GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

We have been discussing the cost of operating the Volt. In particular I have focused on what the electric cost will be to drive the first 40 miles without gas (or E85). We knew the battery holds 16 KWH of energy, but it hasn’t been clear how much of the battery would be discharged by the end of the first 40 miles of driving. We didn’t know at what battery power level the on-board combustion generator would kick in. Commenter’s here and myself have given our best guesses…

Well it’s official folks, I have heard back directly from GM sources, and the answer is 50%!

This is big financial news and very cool. It means that the Volt will only requre 8 KWH of power to drive the first 40 miles.

This translates to a cost then of 8 X 10.65 cents (U.S. avg) or $0.85 to drive those 40 miles!

It also means, if you wanted to, you would only have to generate 8 KWH of solar power to charge the car. That’s five 200 W panels getting 8 hours of sun.

GM spokesperson Rob Peterson also points out that the average commuter who drives 40 miles per day uses 500 gallons of gasoline per year. Multiplied by every user of the Volt, if the car becomes widely adopted, U.S. gasoline consumption could be decreased substantially.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXA22Q0qXNM]
From the point of introduction of the Volt in January one of it’s strong selling points, after the beauty of the electric engine, is the fact that the ICE could potentially run on gas, E85, or diesel.  Not to mention the fact that a hydrogen cell could substitute for teh ICE altogether.  This is the flex(ibility) of the E-Flex system.

Many of the enthusiasts here and around the internet are strong proponents of diesel and biodiesel.  Mainly, this type of combustion engine is more efficient, allowing for overall better mpg ratings.  Indeed, in Europe, there are deisel cars which can hit 70 mpg.  So many people are enthusiastsc that the Volt might have a diesel engine.

We are indeed at a point in history of great change in environmental awareness, and recognition of the  limited supply of oil.  General Motors, under Rick Wagoner’s leadership has begun steering into the alterative fuel direction, with the Volt as it’s flagship.

However, Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz has posted a video blog (vlog) seen above in which he appears less enthusiastic about  diesel in the U.S.  Primarily he cites the stringent standards applied to burning diesel in the U.S. and how differrent they are than the more lenient Europe.  He also mentions that to meet these U.S. standards, a few thousand dollars of gear will have to be added to each car, to do such things as inject urea for example.  He also laments about the fact that different states in the country have further different standards, making mass production difficult.

So, it seems to me, we may not see a diesel Volt here in the U.S.  But I think the European variant under Opel will likely be diesel.   It should be O.K. though, using gas (or E85) in the Volt, as the great lion’s share of the efficiency is due to it’s battery powered engine, and not the ICE, which if you drive under 40 miles won’t be used anyway.

Yesterday, oil prices climbed 5$ per barrel in 7 minutes on speculation of a standoff between the UK and Iran, who captured their soldiers. See story here.

Oil prices once again are touching the 70$ mark. They have gone over $80 previously. Many experts believe that as we start going over the peak of production, as international demand soars, oil prices could rocket uncontrollably. So-called Peak Oil Theory. Couple that scenario with worsening Middle East war issues, and we are in big financial trouble!

Enter the Volt.

Using a plugin electric car for average commuters will allow millions to not use gas at all. As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, the energy source will be shifted from gasoline to our power grids, which use multiple sources, but mainly coal and natural gas.

The U.S. and Canada have tremendous coal supplies, but burning it makes alot of CO2, and hence will worsen global warming. Natural gas reserves, however, mostly are still in the Middle East.

So, driving a Volt alone is not enough to save the West from geopolitical financial influence by the Middle East. We must also concentrate on other newer alternative energy sources!

This issue is addressed by Larry Burns, GM’s VP for R&D

“Whether your concern is energy security, global climate change, natural disasters, the
high price of gas or the volatile pricing of a barrel of oil and the effect that unpredictability
has on Wall Street – all these issues point to a need for energy diversity,” Burns said.
“Today, there are more than 800 million cars and trucks in the world. In 15 years, that will grow to 1.1 billion vehicles. We can’t continue to be 98-percent dependent on oil to
meet our transportation needs. Something has to give. We think the Chevy Volt helps
bring about the diversity that is needed. If electricity met only 10 percent of the world’s transportation needs, the impact would be huge.”

On Monday Feb 5th, 13 midwest states set a daily record for winter energy use at 119,206 megawatts as supplied by PJM Interconnection. These numbers are very similar to the peak energy use in summer months, with the idea being more electricity is used in heating homes, and at night. The highest prior day of use came in 2005.

So not only are we seeing energy grid demand increasing in the summer months due to air conditioner use, but also in the winter months.

Now lets add to this scenario 1 million plus Volts (or similar PHEVs) sucking from the grid every night. Yes we may initially save money at the pump, but that power has to come from somewhere.

This will increase demand dramatically, which will lead to supply shortages, increased prices, and increased greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

We must be careful about shifting energy use as opposed to eliminating it, and not be lulled into a false sense of complacency.

An excellent article can be found here, in the Wall Street Journal about how gas pricing can affect the Volt. We know of course that low prices cannot possibly last as demand is likely at a tipping point for outstripping production.

OK Heres the rundown.

Total US CO2 annual emissions: 6 billion metric tons
Electric Generation: 2 billion tons
Commercial Transport: 1.7 billion tons
Reidential Use: 1 billion tons
Commercial Use: 1 billion tons
Residental Autos: 0 .3 billion tons

These data raise two problems:

1. If everyone in U.S. changed to drive a Volt, the 0.3 billion tons might just be shifted into the electricity generation category and result in no net drop in CO2 output.
2. Even if the Volt did cut net CO2 emissions, it would have no overall effect on total U.S. CO2 output, becasue of the small contributin of residential auto use.

This means we must convince GM and the other automakers to use this tehcnology in commercial vehicles, and we must switch to alternative energy generation sources. I like wind-powered electrolysis to generate hydrogen best.