Here are some “truth and facts” regarding the upcoming 2011 Chevy Volt being designed by GM (Government Motors?):
BACKGROUND: the car Is being designed to be used only for short trips of 40 miles or less powered by a 375 pound 16kw Lithium Ion battery that has been restricted to 10kw and a 149hp electric motor. This provides about 4 miles of driving per kilowatt hour of electricity for a maximum of 40 miles. In other words the cost per kwh of electricity divided by 4 yields the electric only cost per mile. It has been estimated that this will serve the daily needs of most users going to and from work. The car is then to be plugged into a standard AC electric outlet and recharged during the night and be ready in the morning for another daily 40 mile trip. Learning from their previous electric car disaster the EV1, GM is also including a 100hp gasoline engine with 7gal gas tank that will drive a large generator that will power the electric motor directly if/when the battery can no longer do so. This is take place primarily when the driver continues to operate the vehicle after driving it for 40mi and not recharging it. The gas powered generator is not allowed to recharge the battery under any circumstances.
PRICE. I do not know many people who are ready, willing and able to pay $40,000 for a small car to drive back and forth to work on a daily basis especially when they learn what the “real” mileage figures are. Sure there are a few that will buy it but not nearly enough to make this product profitable. And all of the current “hype” that it gets 230mpg is all smoke and mirrors as new measurement standards are still being developed by the EPA.
ELECTRICAL RATES: vary across the country and even within the states. Below Is a chart that lists costs by areas of the country which are fairly uniform within. Please note that some states have implemented Tiered Rates that means the usage goes up when defined baseline usage is exceeded. California is especially noted for this by charging $.25 kwh when the baseline of 380 kwh is exceeded which varies slightly between summer and winter.
Census.Division.......Number.of....Av.Monthly....Retail.Price....Monthly.Bill
State....................Consumers....Usage.kWh....Cents.per.kWh...Dollar.&.cents
New.England...........6,122,590........649.............16.70...............$108.46
Mid.Atlantic...........15,535,148........722.............13.95...............$100.71
E.North Central......19,558,522........830.............9.74............$80.84
W.North Central.......8,969,792......970.............8.31............$80.62
South.Atlantic.......25,336,801....1,156............10.03...........$115.95
E.South.Central.......7,895,454....1,290.............8.35...........$107.79
W.South.Central......13,968,942....1,149............11.15...........$128.14
Mountain.States.......8,722,741......908.............9.31............$84.54
Pacif.Contiguous.....17,167,331......699............11.82............$82.60
Pac.Noncontiguous.......672,595......659............20.56...........$135.43
U.S.Total...........123,949,916......936............10.65............$99.70
ELECTRICAL MILEAGE: in California using Tier 3 data it will cost about $.0625 per mile ($.25kwh divided by 4 miles per kwh = $.0625) which “equates” to about 48mpg in gasoline terms with gas at $3.00 per gallon. In New England it will cost about $.0425 per mile ($.17kwh divided by 4 miles per kwh = $.0425) which “equates” to about 70mpg in gasoline terms with gas at $3.00 per gallon. In West North Central it will cost about $.02 per mile ($.08kwh divided by 4 miles per kwh = $.02) which “equates” to about 150mpg in gasoline terms with gas at $3.00 per gallon.
GASOLINE MILEAGE: When driven more than 40 miles the Volt is no better than most hybrids on the market today that cost a whole lot less and deliver about 50mpg. If used in this mode it would be more efficient to remove the large battery, generator and electric motor and run directly from the gas engine. Of course this would defeat the whole purpose of this design. And getting 50mpg in this mode is in extreme doubt since many smaller cars with smaller engines are not achieving this mileage.
DUAL SYSTEM: when everything is running according to plan the gasoline engine, tank and generator are “excess baggage and costs” used only for an emergency. I think that it would be a lot smarter to eliminate them and have warning lights indicating when the battery is getting low and will need recharging. The EV1 was too limited in mileage for this to be effective.
LONG TRIPS: if the driver wishes to use this car for trips longer than 40 miles or on vacation the battery becomes 375lbs of “excess weight” and there is no easy way to temporarily remove it for this usage. I think that GM should include a switch that will allow the driver to recharge the battery while driving more than the 40 mile limit making it more like all of the hybrid vehicles that are now available.
DAILY RECHARGING. most people are not going to like having to plug in their car every night to recharge it especially in the winter or when it is raining. Additionally many drivers do not have easy access to an AC outlet, especially those who live in apartments and some condominiums.
LITHIUM ION BATTERY: we have all been using these for the last 10 years in our cell phones and laptop computers and I have not experienced one to last more than 3 years with good functionality. And we do not subject these devices to outdoor summers of Arizona or winters of North Dakota. The battery in the Volt costs about $8,000 and will have to be replaced about every 3 years regardless of what the warrantee states. GM will not be able to continue to support or sell additional Volts until this problem is solved which will require a totally new design which is being partially funded by our government at this time. The question that needs to be answered is when does the battery go bad? When you can only drive 39, 38, 35, 30 … miles before it needs to be recharged?
DEPRECIATION: With technology changing so rapidly the value of a 2011 Volt will decrease rapidly but what else is new?
SUMMARY: There is one option that could make the Volt a viable method of transportation. That would be the use of Solar panels to provide the electrical power needed. A home PV system with a minimum of 2kwh of peak power should pay for itself within a few years at the Tier 3 rate for electricity. During the day this system should be able to store enough power to recharge your car at night for no cost. Additionally, if corporations would install solar systems in their parking lots employees could charge their vehicles during the day while they are at work. Of course all of this only works in areas of the country that receive enough sunshine throughout the year.
