Might be a handy feature/option in case of power outages, etc.

I had to jump-start my brother in law’s combustion car from my EV this weekend (my first ever EV to ICE jumpstart): Like the Volt (and in common with all ICE cars) the Citroen Berlingo Electrique still has a normal 12v battery which runs all electrical loads (except locomotion!) – only difference is that it is kept charged by the traction battery pack (vs the fanbelt plus alternator arrangement of used by ICE clunkers).

Cheers.

My Citroen Berlingo Electrique has a closure flap that closes OVER the connector at the car end. This flap can only be released from the INSIDE by the owner, which makes re-charging tamper proof.

Lack of tamper-proofing would stop me buying the Volt when it comes to London – mischievous kids do roam urban streets and my EV recharges out in the road. I can envisage a new nocturnal sport of EV unplugging catching on.

Lyle – Have I missed something, or have GM addressed this via another means (eg strong electromagnetic connection while charging, or some other locking pin/ring at the ‘mating’ interface?

Cheers.

Although I can see the point in desiring the abiltiy to pull power from the main battery pack I really think it’s prudent as Rob Peterson says, to not include this in gen 1.

Keep it up guys, build us a car we can be proud of!

The Volt has been reported as whisper quiet, which indicates the power electronics has been well refined, when you hear a whiney motor is when you’d expect noise “EMR” from the power control electronics, particularly when accelerating or decelerating with regen. breaking, as that’s when high currents are involved.

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Here are direct quotes from your posts:

“If you just want to sit like a lump and go straight fast without thinking or doing much…”

“mostly because they are lazy, don’t care yet and are waiting for things…”

“that enough morons consistently want extra on the Volt…”

So where is the slander? I think from now on I will just skip your postings. As a parting thought, since you felt free to give me life advice a few days ago, I will return the favor. I think you should run for public office. Your doublespeak, vauge ramblings, and selective memory would fit in perfectly in Washington DC. I wish you well.

I pretty sure he wasn’t thinking of lighting cigarettes with the watts. He’ll probably want to know their Amp rating too.

Not coming close to comfortable under $30k is OK with me since I never believed they could come close. Shrinking the gas tank to @7 gallons is OK if gas range is still >300 miles. Compromising form for function is OK to the degree it has been done, IMO. 4 seats OK eventhough I think the could have found a less obtrusive place for the battery module in the rear leg area. Low power wipers and stereo OK eventhough I won’t benefit. 10 year battery warranty limiting discharge to 50% OK eventhough it just costs me extra money for potential long term battery capacity I’ll never be able to use. Obvious Cruze compenentry OK to save cost. Reduced max traction motor capacity from 120KW to 111KW OK if cost saved. NO HV OUTPUT NOT OK!!!

Regarding EMI (electro-magnetic induction) noise, there are strict regulations regarding RFI (radio frequency interference).
Thus any problems regarding superfluous EMR (electro-magnetic radiation) would be well understood by the GM engineers, after all, inverters and switch mode power supplies have been around for a long time, even high power devices as would be used in the Volt or any other EV.
Your point is taken though regarding early power switching electronics, they were very “noisy” (EMR) and were difficult to suppress and keep efficient at the same time.

The Prius’ 12V battery can/does go flat if left unused for 2 weeks (or less as the battery gets older) and then you can’t start the car and your clock has lost its time and your trip meters are lost also, plus your 12V battery has been damaged by being discharged so low and has to be replaced etc., great if you’re away on business/holidays etc.

The 12V Battery is being drained little by little all the time by things like the clock, flashing leds, monitoring systems etc.
If you have anything else installed like e.g. an alarm system, it uses a little extra power too.

The 12V battery needs to be maintained by the system much better than the Prius does which is, not at all, if the car is not in use.

Together with the fact that it has a very expensive “cough… rip off …cough”, very short life 12V lead acid special sized battery (Toyota Part No. ##gouge the customer##) that is very small and underpowered and gets maintained by a voltage regulated (14V) DC – DC converter ONLY when the Prius is being used.

Never again for me thanks.