Volt's pricing could provide sticker shock

Electical cars were available before the other cars more than a century ago. Lot of companies aremaking them now. Why can Gm not make a decent electical car now? If they promise an electrical car three years later it will always be three years later.

2010 they will promise it 2013 if Gm is still operating then.

Is your century old electric car powered by lithium-ion batteries, capable of going 40 miles on a single charge?

None like the Volt.

Technology doesn't fall off trees, dumbshit.

Better to wait until they prefect it, then build them not knowing if they are going to work properly.

Piss off Gosi. I don't think you have said one good thing about GM, and I haven't seen any posts (that I can recall) where you have contributed to this newsgroup. GM will be operating long after you are 6 feet under. Get used to it.

Yes more than that

Really. In a fully enclosed, and tested to todays safety standards vehicle? One that has all the creature comforts that are wanted today. Like HEAT, windshield wipers, stereo, air conditioning, power steering, lights and turn signals and all the rest?

How about the minor detail of all the service the old wet cells require? Think the general public is willing to go back to that?

NOPE.

After a few more wars the only available vehicles available will be these

Any vehicle offered for sale in the US must meet all EPA and NHTSA regulations.

According to the GM Stockholders Report the lithium-ion batteries used in the volt will cost around $10,000 dollars, compared to the $6,000 to $8,000 cost of the current batteries used in other hybrids. The lithium-ion batteries are much smaller and weigh much less than MH batteries currently I use in hybrids. In addition, lithium-ion batteries will totally power a car that will use less nearly 1/3 less fuel on average and lithium-ion last nearly half again as long and can be recharged overnight, with standard household current, for around $4.

Recharging will allow the Volt to be run up to around 80 miles in commuter traffic and up to 120 miles if heat or AC is not required. When used at highway speeds, on board charging by the small engine and regenerative braking, it will run up to 260 miles or more on a charge.

Test Volts have been run over 6,000 miles without using ANY fuel, except electricity. It seems to me the Volt is closer to representing the vehicles of ttn years in the future than any of the current hybrid systems.

In just a very few years current used hybrids will worth little or nothing because they will be outdated like a five year old PC and HD-DVDs

GM - and other manufacturers - can't make a practical electric car because of the increased mass (due to both safety and comfort/ convenience features,) speeds, etc. that modern consumers expect. Using the same technology we probably could build a car that would basically be a go-kart with bicycle wheels etc. that would kick the butts of the old-time electrics in terms of range and be comparable in features and performance but nobody would buy it because it wouldn't be street legal and wouldn't be desirable for many people anyway.

The real problem is as Lutz correctly states the energy storage medium. We just don't have the technology to approach the energy density of gasoline or Diesel fuel with any other medium.

nate

Yes, and this is a good reason why the Volt doesn't have better performance. Mass is the enemy, and all new cars have a lot of legislatively-added mass.

I agree. It sounds like, if the info you presented is correct, that GM is actually headed in the right direction (for once.)

You do know that the Volt is still a hybrid, yes? simply a series hybrid not a parallel hybrid.

nate

Got ya covered...

...that's my great-grandpappy, his bro' and a few buddies all decked out in their nice winter gear. (Notice the gun holster on the car.)