Thanks for getting the correction from GM though.

I wonder if someone knowledgeable might be able to say why a turbine is not a consideration. As I understand it turbines have as little as one moving part, are good for running generators, and can run on almost any fuel. I suspect that different fuels would require adjustments to the injection. Turbines don’t have a good torque curve, and take time to spin up, but that’s not an issue for a range extender.

I have to wonder if GM might have been testing the waters here. In any case, they are listening, which is also great.

About E85, I’ll buy the Volt either way. I’d be more interested in a BioDiesel version though.

I really think that if we’re going to solve our transportation fuel problems, we need to keep it simple. We’re going to run out of oil, and we’ve probably started to already. Electric vehicles are more efficient and we already have an infrastructure in place. If we spent the next 20 to 30 years building PBR nuclear reactors, coal plants (with carbon sequestration and/or conversion to methanol/butanol) and upgrading our electrical delivery systems with intelligent routing and storage, we’ll be well on our way to energy independence. If you add renewable energy and futuristic concepts such as high altitude wind power generation and advanced geothermal, we would have abundant power for the foreseeable future.

The Volt is a small step in this direction, but it is more important as a symbol. If the Volt gains widespread acceptance, it can serve as a a tangible symbol of the kind of changes that need to be made in this country to ensure that our children and grandchildren will enjoy the same freedoms and standard of living that we have.

Thanks for your work again.