On Wednesday November 10th, I had my first full day of living with the Chevrolet Volt. I would like to take you through it as if you were there.
First for those who asked, no I didn’t sleep in my Volt the night before, but when I awoke in the AM I was sure very excited and looking forward to going out to my garage and getting in it.
On my arrival there, I found the car had successfully fully charged while it was plugged in overnight. The display showed charging time was complete at 11:15 PM; I had plugged it in to the 240-v charger in the fully depleted state at 5:15PM…
When I booted up the car, that’s really what it is like turning it on though quicker, the battery showed I had 36 miles of EV range. That was determined based on previous driving behavior in a miles per kwh estimation. The car at that point had 133 mpg lifetime efficiency which was based on the more than 1200 engineering validation miles GM had put on it prior to my delivery.
The first leg of my journey was from my home to the first hospital I work at. The actual distance was 22.8 miles, and when I arrived, the car showed 15 miles of EV range were left. That drive took place mostly on the highway at 70 + MPH. Outside temperature was 49 degrees, and I kept the cabin at 72 degrees using ECO mode. Comfort mode setting indicated it would drain twice as much power if I had chosen it.
The car was a charm on the highway. It was more than fast enough to deal with all types of merges, entrances, and passes, and handled very sprightly. I looked to see if anyone stared or noticed the car, and interestingly I didn’t see one person do so.
RTFA and follow Dr. Lyle Dennis – as I have since he founded GM-Volt.com in January, 2007. He built the site – and fan base – based upon his well-reasoned preference for the electrification of automobiles. It’s been a long and always interesting journey.
Faxon popped his head out of his cave where he apparently hasn’t heard of the Volt.
From what I read it isn’t as good much of a luxury car finish I would want for a 40K car. I’ve been leaning toward a Ford Edge myself.
Any “Miles per Gallon” is UNACCEPTABLE !!!
We want cars that NEVER NEED TO GO TO A GAS STATION !!!
#34 What’s your opinion on engine horsepower?
#34: You need a bicycle, or a nearby bus stop. If you’re lucky, maybe a rapid transit stop.
Electric cars are commercially available, but still need to be charged.
Compressed air cars “solve” a lot of problems. Add solar cells charging a compressed air tank at home for immediately recharging the car and you’ve got a response to battery shortcomings, China controlling rare metals, centralized coal plants, coal mining, environmental degradation, all sorts of things.
Not sexy though. Was going to link to this ON THE SHELF technology in France, but came across a counter article. In true liberal fashion, I will link it instead:
http://popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/news/compressed-air-car-myth
Not that good, but links elsewhere. I’d buy one for a second car. They are cheap.
City living is fine for serfs, not so much for free people. Mass transit makes people dependent, not independent. Want to improve America?
A. Make mass transit illegal.
B. Remove the right to vote from city dwellers.
C. Outlaw vehicles that can’t carry 4 adults 700 miles in 10 hours regularly.
D. Implement a tax refund based on mileage driven. Reward people who drive a lot.
E. Encourage larger houses far from work.
Humans should have more dignity than mass transit urban living.
And when the public doesn’t buy them, I guess they’ll deliver a large government contract to bailout GM again, calling it a green initiative?
#38 I welcome any ideas from Teabaggers to put on the table for debate!
Fortunately the Republican congress will soon squash the europhile’s dreams of subsidizing a boondoggle like this.
Then they can move on to more important tasks such as preparing to replace all liberals still struggling to hold office.
What a great story! I truly believe EVs are our future! A little battery upgrade for more miles to go and it will a perfect ride to have for every American family!
mextli, its not that easy. GE is buying tens of thousands of these cars, because they are getting subsidies for the sale of their charging stations, and they need to help the government out here to keep their subsidies as well as the tens of millions of dollars of stimulus they received.
Plus they got China to buy some of GM.
30-40 mile range isn’t very useful for a substantial number of people, even if they only use it for their daily commute. You need to have at least 60 to cover LA/NY/Chicago.
30-40 mile one way doesn’t get me to work. 40k+ on this monstrosity of a car? No thanks. Same goes for the Leaf too.
I can imagine that living in cold climates, or very hot ones for that matter, will obviously put a big hurt on mileage.
Speaking of range, it’s pretty disappointing that the range of the ev only range Volt is only about half of that of the old EV1.