The Volt is NOT an EV

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cdub

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And this article confirms it:
http://green.autoblog.com/2010/10/11/gm-yes-the-volts-gas-engine-can-power-the-wheels/#comments

GM has now confirmed, late in the game, that the Volt can, in some situations, use the ICE to power the wheels.
Click to expand...

This is a Plug in Hybrid. It is not an EV.

For the longest time they said that the gas engine in the Volt is just a generator/range extender. Apparently they haven't been telling the truth. It can power the drivetrain directly.

Why am I not surprised.

Guess what everyone... there's only one EV on the market in Dec... and it's the LEAF.
 
If that's true there are only 2 words to describe the Volt:

Epic Fail

they managed to make a HEV thats gets HALF the mileage of a Prius (oh, and needs "Premium" gas), Congratulations and welcome to 1995 GM

P.S. you would then be FAR better off just buying a plain old Prius, and get 50mpg.
Got extra cash? get an EV conversion kit, and get between 10 and 60 miles of pure EV range...
either way, your probably less than 41K (if you could even buy a Volt without the additional dealer markup)
 
WELL,
This will be a surprise to people who want to buy an all electric Volt for Christmas.

And guess what the Volt now is not qualified for the $7,500 tax credit is that RIGHT? Hybrids are not getting the $7,500 tax credit this could be a Hugh blow to GM.
 
Purists may hate it but results are what matters. If you can go 33 miles on a charge using little or no gas most days, and go infinity miles on gas if you need to, that's not a bad story... one that real world consumers may find compelling.
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
Purists may hate it but results are what matters. If you can go 33 miles on a charge using little or no gas most days, and go infinity miles on gas if you need to, that's not a bad story... one that real world consumers may find compelling.
Click to expand...

Yes but it isn't what they've been advertising all along.

They've always said that the gasoline engine will NEVER power the drivetrain and that's why they called it an EV.

They lied. It's a plug in hybrid. It's a Prius plug in that gets 30-40 miles electric only and worse mileage than my civic hybrid when it needs to use gas.
 
The real issue here is, it's a 40 mile EV if charged nightly, then it converts to a HEV that gets 1/2 the mileage of a Prius, and needs "premium" gasoline to boot!

Many propective buyers might ask the question:
"I can get an entry level Prius 2 for $23K, a little more than 1/2 the price of the Volt, and get better mileage when my initial 40 miles of EV are gone. Do I really need to spend $18K more for that 40 miles of EV range?"

and yes, I know to the "EV Purists" among us, of course its worth $18K more, but is it to the avergae joe?

and that my friends, is the billion $ question for GM.

IF they had only stayed with the EV1, Toyota might have been chasing GM...
 
mitch672 said:
The real issue here is, it's a 40 mile EV if charged nightly, then it converts to a HEV that gets 1/2 the mileage of a Prius, and needs "premium" gasoline to boot!

Many propective buyers might ask the question:
"I can get an entry level Prius 2 for $23K, a little more than 1/2 the price of the Volt, and get better mileage when my initial 40 miles of EV are gone. Do I really need to spend $18K more for that 40 miles of EV range?"

and yes, I know to the "EV Purists" among us, of course its worth $18K more, but is it to the avergae joe?

and that my friends, is the billion $ question for GM.

IF they had only stayed with the EV1, Toyota might have been chasing GM...
Click to expand...

Heck for $18k more you can ALMOST get a LEAF with all of the incentives in CA.

GM really missed the target audience with this one. I hope they do succeed. I really want an American car company to do well.

Of course... it is ironic that Japan makes more cars in the US than US car companies. My Focus was made in Mexico or Canada.
 
I personally never felt the volt was an EV. It's always been a gas guzzler.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/11/shocker-chevy-says-volts-gas-engine-can-power-the-wheels-its/

But I was willing to tolerate it, if it makes more people think about alternatives.
 
Gonewild said:
And guess what the Volt now is not qualified for the $7,500 tax credit is that RIGHT? Hybrids are not getting the $7,500 tax credit this could be a Hugh blow to GM.
Click to expand...

Ofcourse it is still qualified for $7.5K. Remember GM wrote the legislation to maximize the benefit for Volt.

Parallel / Series / parallel-series hybrids - doesn't matter. If it can be plugged in, it is eligible for the tax credit.
 
Recall this article from US News and World Reports, "Chevy Volt -- 100 mpg, or 48 mpg?" from two years ago? Given GMs argument to the EPA at that point, it appears the Volt likely was intended to be a true serial hybrid, otherwise their argument, it seems to me, would have been baseless. So what will the official MPG for the Volt be? I haven't been able to find it, only speculations.
 
evnow said:
Gonewild said:
And guess what the Volt now is not qualified for the $7,500 tax credit is that RIGHT? Hybrids are not getting the $7,500 tax credit this could be a Hugh blow to GM.
Click to expand...
Ofcourse it is still qualified for $7.5K. Remember GM wrote the legislation to maximize the benefit for Volt.

Parallel / Series / parallel-series hybrids - doesn't matter. If it can be plugged in, it is eligible for the tax credit.
Click to expand...
More specifically, if it can be plugged in, and has at least 5kWh battery capacity, it is eligible for some tax credit. To be eligible for the full $7,500 it needs to have a capacity of 16kWh or more, and GM claims the Volt does, even if you can use only 8kWh of that.
 
indyflick said:
FYI, Motor Trend Explains the Volt’s Powertrain. Also, read through the comments, some are really good. The best ones have been voted down so you need to click on them to read them.
Click to expand...

I love the "voltard" comments, and comparing to the Prius power split device, and they all conclude the "volt is superior", yeah right. And also comparing the Volt to the yet released 2012 PHEV Prius, claiming it will only have an "11 mile EV range", well Voltards, the DEMO version do, who knows what Toyota's actual plans are... and finally, I would rather have driven Priu for the last 10 years (2001 Gen1, 2004 Gen2, and now a 2010 Gen3), and saved the massive amount of fuel I have already... and converting a Prius to an PHEV is not difficult, and is getting less expensive as well... and with the Ewert Brothers custom software, the Prius can now go 70mph in pure EV mode. Nope, the Volt has nothing on the Prius, except a 10-14K Higher price :)
 
Let's not be so harsh on the Volt :roll: . Makes us look bad for one thing. I see the Volt as a stepping stone for people who might probe the waters of the new EV world but are scared of getting stranded when the battery runs out (and let's face it, if someone wanted to exceed the 100 mile range of the Leaf, having the range extending engine makes it possible without waiting several hours to recharge - fast-charge stations won't be ubiquitous for quite some time). So the Volt certainly has its place and I'm glad they're making it. No, they weren't entirely up-front about calling it a range-extended EV, and they weren't up-front earlier in their boasting of its high MPG-e rating, but the fact is just as hybrids paved the way for the Leaf, the Volt will also serve help ease us toward sustainable transportation. We're all on the same side here.
 
I think if you want an extended range EV, just wait for the 2012 PHEV Prius (or convert an older Prius to a PHEV), that will be a car from a company with a PROVEN track record in the hybrid world, and when the EV range (whatever it ends up being) runs out, you'll still be in a Prius, getting 50mpg (or better, the test PHEV Prius were getting nearly 65mpg with pack exhaustion, because they have more regen capability).

Nope, a plug in Prius will be cheaper and a better value, and better for the environment and do more to get us off foriegn oil than the Volt will, and Toyota will make more of them in the first year, than GM will make in 5 years, so they will have a bigger impact on lowering oil/gasoline usage than the Volt will.
 
That Volt transmission is starting to look complicated along with the controls.
Just more stuff to fail and need service.

BTW, where is the mileage if the system is so efficient? My 1987 Chev Sprint (Suzuki) would get just over 50 mpg.
 
And, yet another take on the "Volt-as-PHEV-vs-'EREV'" issue, with a little harsher stand:

"How GM 'Lied' about the Electric Car"
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-gm-lied-about-the-electric-car-2010-10

These latest discussions are a a long ways from the early marketing talking points about the Volt being able to achieve 230 mpg ....

The Chevy Volt has been hailed as General Motors' electric savior. Now, as GM officially rolls out the Volt this week for public consumption, we're told the much-touted fuel economy was misstated and GM "lied" about the car being all-electric.

In the past, and based on GM's claims, we've gone so far as to call the Volt GM's "Jesus Car." And why wouldn't we call it that? We were told the Volt would achieve 230 MPG fuel economy and would always use the electric drivetrain to motivate the wheels — only using the onboard gasoline engine as a "range extender" for charging the batteries. It now turns out that not only were those fuel economy claims misleading, but the gasoline engine is actually used to motivate the wheels — making the Volt potentially nothing more than a very advanced hybrid car and pushing some automotive journalists like Scott Oldham at Edmunds.com to claim "GM lied to the world" about it.

First of all, let's talk about fuel economy. In August of last year, we heard GM's then-CEO Fritz Henderson claimed with all the marketing might it could muster at a Detroit-area press event, that the Chevy Volt would get 230 MPG in city driving conditions. Now, as the Volt's being tested by the auto trade press, we're seeing some surprisingly low fuel economy figures amid the expected lavish praise buff books are heaping upon the Volt ...."
Click to expand...
 

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