Comments on: Latest Chevy Volt Battery Pack and Generator Details and Clarifications

By: Roy

Roy — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:23:42 +0000

press releases indicate 25 kWh / 100 miles energy efficiency in electric mode or 10 kWh / 40 mile range. This would mean that 62.5 % of the battery capacity would be required to achieve the stated 40 mile range. That leads me to believe that plug in charging does take the battery to full capacity making 11.2 kWh available before the gas generator starts (at 30% charge) for a slightly longer than 40 mile range at the 25 kWh / 100 mile efficiency. I have also come across a 50 mpg figure for extended range driving. I don’t know how much the battery pack actually costs except that it is significantly less than $1000 / kWh. When it gets below $200 / kWh more people will be able to afford to buy a Chevy Volt (or similar PHEV). It will be interesting to see the price and sales volume when it hits auto dealer showrooms. An economic recovery and $5 / gal gasoline would help a lot but I’m not sure when we’ll see that.

By: Karn K.

Karn K. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:57:03 +0000

Mike756, I have simple answer for you:-) Do not charge the car if you live on the top of the long hill. This will allow you to regen brake and charge your battery while you go down hill.

By: Jeffhre

Jeffhre — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 05:12:07 +0000

#49 Jim West

a nearly $20K battery?

Expected 8kwh volt battery to be about $6k and drop precipitously with expanding mass production. In comparison Tesla roadster battery is 53kwh and has gone from $25k in ‘06 to about $22k currently and there have only been about ten production and 20 preproduction Teslas made so far.

# 52 Brandon

Ultra caps currently have a lower energy density than commodity lithium batteries and are therefore bigger and heavier than a battery pack with the same charge capacity. The wonderful ones projected on the msnbc article are unfortunately still just projected and currently for sale in automotive applications as vapor ware only editions.

By: brandon

brandon — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:27:39 +0000

Just drop the whole battery and ICE…

Just use some Ultracapasitors… 500 mile range.. 5 minute charge..

Who needs anything else? Even if you only get 1/2 the range and double the charge time? so 250 miles, 10 minute charge up… Wouldn’t you still buy it?

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20533045/

By: tai viinikka

tai viinikka — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:14:34 +0000

Anyone that thinks a nearly $20K battery is practical is living on another planet.

Probably. But just for comparison, what does a new GM V6 engine, transmission, injectors, valves, alternator, and 12 V battery cost?

I think $4/ga gasoline is totally impractical, but that doesn’t change the price. So what do I do now?

By: Niel

Niel — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:20:21 +0000

Jim,

How do you know what the Volt’s Lithium-ion battery is going to cost, when the car is released 2 years from now?

By: Jim West

Jim West — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:18:54 +0000

The high cost of the Volt’s Lithium-Ion battery will kill the Volt.
Anyone that thinks a nearly $20K battery is practical is living on another planet.

By: SusHI | Sustainability in Hawai`i » how much electricity will our cars need? on kWh per mile

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:34:35 +0000

[...] according to the folks at GM Volt, the Zap Xebra about 175 watt-hours per mile but is limited to 40 mph max. Neighborhood EVs (NEV) have an average [...]

By: tai viinikka

tai viinikka — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:52:01 +0000

Lyle: Those energy requirements will roughly be about 8 kWh in the city, and 25 kWh on the highway.

Er, you mean power requirements of 8 kW in the city, 25 kW on the highway? Energy requirements doesn’t make much sense in this context.

Am I confused?

By: Niel

Niel — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:35:17 +0000

I own a 1998 Chevy S10-EV, a GM factory made electric vehicle made at the same time the EV1 was made, and it uses the same motor, controller, and batteries (NiMH) as the EV1. There are 60 of these vehicles in existance that escaped the crusher at GM, and most of them are on the road today. Here are the figures I took for energy consumption in my vehicle:

10 mph 189 wh/mi
20 mph 193 wh/mi
30 mph 278 wh/mi
40 mph 292 wh/mi
50 mph 292 wh/mi
60 mph 296 wh/mi
70 mph 334 wh/mi

The figures were taken from a GM scan tool which monitors battery voltage and current, while doing my best to drive the vehicle at steady speed on a flat road. I was not able to do the tests under perfectly controlled conditions.

This vehicle (an S10) has the aerodynamics of pushing a brick through the air, and it weighs 4100 pounds. With these figures of a quite un-aerodynamic and heavy vehicle, the volt’s 8 KWH battery would power my S10-EV for 27 miles at 60 miles per hour. I could easily see that the Volt will be significantly lighter and way more aerodynamic, so a 200 wh/mi figure would be believable for a light aerodynamic vehicle at 60 miles per hour, thus producing a 40 mile range. I don’t believe the 25 KW power consumption figure for the Volt at 60mph. My heavy, brick shaped vehicle it uses 18KW at 60 mph.

By the way, we absolutely love our S10-EV. It’s too bad there aren’t more of them. I’m really looking forward to the Volt’s release.