Chevy Volt Production Shutdown

[Saturnalia]

http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/201 ... ducti.html

How much Volt stuff was shipped by rail?

[J T]

And what will this mean for the battery plant in Holland?

If they cut the price by $15000, that thing would sell like hot cakes.

Just way too expensive right now to justify the gas savings.

[SD80MAC]

The biggest problem with the Volt is that they're selling it as a Chevy. Selling it as a Cadillac or even a Buick would make the price seem more justifiable.

[conrailmike]

How much Volt stuff was shipped by rail?

More than likely, nothing....including finished vehicles. Most GM plants stopped getting parts by rail a long time ago. Orion and D-Ham haven't shipped vehicles out by rail in a few years due to GM and CN not agreeing on prices.

They would sell more if they would just bring the price down.

And before someone goes off ranting about the "catching on fire" bull, read the facts on it and stop eating what the media feeds you.

[TrainWatcher]

But what also people fail to realize is the electrical infastructure isn't there to support it. Lets shut down coal power plants and add electric cars?? Please... use common sense.

[SD80MAC]

James, the Volt is not an electric car. It has a gas engine. I'd call it an extended range hybrid.

[J T]

James, the Volt is not an electric car. It has a gas engine. I'd call it an extended range hybrid.

You sure about that?

http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/

[Michigan Railfan]

The gas engine, as stated in the link the OP provided, is very tiny. It is used to generate power for the battery, so it's not actually moving the car. The battery is. So, technically, it's still an electric car.

[SD80MAC]

The gas engine, as stated in the link the OP provided, is very tiny. It is used to generate power for the battery, so it's not actually moving the car. The battery is. So, technically, it's still an electric car.

Are you kidding? The car can run for up to 40 miles on battery alone. Once it's drained, the gas engine kicks in and the car can go another 200-300 miles or somewhere in there.

[ns8401]

The gas engine, as stated in the link the OP provided, is very tiny. It is used to generate power for the battery, so it's not actually moving the car. The battery is. So, technically, it's still an electric car.

Are you kidding? The car can run for up to 40 miles on battery alone. Once it's drained, the gas engine kicks in and the car can go another 200-300 miles or somewhere in there.

Exactly and "the electric car is here" marketing from Chevy isn't what it's cracked up to be, from reading what the auto folks have to say surrounding the Volt it's just an extended range hybrid. The Nissan Leaf is a real 100% electric car that goes like 40 miles between charges. At some point the technology with the batteries will catch up and the ranges will extend farther and the prices will come down. And James, the power plants are mostly being converted to Natural Gas...

[Saturnalia]

There are now 106 coal-fired plants in this country slated to be shutdown.....most attributed to the new EPA regulations

[~Z~]

Tesla Roadster, 100% electric, 244 miles per charge, 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds. Yes Please: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster


And SD80MAC:

The gas engine, as stated in the link the OP provided, is very tiny. It is used to generate power for the battery, so it's not actually moving the car. The battery is. So, technically, it's still an electric car.

Are you kidding? The car can run for up to 40 miles on battery alone. Once it's drained, the gas engine kicks in and the car can go another 200-300 miles or somewhere in there.

The electric motor is what propels the vehicle, not the engine in this case. Not sure what the "are you kidding" is about:

[Saturnalia]

Nice....I want one!

[ns8401]

Tesla Roadster, 100% electric, 244 miles per charge, 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds. Yes Please: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster


And SD80MAC:

The gas engine, as stated in the link the OP provided, is very tiny. It is used to generate power for the battery, so it's not actually moving the car. The battery is. So, technically, it's still an electric car.

Are you kidding? The car can run for up to 40 miles on battery alone. Once it's drained, the gas engine kicks in and the car can go another 200-300 miles or somewhere in there.

The electric motor is what propels the vehicle, not the engine in this case. Not sure what the "are you kidding" is about:

Basically it works on the same principle as a diesel locomotive and the gas engine powers the electric motor which causes the wheels to turn... it's only 100% gas free for 40 miles, the other 300 or so are only possible when the gas engine is included.

[telus6429]

This is an Email we got at my work this past week... Yes I know I work for 1 of the Biggest Competitions, with VW Diesel's, but this information is correct. the same type of survey's were done with the Toyota & Honda's Hybrids, and soon VW Jetta Hybrid... Nothing will be as good as an old fashion Diesel motor in any manufacture... The big 3 need to bring European Diesels to North America for the best results....

Cost to operate a Chevy Volt

Eric Bolling (Fox Business Channel's Follow the Money) test drove the Chevy Volt at the invitation of General Motors.

For four days in a row, the fully charged battery lasted only 25 miles before the Volt switched to the reserve gasoline engine. Eric calculated the car got 30 mpg including the 25 miles it ran on the battery. So, the range including the 9 gallon gas tank and the 16 kwh battery is approximately 270 miles.

It will take you 4 1/2 hours to drive 270 miles at 60 mph. Then add 10 hours to charge the battery and you have a total trip time of 14.5 hours. In a typical road trip your average speed (including charging time) would be 20 mph.

According to General Motors, the Volt battery hold 16 kwh of electricity. It takes a full 10 hours to charge a drained battery.

The cost for the electricity to charge the Volt is never mentioned so I looked up what I pay for electricity.

I pay approximately (it varies with amount used and the seasons) $1.16 per kwh.

16 kwh x $1.16 per kwh = $18.56 to charge the battery.

$18.56 per charge divided by 25 miles = $0.74 per mile to operate the Volt using the battery.

Compare this to a similar size car with a gasoline engine only that gets 32 mpg.

$3.19 per gallon divided by 32 mpg = $0.10 per mile.

The gasoline powered car cost about $15,000 while the Volt costs $46,000.

So Obama wants us to pay 3 times as much for a car that costs more that 7 time as much to run and takes 3 times as long to drive across country.

[conrailmike]

Tesla Roadster, 100% electric, 244 miles per charge, 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds. Yes Please: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster

Yeah, because that's really a practical car for a family. Not to mention what they cost.

[Typhoon]

The gas engine, as stated in the link the OP provided, is very tiny. It is used to generate power for the battery, so it's not actually moving the car. The battery is. So, technically, it's still an electric car.

Would you call a SD40 an electric locomotive? Using your definition, it technically would be. Maybe would should just call the Volt a gas-electric and leave it at that.

[J T]

My brother, who works for Sundance Chevy and is a Volt nut, refers to it as an "extended range electric car." I'll go with that.

[AC60CW]

Anything you still have to put fuel in is not a pure electric car.

Like stated above, its like what we call diesel-electric locomotives. Calling the the Volt an electric car would be like calling a modern locomotive an electric locomotive.

[midland sub]

GM expected a lot more fleet sales for the Volt, but quite a few were canceled once everyone figured out the math didn't work out with the corp tax write off.