Chevy hopes an estimated 230 mpg will give its Volt a charge

[MTK]

Chevy hopes an estimated 230 mpg will give its Volt a charge - NJ.com

230 mpg?! Wow.

[KLHJ2]

Whan I saw this yesterday, I had the same reaction. Then of course a co-worker said "that's nothing, they have had the technology to produce even more gas mileage for many years now". While I agree that we have, you cannot play down the fact that it is still almost 10 times better than what we have seen of late. It's like going from an Atari to a PS3.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Angry

Whan I saw this yesterday, I had the same reaction. Then of course a co-worker said "that's nothing, they have had the technology to produce even more gas mileage for many years now". While I agree that we have, you cannot play down the fact that it is still almost 10 times better than what we have seen of late. It's like going from an Atari to a PS3.

This would seem to be a huge step forward potentially. If the car is a hit with the public it's only going to increase the demand and other auto makers will have to jump on board.

[KLHJ2]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

This would seem to be a huge step forward potentially. If the car is a hit with the public it's only going to increase the demand and other auto makers will have to jump on board.

It's about time though. I am tired of driving through the City and choking on exhaust from old vehicles and trucks.

I wonder what impact this will have on gas prices though. Part of me thinks that they will get cheaper (supply and Demand), but because people will be buying fuel less frequently I get this feeling that the prices will increase so that oil trycoons can maintain their operating costs. Eventually the oil companies are going to have to downsize or face bankruptcy much like the auto industry.

[MTK]

I always laugh at commercials pimping 30 or 35 mpg. In this day and age that's really the best we can do?

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Angry

It's about time though. I am tired of driving through the City and choking on exhaust from old vehicles and trucks.

I wonder what impact this will have on gas prices though. Part of me thinks that they will get cheaper (supply and Demand), but because people will be buying fuel less frequently I get this feeling that the prices will increase so that oil trycoons can maintain their operating costs. Eventually the oil companies are going to have to downsize or face bankruptcy much like the auto industry.

Oil companies aren't to blame for gas prices as much as the cartels that own the oil. Actual oil companies would lower and raise costs according to demand a lot more if they got their product through a true market but oil prices are price-fixed. So prices probably would go up when demand went down and eventually we won't have to care about the middle east anymore because we wont need their oil. It has always been the paradox for OPEC. Fix the price higher and higher to make more money but at some point they'll fix it high enough to put themselves out of business.

In any case I am glad Chevy has this basically ready to go. We desperately need more vehicles like this. Imagine if we actually eliminated all the current cars on the road in like a 15 year period. Amazing. We could do it if we really wanted...and that'd be a stimulus that would truly help our manufacturing. As long as we stayed on top of the technology and didn't let Toyota and Honda get back ahead of us.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

This would seem to be a huge step forward potentially. If the car is a hit with the public it's only going to increase the demand and other auto makers will have to jump on board.

At around 40 grand it cannot be a very big hit with the public. Now if they came out with a car like this for around 15 grand then it would be a big hit.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by firstdown

At around 40 grand it cannot be a very big hit with the public. Now if they came out with a car like this for around 15 grand then it would be a big hit.

Sounds like there's going to be some significant tax breaks for it though.

It might not be a big hit right away but I'm betting in just a few years it could be.

[Schneed10]

There would be significant savings on the gas, but astute customers would ask how much is my electric bill going to increase as a result of having to charge this puppy?

If that increase significantly offsets the gas savings, nobody will pay $40,000 for one of these.

[Schneed10]

Looks like the article says it will cost 40 cents per day to charge. That's $2.80 per week, or about $12 per month. So indeed, the savings would be tremendous.

[RobH4413]

Also makes you wonder what the maintenance fee's would be? I can't imagine it's cheap to fix a 40,000 dollar electric car.

[JoeRedskin]

100 years ago, an airplane that could fly 30 mph for a couple hours was the height of technological accomplishment. Cars were still a luxury for the rich.

50 years ago, the only thing we did with nuclear energy was blow things up.

25 years ago, CD's, DVD's and the internet were unknown to anybody but a select few.

10 years ago, I had a computer that performed at 1/100th (just a guess) of the capacity of the one I now own and was comparitively expensive -- If I could find it, I could get a computer capable of performing on that level for (just guessing again) under a hundred bucks.

Once technology breaks through the "infrastructure" barrier, consumer demand will take over. I think that is why electric vehicles will succeed before any other type of alternative fuel vehicle does. Right now, you can plug stuff in just about anywhere you could get gas - more so in fact. It is the only power infrastructure, other than gasoline that straddles the country (and most of the globe).

I think that electrical cars will make similar leaps in technology that other such devices have shown through history and that battery technology will develop (longer lasting, smaller and more quickly recharging batteries) quickly once certain critical masses are acheived. They will be expensive at first but competition and consumer demand will drive costs down. As consumer demand rises, investment will initially increase and then probably level off once a research infrastructure is built and a critical mass in brain power dedicated this technology is reached.

Of course, our current electrical infrastructure is old and in need of major overhaul to handle the increased demand for energy and the need to transmit power generated from alternative fuel sources: Infrastructure Report Card 2005; U.S. electric grid needs major overhaul: utility | Green Business | Reuters.

Also, electrical energy doesn't just magically appear, it comes from generators that are in turn powered by natural gas, coal and nuclear energy. In 2006, nearly 50% of our electrical energy was generated by coal. File:Sources of electricity in the USA 2006.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. While the US has an abundance of coal, it is also the dirtiest of energy sources.

It is in these two areas that govt. should be "investing". Unfortunately, due to the drunken spending of the last adminstration and the apparent continuation of that trend by the current administration, I am not sure the US has the resources or will power needed to invest our infrastructure.

Sorry to distract from football yet again.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Sounds like there's going to be some significant tax breaks for it though.

It might not be a big hit right away but I'm betting in just a few years it could be.

Like I said the price has to drop in half before it can become big. Repairs will also be a big factor and I'll bet new bats. for this car will run over 5 grand. Then you have insurance. I'm not sure why but the current hybrid cars are very expensive on ins.

JR, great post.

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Like I said the price has to drop in half before it can become big. Repairs will also be a big factor and I'll bet new bats. for this car will run over 5 grand. Then you have insurance. I'm not sure why but the current hybrid cars are very expensive on ins.

For the same reason the car is expensive - you total your prius, it's gonna cost a lot more to replace than my hyundai. I am betting that your liability insurance is the same regardless of whether you have a hybrid or a conventional car.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Like I said the price has to drop in half before it can become big. Repairs will also be a big factor and I'll bet new bats. for this car will run over 5 grand. Then you have insurance. I'm not sure why but the current hybrid cars are very expensive on ins.

JR, great post.

They are more dangerous and require extra care/cleanup in an accident, from the battery acid to the extremely high voltage lines running through the car that must be very carefully avoided if they need to cut you out of the car. Fire and EMS need special training for responding to Hybrid wrecks.