Dying for a Chevy Volt, but....

[Michael A. Terrell]

If it smokes you need to overhaul the engine.

[Michael A. Terrell]

What a moron. Those "charts, figures, and graphs, explaining why electrics won't work" tell you why its too expensive.

[Jack]

You are apparently too full of shit to be taken seriously, DD

[dsi1]

I bet you thought the iPad would never catch on too. Guys with your attitude are a dime-a-dozen. :-)

[dsi1]

Dis-engaging!

[Tom Gardner]

Has anybody mentioned that "Road Tax" *will* be levied on electricity for cars? How soon is a guess.

[whoyakidding's ghost]

WTF? You want a cheap EV, and you think you have some great ideas how to do it. You have this army of self proclaimed experts in every subject imaginable, and they have nothing better to do than argue politics etc. It's a match made in heaven! Are they really ABLE, or are you using some gunneresque definition of 'able.'

OK, they ARE able, but they just don't want to do it?

(snipped all the etc)

Sorry, you aren't entitled to claim to know how to redesign the car market or argue macro trauma economics if you can't produce a single EV prototype using a capable yet idle workforce.

... and they're supported by a layer of 200mpg cars that the oil companies prevented us from having, right?

[Vic Smith]

My understanding is the battery heating circuit is isolated from the engine cooling circuit. The battery provides it's own juice. The ICE starts when outside temp drops below 26F, to warm the cabin. For later model 2012 and for 2013 models the temp point is 35F. Some owners don't like that, and would be happy with just the electric heated seats, so the ICE doesn't come on and make them buy gas. Speculation is it's a safety issue - defogging the windows. But it's probably more a marketing issue - using all electric cabin heating would reduce the all-electric range, which is a big selling point. OTOH, real "gasoline-haters," would probably prefer a shorter all-electric range, and only hear the ICE kick in when they push against range. And the A/C is all electric HP, not ICE. I've seen different posters saying A/C cost them 10-30% of range. Probably depends on "mode" and where they set the temp, just like any A/C. Thing is the A/C not only cools the cabin, but the battery too. Think that kicks in at 86F.. The thermal management system is pretty sophisticated. I've seen some discussion about the Nissan Leaf having inadequate cooling (air-cooling) but don't know how real the concerns are. Anyway, heating and cooling reduces the Volt all-electric range automatically except in the 35-85F range, to maintain the battery and defog windows. And the owner can reduce it further by jacking the cabin temp up or down.

[Jon Elson]

I actually built one in about 1984 or so. A friend donated a VW beetle with BAD rust. You could see both rear tires from the driver's seat, and there was no floor for the driver. I welded a piece of scrap for the driver's floor. I got 4 90 AH trolling motor batteries and a Surplus Center jet engine starter motor. I got a Kaylor adapter to mount the starter motor on the VW gearbox. I built a field current controller so I had some amount of speed control. It was a lot of fun to drive, but would have been almost impossible to get it licensed in that condition.

Anyway, I wanted to build a hybrid, and got a trashed Honda 350 engine, and made a ghastly bad hack to fit a stratofortress generator to it. The engine barely ran, and the coupling to the generator was going to rip itself apart, so I kind of idled the project. I still have all the electric pieces, though. Given the right body, I could imagine trying this again on a small, stick shift car.

I think if doing it again, I'd go with maybe 8 deep cycle batteries, an armature controller, and maybe skip the hybrid thing.

Jon

[Gunner]

All one needs to do is use Google to determine TDD is right..and you are an idiot.

Sucks to be you.

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

[The Daring Dufas]

You still don't grok the reality of modern transportation. My favorite small car was my 1967 Renault 10. It had an 1108cc four cylinder liquid cooled rear engine and was a great deal of fun to drive. It weighed

1730lbs and would be a great candidate for a DIY electrical conversion. I could hop in the munchkin mobile and drive it a minimum of 300 miles without refueling but there is no "electric only" car I know of that can accomplish such a feat. To me, time is money and I can't screw around waiting for my transportation to recharge it's batteries when someone calls for my help. I'm actually looking for a small vehicle to zip around in but an electric vehicle would still not be suitable for that purpose. Understand this, I like electric vehicles for the jobs they're capable of doing. They are not a panacea for an energy shortage by any means and if you knew the whole story of the real cost of electric cars, you know that they're not as Green and nonpolluting as you may have been led to believe. O_o

TDD

[Stormin Mormon]

+1 nominated for best post of the week.

Didn't mention elephants, or Volkswagens, either.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

They buy short ladders because a long one won't fit in the trunk of a Volt.

[The Daring Dufas]

The United States is not Europe and what works for Europe will not necessarily work for The United States. It's the same story for my Australian cousins, a European transportation system would not be suitable Down Under. ^_^

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

The population density is also similar to Europe but get outside the densely populated cities of the Northeast and your subway pass won't get you very far. ^_^

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

I think it's wonderful that you can use an electric vehicle. An 80 mile range would work for me when all I have to do is go to the pharmacy, the grocery store or other shopping but that's not all I do during a day. I combine trips and I often plan a route to combine shopping with my service calls. It's a simple concept that seems to be beyond the mental capability of many people. ^_^

TDD

[Vic Smith]

Better deal? Does that mean everybody should buy the one car that Car and Driver says is a "better deal?" +20,000 Volts were sold last year. According to Forbes, the Volt "is outselling about half of all cars marketed in the U.S."

So your "totally out of the running" is a personal opinion.

The all-electric Nissan Leaf gets more preference with government incentives than the Volt. And you probably meant to say "federal and state government bribes." Many states are kicking in.

I noticed a guy in the Volt forum said he got a $6k tax credit from Colorado to add to the $7.5k from the fed.

[Michael A. Terrell]

So, Jack really doesn't know shit?

[Michael A. Terrell]

Your gears were stripped long ago, and your clutch is slipping.

[Michael A. Terrell]

Don't step on the mental midgets. It's hell to scrape them off your shoes, and they smell really bad when you crush them. :(

[Existential Angst]

WTF???

Your lucidity ebbs and flows.... I think you need a few months of rest, relaxation, and detox.