Re: Chevy "Volt" Electric Car Debuts - Mostly Good, but Whiney Faux-Greenies Unhappy
- From: ChrisT <micromutt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:17:29 -0700
On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:47:58 -0500, Question Everything
<Question@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
bw@xxxxxxxxx (Blackwater) wrote in news:48cfec16.103440One solution might be to recharge while people are at work by using
@news.west.earthlink.net:
I know the environazis are screaming for pollution-free vehicles, but if
you just stop and think about electric cars, what are the environmental
and practical energy drawbacks:
1. A large part of America's electricity is generated by burning oil,
coal and nuclear power. These are terribly polluting! Unless somebody
comes up with the "magic answer" we have all been looking for to solve
our energy needs, more electric use means more oil, coal, and nuclear
power in the future along with clean/renewable hydro-electric the growing
use of alternatives that still make up a miniscule part of the power grid
in America.
2. Our national and regional "power grids" are already stressed to
capacity limits. Many states and regions are forced to create "rolling
blackouts" during the hot summer months just to avoid regional system
shutdowns. Imagin how much more power will be sucked off the grid if a
lot of people start plugging in their cars when they get home from work
at peak power usage time from 4-7pm every day?
3. I am not AGAINST electric cars. I am just pointing out the realities
of life when they become commonly used. They are NOT part of the "magic
answer" everybody seems to think is going to come along soon. There is
still a high toll to pay for electric vehicles as there is for all power
consuming machines. Welcome to the reality of modern life.
CNN
DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors unveiled the Chevrolet Volt
electric vehicle on Tuesday, allowing outsiders their first full look
at the car GM says will go on sale in 2010.
"The Volt symbolizes GM's commitment to the future," said Rick
Wagoner, the company's chairman and CEO.
The Volt will be driven by electricity stored in a large T-shaped
lithium-ion battery pack running the length of the car. After charging
for several hours, the Volt will be able to run for up to about 40
miles without using gasoline.
GM did not announce pricing for the car, which will have the
equivalent of about 150 horsepower and a top speed of 100 mph, the
automaker said.
To charge the batteries, drivers will plug a cord into one of the
ports just ahead of each of the side mirrors. The cord can then be
attached to an ordinary home electrical outlet.
The car will cost "less than purchasing a cup of your favorite coffee"
to recharge, and use less electricity annually than a refrigerator.
The Volt should cost less than 2 cents per mile to drive on
electricity, GM said, compared to 12 cents a mile on gasoline at a
price of $3.60 a gallon.
As the battery begins to run down as the car is in use, a small
gasoline engine will turn on and generate enough electricity to drive
the car about 300 miles.
Disappointed fans
Unlike hybrid cars, or plug-in hybrids, the Volt is driven only be
electricity. The gasoline engine never directly drives the car's
wheels.
Based on photos released last week - inadvertently, GM says - many
people posting comments on car blogs have expressed disappointment
that the production car does not look as angular and aggressive as the
original concept vehicle.
"The majority of [the comments] are negative," Lyle Dennis, a New
Jersey neurologist who runs the blog GM-Volt.com, said last week. "A
lot of people are saying they're very disappointed and 'take me off
the [waiting] list.' "
- - - - - -
Hey ! What happened to "Save the planet", "Save fuel" and
"Save America" ??? Instead we get "Waaaah ! It doesn't look
'electric' enough ! Waaaah ! I don't WANT one now !" ....
Disgusting.
Looks like the REAL idea was "Look cool" and "Impress
the neighbors with how Green I am".
In short, the goal was "green" was as in "envy" - not
"green" as in "environmentalism".
And they wonder why we sometimes imply that liberal
greenies are as shallow as a plastic wading pool ...
and almost as smart.
Actually, the "Volt" looks like, well ... a car. Just a
perfectly nice small sedan. Maybe if they'd painted a
big blue lighting-bolt down the side ???
Now for the tech points :
A 40 mile all-battery range ain't great. Not a lot of
people were able to move closer to where they worked
when oil prices went up - which means they've still
got something of a commute each day. I'll bet that's
more than 40 miles round-trip in most cases.
Something like a 75 mile all-battery range would have
covered most REAL commutes without adding THAT much
extra weight and expense to the car. Perhaps they can
add a "low-performace / economy" mode to the brain where
you can choose to sacrifice acceleration for duration ?
Indirect drive ... where the gas motor just runs a
battery charger instead of being connected to the main
drivetrain. Actually, this is a very GOOD idea, especially
if your aim is high economy. Why ? I'll tell you :
A gasoline engine that directly drives a car has to be
build HEAVIER and far less OPTIMIZED than one that's
always driving a smooth constant load at a constant
RPM. The weight is because of the mechanical stress
involved in acceleration, deceleration, clanging
transmissions and such. The optimization issue stems
from the fact that the motor has to perform decently
from idle speed up to full speed - back and forth,
back and forth.
At a CONSTANT load and RPM, the timing, cams, fuel
delivery and several other factors can be tweaked to
their most perfect level of economy.
Freeing the gas motor from the drivetrain also frees it
from the abovementioned rough treatment - meaning the
whole motor can be built using lighter materials. This
translates into a lighter vehicle (better economy) and
less materials at the factory (lower cost).
Further savings can be realized by the difference between
the way an electric motor affects the transmission and
drivetrain and how a gas motor does. The electric motor
is smoother - less herky-jerky - so gears can be made a
bit lighter. The absolute torque an electric motor puts
on the downstream parts can also be controlled exactly
with smart electronics - further reducing the chances
of an overload.
So, you get a lighter, cheaper, more reliable car. You DO
lose acceleration once the battery goes flat and all the
power is coming from the gas motor. In short, the car can
be sort of "sporty" for about 40 miles ... and then turns
back into an old-fashioned 'economy car' until it fully
recharges. Sorry, but you can't have it all ...
All in all, I'd say GM made the right choices here - except
for the size of the battery pack. Perhaps they're counting
on better batteries becoming availible soon.
The enduring mystery will be the ultimate PRICE - will they
try to GOUGE would-be purchasers to make up for their very
BAD decisions relative to SUVs ? The graffiti was on the
wall guys, for YEARS ... "Fuel is going up and STAYING up".
Should have re-tooled for economy cars much SOONER.
OK ... this brings us to one OTHER, more general, question.
What if, say, 50% of drivers sell their existing vehicles
for scrap metal and buy a 'Volt' ?
I'll just guess that the thing requires 10 amps of electricity
over a four to six hour period to recharge. That's 1000 watts
times six hours, 6 kilowatt-hours every day - kind of like
roasting a couple of big turkeys in the oven.
PRICE-wise ... it ain't all THAT bad. Ok ... it's like
chucking all your compact flourescent bulbs and replacing
them with ten old-fashioned 100-watt filament lightbulbs.
Your bill WILL go up. That "cup of coffee" analogy that
GM is pushing ... well ... think the super-duper Starbucks
special coffee with all the trimmings, not Folgers Instant.
They're also making some assumptions about "average driving"
that aren't gonna be true for YOU (or hardly anyone).
However the REAL issue isn't "you" ... it's ALL the "you's"
in the entire city. Maybe a MILLION times 6 kW/H extra
electricity required in the early evenings. Many utility
companies are already stretched ... it's part of the reason
many offer discounts for buying extra insulation, newer
appliances and CF bulbs. They're trying to stretch their
existing, EXPENSIVE, infrastructure to cover a lot more
people than it was originally built for.
Can the electric grid and power plants HANDLE an extra
six million kW/H or more, say, in and around Los Angeles,
NY/NJ, Chicago, Miami etc ??? If not, you're gonna find
some BIG charges on your electric bill - for putting
in thousands of larger transmission wires, transformers
and switches plus extra powerplants - and all the
worker-hours it takes to do the job.
solar cells. they could be used at their homes too.
I really don't care at this point but I would like to see OPEC
going back to milking goats.
They don't say how far you can go if you have to drive at night
using headlights.
All new cars should go to using Diode lights ?
.
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