The Volt is a political cross-over to keep the dealerships happy. With the complexity of a gas engine on top of an electric platform, the maintenance is higher than a pure gas platform. Dealers make their profit on financing and maintenance, not initial sales. GM cannot survive without dealers (sales). Do the math.

Coolness sells $40k cars, price is irrelevant. Nicely-equipped Tahoes and Silverados (and F150s and Rams) are around 40k as well. All this B.S. about Volt having to be 30k to sell is just that, Basically Speculation.

All that said, I still want a Volt!

I think it’s important to point out that power plants are more efficient at converting oil to electricity than gasoline engines are when it’s used for propulsion. So, while electric vehicles don’t eliminate foreign oil dependence, they certainly reduce it, which is a step in the right direction.

The next step would be our movement to achieve oil-independent sources of energy on a national scale, as has been suggested by people above.

Glad to see some engagement of this topic, although I’m a little surprised there wasn’t more interest from others in this discussion. There is so much banter about Lutz inacurate tech details, old data, and complete swags that I figured some discussion centered around real current info would be worthwhile.

My analysis assumed 33% average BSFC for the ICE and 40 miles AER from 8KWh out of the battery. I also assumed losses downstream from the generator and battery are equivalent except for the generator energy that is routed through the battery (assumed to be 15%). My assumption that I’m most concerned about is 95% efficiency for the generator. Your guess at 25% total efficiency from fuel to delivered output may be accurate but it is not relevent to this analysis.

Technological improvement leading to a better way to do things? Of course. High oil prices? You bet. Government meddling in the maket? Maybe. Post-recession boom? Sure. Recession? Crazy. Just a bunch of unrealistic rhetoric.

I think the billions spent here are worth it.
Now if the government starts buying Green fleet vehicles from GM Ford and Chrysler, then the economies of scale of electric vehicle infrastructure can be jump started.

Then the excess capacity of auto makers can be redeployed to a world class rail system in most populated areas of the country!

“The prototype we’ll see in Detroit at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress on Monday features a series-hybrid drive train similar to the Voltec system in the Chevrolet Volt. Like the Volt, the H3 will be driven solely by electricity. The engine — the 260-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder used in the Pontiac Solstice — will drive a 100-kilowatt generator to recharge the three lithium-ion battery packs. Fisker Automotive is using the same engine in its Karma range-extended EV.”
Link to wired story:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/04/behold-americas/

also their video: http://www.rasertech.com/media/videos/hummer-fuel-economy-explained

This just shows it is doable to drive a badazz rig and get excellent fuel economy. I bet this thing will cost a mint but as a first step (or for those with buckets of money now) it is a reminder of what America can do when we put our mind to it!

It is happening whether detroit participates or not. The US auto makers have played the hand of big oil far too long, thinking that when the chips are down big oil will help them out in tougher times. Now they see that the oil companies have their paid representatives in congress calling the loudest for their demise. GM, I believe, has finally wised up and realized that even after decades of dragging their feet and assisting the oil lobby to fight increased mpg standards the oil companies are the first ones to throw them under the bus.

The US auto makers should have realized by now that it is in their own best interests to get us off foreign oil. Look how auto sales have suffered due to high gas prices (even before the economic meltdown). There is no other way to see it. The US auto industry will fail if it does not totally change its tune about better gas mileage (I know that the administration has outlined a 37.5MPG fleet average fuel economy target – we can do better than that).

On a related note, I saw a tv show about a conversion shop (I think it was in California) that took a stock Hummer and converted it to run on biodiesel and ethanol and added electric drive or something to make it get like 80 MPG (not sure if it was 80 or higher…). If the tech exists for a tiny auto shop to do this why has detroit been unable to do any of it? Perhaps they could if they really wanted to.

Now that big oil has knifed them in the back maybe they will start thinking for themselves for a change and make the cars we all know they CAN make: damn good ones with high miles per gallon and good ole American quality! I have high hopes for detroit.

Alas, too true.

However, I choose to believe that we still have the latent capacity to do “anything”. We just have to get what the great Peter Tosh called “The Babylon Shitstem’s” iron boot off our throat and get some proper leadership into place. God send that we have done so, as you so positively suggest.

(as long as every solar and wind installation has sufficient excess power generation and storage capacity to cover the times when the wind isn’t blowing and there are clouds or at night)

This is achievable by 2015 or 2020 if we make it a priority now. Let’s get started!

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No more oil wars ! ! !

America is NO LONGER that country that can do anything.

We are now the “whoever is the richest now gets to remain the richest even if it kills the rest of us, albeit slowly” country.

Or at least we were until we elected President Obama and the current leadership and voted out/cleaned out (most of) the scum.