Volt

[MrAngry]

I just spoke to Greg Cecil who was one of the men in charge on the Volt Project yesterday. I have a radio show on Sirius Sat. and he was our guest.



The Volt is a very interesting car and he was very quick to point out that it was NOT a hybrid but an "Extended Range" vehicle. You can charge it with a 220 or 110 standard outlet with a full charge w/ a 210 being done in about 3 hrs. where a 110 will take about 8. The first 40 miles of use will be done solely on electric power, no gas. After that there is gas engine that will recharge the batteries. However the Volt's wheels are ONLY powered by the electric motor, never by gas engine. Once the 40 miles of electric charge runs out fuel economy will that of an average 4 door sedan. He would not go into details about that or the price of the car.

All electrics in the run off the batteries - even the heaters are electric. All in all its a really cool piece of technology. Batteries are said to have a 10+ year life span as well. If you do a 40 mile commute you essentially run to work, charge the car and run home for about .80 cents... the thing is pretty cool. 0-60 is about 9 secs with a top end of around 100mph.

[dannyho]

just a question about the technology. that's great for the summer, but what happens when you get in the car in the winter. That little generator motor doesn't put off enough heat to keep you warm does it? and If they use the generator to run an electric heater, I'd like to know what that does to your mileage. Unless it really is a status vehicle, then that all kind of goes away

[SaturnVUEguy]

dannyho, with the current projected price, it'll be nothing but a status car. Now if they could drop the price to somewhat compete price-wise with a Prius on the other hand... Admit it, we all know the main competition is the Prius, even if its not cassified as a hybrid

[Damn True]

I just spoke to Greg Cecil who was one of the men in charge on the Volt Project yesterday. I have a radio show on Sirius Sat. and he was our guest.

The Volt is a very interesting car and he was very quick to point out that it was NOT a hybrid but an "Extended Range" vehicle. You can charge it with a 220 or 110 standard outlet with a full charge w/ a 210 being done in about 3 hrs. where a 110 will take about 8. The first 40 miles of use will be done solely on electric power, no gas. After that there is gas engine that will recharge the batteries. However the Volt's wheels are ONLY powered by the electric motor, never by gas engine. Once the 40 miles of electric charge runs out fuel economy will that of an average 4 door sedan. He would not go into details about that or the price of the car.

All electrics in the run off the batteries - even the heaters are electric. All in all its a really cool piece of technology. Batteries are said to have a 10+ year life span as well. If you do a 40 mile commute you essentially run to work, charge the car and run home for about .80 cents... the thing is pretty cool. 0-60 is about 9 secs with a top end of around 100mph.

Steering and brakes: Mechanical systems, or are they too tied into the electrics?

[SaturnVUEguy]

DT, probably electronic. My VUE has electronic power steering