policy, Chrysler LLC, proclaimed, “Without U.S. innovation and production capacity, we will simply trade batteries for oil in the pursuit of transportation energy.” China has been actively seeking and developing sources of lithium, which is unevenly distributed with large supplies discovered in Asia, South America, and North America.
The $365-million submission for the Transportation Electrification Initiative would to establish a nationwide demonstration fleet of more than 365 test-fleet vehicles, using 100 minivans and 100 Rams across a range of climates and customer types. Partnerships with utilities, governments, and companies have already been established. The remainder of the 365 vehicles would be minivans used by the Post Office in delivering mail in four regions; agreements with utilities have already been established for charging.
Another grant for up to $83 million would establish a new technology and manufacturing center in Michigan, to house development, testing and electric-drive component manufacturing, along with final assembly of electric vehicles. The complex would be functional by 2010 and produce more than 20,000 units per year.
Is the Dodge EV supposed to be a Dodge badged Tesla? The all electric Lotus-based roadster?
As for the GM announcement, i'm not holding my breath, cause i listened to the announcement on the way to work and it started to sound like funny math mumbo-jumbo to get to the 230 number.
And honestly, wouldn't it be better to just come out with a straight number?
yeah, it's the Tesla.Originally Posted by devilmaster
What I don't care for are the executives who are giddy with 'green' press releases say things like "NO impact to the environment."
The Dodge EV is based on the Lotus Europa. The Telsa's an electric Elise.
I got it flip flopped. Lotus electric, Telsa electric Lotus, Dodge electric Lotus Tesla...The Dodge EV is based on the Lotus Europa. The Telsa's an electric Elise.
The Tesla is also a hunk of s***
never mind...
how is that possible when literally 50% of their factories have shut down?
weren't you the one posting how Open and Vauxhall products would do well over here?
To me the significant part of the Dodge EV story isn't the electric power, it's the first adoption of a modern low mass platform by a major player.
I still maintain that the first company to come out with an affordable full size sedan and SUV made from low mass materials will walk away with a load of orders while the rest are busy playing musical powertrains. High mass cars are a loser regardless of powertrain while low mass cars are a win with any powertrain.
oc
I think the best thing about these cars is that the electricity magically comes out of a socket in the wall.
Yep. Thats why I was asking.... It would be a bad idea to base a high volume production car on that. And thats why I thought Dodge was doing it.
Fantastic! I've always wanted a Lotus with the front end of a Dodge Neon!
They did it no favors...
That's not a Europa, this is:
Yep. Thats why I was asking.... It would be a bad idea to base a high volume production car on that. And thats why I thought Dodge was doing it.I've read a few reviews that suggest it is truly awful.Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the Tesla Roadster with the v1.5 transmission and described the driving experience with the exclamations "God almighty!", "Wave goodbye to the world of dial-up, and say hello to the world of broadband motoring!" and "This car is Biblically quick!" when comparing the acceleration versus a Lotus Elise. Halfway through the review, however, Clarkson simulated the experience one might get when the charge falls below the safe level but failed to explain during the programme that the failure was merely a simulation.[94] The Top Gear team calculated that their extremely demanding driving (which Top Gear is famous for putting cars through) would deplete the charge after 53 miles.
The second Tesla roadster reviewed experienced overheating and thus also reduced its power output. The car was shown parked, however, thermal limits only reduce the maximum speed by 16% to 105 mph (169 km/h).[95] Before they could bring the first Tesla roadster out, a "brake failure" had to be fixed. The "brake failure" turned out to be a blown fuse which affected the auto-assist braking feature and not the ability of the car to be stopped[citation needed]. Despite Tesla's conviction that the car was up and running in no time, Clarkson rebuffed saying "Nobody gives a flying **** how the brakes failed. Whether it was a blown fuse or not, they were still not working."[94] Clarkson ended the televised review with the phrase "What we have here then is an astonishing technical achievement. The first electric car that you might actually want to buy. It's just a shame that in the real world, it doesn't seem to work."
I still contend they would if GM still owned them. Ford is taking the Focus and Fiesta to the USA. They're similar products...
Several Opel/Vauxhall products have been for sale in the US since at least 2000. I used to own one: A 2nd-gen Opel Vectra rebadged as a Saturn LS2. Biggest POS I've ever owned. Went through 3 oil pumps in 5 years and had an electrical system I'd swear was wired by Joe Lucas himself.
The later offerings are better cars, but they didn't sell any better.
What the heck is that?
An (lightweight) Aluminium spaceframe I would guess
I hear ya on that one! I had the wagon version of that piece of dung. I had a recurring coolant leak that took three tries to fix, got a new set of tires and rebuilt rear suspension because an engineer screwed up or something.
I traded it in for a Toyota minivan two years later, and seven years later, I'm still digging myself out of the financial hole I put myself in to unload that purple lump of dung.
That seems to be a recurring theme. I can think of 3 fairly major and 1 minor issue that required multiple attempts to properly fix on that car. One of the majors resulted in the service manager agreeing to fix it for free and refund all charges all of the fixes on the condition that I kindly use the other Saturn dealer in town from that point on.
I think the math works out somewhat if you use what they say is a $0.05 off peak rate (charging over night).
At least here in Kansas, residential customers have one rate regardless of the time.
National Average per KW/h is about $0.125 (I adjusted the July/August 2008 rate up somewhat)
National Average for Regular Unleaded is $2.645
So you can get 21.16 KW/h on average for a gallon of gas. ~8KW/h to charge the Volt, and a more reasonable number (in my opinion) is 106 MPG. That also assumes you do not drive more than 40 miles between charges.
Equivalency will be a pain for a simple number. Consumers will really need to figure it out themselves. They should just rate it as miles per KW/h if the car can run full electric and indicate the maximum distance or MPG when it's hybrid mode.
Sorry, by "modern low mass platform" I meant newer than the 19th century stamped steel technology still in current use. Could be carbon or aramid composite, aluminum spaceframe, honeycomb or a combination. The Lotus Europa weighs 175 stone or 995kg in 20th century reckoning and 2193lbs. for those of us in the US.
Jeremy Clarkson tossed some barbs at the Tesla but the fact remains that in the acceleration test it beat the standard Lotus by a snore inducing margin and it lapped faster than a Porsche GT3 all while carrying 1000lb. of battery.
Low mass cars are efficient regardless of power train yet all the industry and media focus is on bleeding edge power technology rather than on developing high volume manufacturing technology for mid-20th century materials like CF and aluminum.
oc
I'm going to buy an electric car and put two turbos on it and a wastegate or two. .
I've read about the concerns of going full electric from an 'enthusiasts' perspective is the overall 'feel' and 'driver input' that may be lacking. I assume that a manual transmission can still be utilized? If they drive like really fast golf carts with a 'go forward' and 'go backward' transmission I'll...well, I'll somethin'!
Oh, and no I haven't read any of the articles listed in this thread.
Why would they do that? One of the pros of an electric engine is the incredible simplicity of the drive train. Basically just the engine and wheels. You don't need a gearbox. Less parts, weighs less, cheaper to make and almost impossible to break (of course the batteries are a different matter).
By the way I seem to recall reading years ago that is exactly why diesel locomotives run on electric engines. The diesel runs a generator which runs an electric engine that does not need a transmission which would be required if you wanted to hook the diesel directly up to the drive train.
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