FairwoodRed
Well-known member
Today, I got this in my inbox:
and I couldn't let it go unanswered, so I replied to all with
Some read with an open mind and were appreciative of my side, but. Well. Others responded like this
That one will take everything I can muster...
This is what Government Motors would like all of us to buy! I think NOT!
From Gov Motors [Obama’s surrogate]….you decide.
Remove politics from your mind and check the numbers here.
Eric Bolling (Fox Business Channel's Follow the Money) test drove the Chevy Volt at the invitation of General Motors.
For four days in a row, the fully charged battery lasted only 25 miles before the Volt switched to the reserve gasoline engine.
Eric calculated the car got 30 mpg including the 25 miles it ran on the battery. So, the range including the 9 gallon gas tank and the 16 kwh battery is approximately 270 miles. It will take you 4 1/2 hours to drive 270 miles at 60 mph. Then add 10 hours to charge the battery and you have a total trip time of 14.5 hours. In a typical road trip your average speed (including charging time) would be 20 mph.
According to General Motors, the Volt battery hold 16 kwh of electricity. It takes a full 10 hours to charge a drained battery.
The cost for the electricity to charge the Volt is never mentioned so I looked up what I pay for electricity. I pay approximately (it varies with amount used and the seasons) $1.16 per kwh.
16 kwh x $1.16 per kwh = $18.56 to charge the battery. $18.56 per charge divided by 25 miles = $0.74 per mile to operate the Volt using the battery.
Compare this to a similar size car with a gasoline engine only that gets 32 mpg. $3.19 per gallon divided by 32 mpg = $0.10 per mile.
The gasoline powered car cost about $15,000 while the Volt costs $46,000.
So GM wants us to pay 3 times as much for a car that costs more that 7 times as much to run and takes 3 times as long to drive across country.
REALLY?
and I couldn't let it go unanswered, so I replied to all with
Please recheck these numbers.
The electricity rate from Chugach is $0.139 per kWh.
The Volt battery pack is only 10.4 kWh usable (the rest is kept in reserve to prevent over/under charging).
The standard Volt charger runs at 3.3kW resulting in a full charge time of just over 3 hours.
The cost for a full charge is only $1.44 and more people get 40 miles per charge than get 25. Range does vary with how you drive and even the quoted 32mpg car can get only 20mpg if driven badly.
The Volt cost per mile is $0.036.
The current cost of gas in Anchorage is $3.99 and at 32mpg, the cost per mile is $0.125.
I own the Nissan Leaf. I don’t really care about the pollution; I care about the energy security and dollars. We have a lot of ways to make electricity - driving on it removes the influence of price fluctuations of a single commodity. If oil goes up, we burn more natural gas, if that also goes us, we burn more coal. And all most everything we burn to make electricity is domestic energy instead of coming from Middle Eastern countries that hate Americans.
The real benefit of electric cars is in the dollars. My last month of gas, I spent $450 at the pump. My car payment was $260, for a monthly total of $710. I’m now spending $50 per month on electricity for the car. My car payment, with no government incentives, is $505 for a total of $555. I’m saving $165 every month. If I trade in my car after a year or two and get another one, I’ll still be saving money every month. And as gas prices rise (China keeps buying more oil) I save even more every month.
As a real world electric car owner, I’ll be happy to discuss the benefits and drawbacks (yes, EV’s have their share of problems.) related to it. And if you’re passing thru SeaTac with a layover, I’ll be happy to show you my car so you can get firsthand experience and make up your own mind.
Some read with an open mind and were appreciative of my side, but. Well. Others responded like this
I despise electric vehicles and see no purpose in them other than to funnel my tax money to some government rent seeking worm.
I will never wait 10 hours to charge my vehicle when I can walk out and crank up my diesel to the tune of 360 hp and 650 ft-lbs of torque. I’m tired of all the chicken little eco-wackos telling me how to live my life when they have been wrong since they walked out of their bong induced haze. They are a vocal fringe element with good PR. It’s time to put the smackdown on hippies and tell them to suck my exhaust pipe.
That one will take everything I can muster...