Comments on: Lutz: 94.5% Confident Chevy Volt in Production by November 2010

By: Mark Mullins

Mark Mullins — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:04:47 +0000

I liked the original chevy volt design better. This final design looks like a malibu with it’s trunk cut off…or worse, a 80′s model ford taurus with futuristic accents…..I like the internal engineering though, but if it’s a success, it won’t be for it’s external design.

By: A Clean Way to Play Extreme Peak Oil Scenarios « MrGreen.Biz

A Clean Way to Play Extreme Peak Oil Scenarios « MrGreen.Biz — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:59:16 +0000

[...] things in order to keep up with the increasing cost of driving will not be able to afford a new Volt or Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, or even my favorite, the Aptera. For people forced out of [...]

By: Karl

Karl — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:24:12 +0000

It would be perfect if the Volt came out in late 2010…that way they’d be able to work out all of the defects/bugs and I could buy a second generation one when I graduate college in 2011.

By: Koz

Koz — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:46:45 +0000

Charlie H, you are correct. Lowering weight does help performance in the same way it does with conventional cars, but with regenerative braking the efficiency gains are lessened compared to conventional cars. There is still rolling resistance in the tires and other weight sensitive losses in the driver train, but thesec are small compared to breaking losses. Regen also doesn’t recapture anywhere close to 100% (e.g. battery loss and other parasitic losses mentioned above plus friction braking for heavy breaking), but it can retain a significant amount of the energy. So, I’m not saying lowering the weight isn’t a good thing. It’s just less important to this type of vehicle and if it’s not worth it for an ICE, it’s certainly not worth it for an EREV. If they get the cost close to conventional body panels, I’m all for it.

By: Charlie H

Charlie H — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:01:17 +0000

33/Koz – The weight is both a performance issue and an efficiency issue. The lighter the vehicle, the better it can climb hills with a smaller motor and the less fuel it uses in cruise (weight may be less important than aerodynamic or other drag but it’s still in there, I’ll ask a physicist friend about this, sometime). The lighter it is, the better the acceleration – or the less power needed for a given level of acceleration. My tastes don’t rule the world but I’m very happy with 0-60 in about 10 and I’ve been perfectly satsified with cars significantly slower than that. Cut vehiclle weight, engine size and I could have a perfectly satisfying vehicle wiht impressive mileage.