IE to re-duct air so that area of the car does not have to deflect it.

They could take the air from the grill and re-duct it out the sides etc.

I know Porsche models did this with air cooling and then let it escape.

I suspect the air drag and the efficiently of re-genera rating electricity from a turbine would be less than just making it more aerodynamic.

The only effect of wind generation would be going down hill but then you could use effective breaking regeneration.

I know the new solar panels are now 30% + so that would be a good idea for those who park there cars outside at work. After working 8 hours at work or so you would have a nice trickle charge.

I also think that the plug idea is not the best to recharge at home. An induction pad on your driveway. A simple coil pad and a coil pad on the car, when the pad is sensed a simple motor raises it to the car. This would improve efficiently of the pad as the distance from the charge pad has to be minimized.. This is like your electric tooth brush. So you drive your car over the pad. A green light lights up in the car saying it’s charging. No finding the plug in the cold and no worries when you are a rush.

I have not studied this that carefully just some ideas?

G

I can not imagine why you would not want to plug in this vehicle, as that is the main design feature. If that is your situation, you would really be better suited to a hybrid vehicle instead of an E-REV.

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For commuting, I would have to agree. However, there are many including myself that like to take road trips and if that’s the case, the ICE will run, and run a lot.

I was puzzled as to why GM referred to the ICE/genset as “emergency”. If you use the vehicle for commuting in the most efficient way, then maybe. But, if you want to take a road trip I sure hope it’s not “emergency”.
That tends to imply that it’s not made to run for long periods and I hope that’s not the case.

As for the 5th seat, I frequently taxi the kids around (wife and I both work) and since we have 3 kids, if I need to haul a friend at the last minute I would be out of luck. Yes, longer trips (more than 30 minutes) would require the mini-van. But I’m in even if there are only 4 seats. If enough people get on the bandwagon, oil prices will drop and the mini-van won’t be so expensive to operate.

Hey, how about towing it behind a motorhome? It would be perfect for buzzing around town while the motorhome sits at the camp-ground (or where-ever).

Right on SteveF, #36.

I tried to get my wife to drive an Insight. No go, as she wants a back seat and 4 doors. But she is OK with the Volt, so let’s get going.

GM, get the Volt out with 4 seats and it will change the vehicle industry forever.

Those are all valid reasons, but they are the exceptions to the rule, don’t you think?

In re-reading Eco’s post, I guess I mis-read it to mean that they wanted to use the ICE as the main source of power for the vehicle.

My apologies.

As far as that 5th seat, looking at the height of that battery pack, the poor person in the middle would be pretty uncomfortable………

Personally, I need the 5th seat once in a while.

You are obviously new to this site, welcome!

I can not imagine why you would not want to plug in this vehicle, as that is the main design feature. If that is your situation, you would really be better suited to a hybrid vehicle instead of an E-REV.

But to answer your question, the specs that have been released say the Volt will have a 12 gallon fuel tank, and that the ICE run generator should operate to give a range of 600 miles, so that works out to 50 mpg.

Of course this is all speculation, but those are the design specs for the vehicle.

What will the range be with a full tank of fuel, but 30 percent charge on the battery (because you didn’t plug it in)?

What will the mileage rating be if you elect not to use the plug in feature?